Home theater remote that controls PS3 and Xbox 360?

You first get an IR to Bluetooth converter for the PS3. Then you get the best home theater remote. If you can afford the best HT remote then you can easily afford the ~$40 converter.

However, I assume you are actually wanting the opposite which is the minimum needed at the cheapest price. Start with the PS3 converter and then figure out what is the best remote. Read my FAQ sticky if you aren't sure what to buy.

Xbox 360 has an IR receiver just like any other consumer electronic device. The PS3 saved the $.10 per unit cost and didn't include an IR receiver and instead relied on Bluetooth.

Pretty much any universal remote will work with the Xbox 360. There is only one universal remote that will work with the PS3 without the IR to Bluetooth converter. You'll be better off with the converter so you aren't tied to that one remote.

If you are getting a Harmony remote then you simply add the Xbox 360 and PS3 as a device. With other remotes the process will depend on the route you take.

Don't limit yourself to Harmony just because I mentioned it. I just threw that out there since most first time buyers seem to get one no matter what else was recommended.

If you've never used a touchscreen remote then you might want to think twice. Having to look at the screen gets old after the wow factor is over.

If you want a Harmony and have money to burn look at the One or 900. A good lower end version would be the 700.

If you want to a professional remote then look at the URC MX-980, 5000, or 6000.

*First post, so hello everyone.

Yeah, I had the Harmony 1000. It worked great for the first week, then after about 18 months, I wound up like a champ baseball pitcher and smashed it against the living room wall. :O It shattered into a million pieces! So I skipped the "How It's Made" episode that week.

The problem with the 1000 was how slow it was! It's as if they left ALL the developer debugging switches enabled in the firmware. It was by far the slowest remote I have EVER used.

But far a worse offender is URC for leaving it to dealers' discretion for giving you everything you need to reprogram your remote if you make the smallest change to you wiring backplane. This is enough to make a Priest loose his cool and swear up and down! (rhetoric of course)
Then there is the programming aspect of the URC. It should be stated that you virtually need a PhD as a Terminologist and an Undergrad in Eng to make sense of it all. It's far too complex without attending seminars, quitting your job, or taking up alcohol consumption to the point of a 12 stepper program to help heal from programming a remote? No. No thank you.

The simplicity of the Harmony remotes is worth its weight in stress-relief gold. Sure they may not be the fastest, but by god... you will never consider drowning yourself in the tub midway to getting the timings of a scene just the way you want either!

There is a reason Logitech came up with the name Harmony vs all the others that still name their junk with Xs and #s... like I care!

Cheers!