Despite its slow start in the console war, the PS3 has come into its own of late, as it is a very strong multimedia powerhouse in addition to a great gaming machine. What the commercials say really is true: The PS3 just does about everything.
My PS3 is practically a dedicated multimedia PC. It streams all of my networked movies and music in just about any format (except Microsoft’s WMVs), and is the primary BluRay player in the living room. To get the real “home theater feel” you need a real remote control rather than turning on the PS3 controller every time you want to watch a movie. There are only a few choices for PS3 remotes, and one of them is the Hyperkin Text Link Remote.
Font and back of the remote’s packaging
The Hyperkin Text Link remote control looks very promising. It claims to control all of your multimedia functions, doubles as a game controller, and has a full QWERTY keyboard to make text input easier. Not only should this help with configuring player names, but should make chatting on the Playstation Network much easier.
The PS3 Text Link Remote lets you easily control the playback of Blu-Ray movies, DVDs, CDs and media files on the PS3 system. The Text Link Remote features a slide out keypad that enables you to text other players on the Playstation Network, or use its dual analog sticks and buttons to play PS3 games. Simply attach the included USB receiver to an open port on the PS3 system and you can control your PS3 system with ease.
Features
- Full control of movies, DVDs, CDs and media files on the PS3 system
- Slide out QWERTY keypad
- Dual analog sticks and buttons
- Rechargeable NiMH battery
- Includes USB charging cable
On the next page we take a look at what you get…
The unit comes in a standard plastic blister pack that cannot be opened without a pair of scissors. Inside the package is the remote itself, a USB charge cable, and a USB receiver. The receiver is simple enough: it has no blinking lights or anything. It is just pure matte black with a standard USB connector. The USB charge cable is a standard USB A to USB mini-B cable, very much like the cables used to charge the Playstation 3 controllers.
The remote itself has a lot of features. The remote is a flip-up type similar to some “feature phones” with a flip-out keyboard. When collapsed, the remote looks rather standard. The face has many of the features you would expect, although due to trademark issues cannot use any recognizable Sony logos. The “PS” button has been replaced with a “home” button.
The “shape” buttons (triangle, square, circle, and X) have been modified so they are not identical to a PS3 button. I really didn’t know you could trademark a standard geometric primative.. but Sony apparantly did it.
The right side of the remote has the four shoulder buttons on it: L1, L2, R1 and R2. The left side only has a USB port (used only for charging the remote’s internal battery) and a red LED that lights up when charging.
The real meat of this remote can be seen when the unit is flipped open. The remote features a full QWERTY keyboard flanked by two analog sticks, and all of the other buttons you would find on a standard game controller. When gripped in this way, the “right” of the remote becomes the top, which allows you to press the shoulder buttons with your index finger.
So how does it work? Find out on the next page…
All of this looks very promising, as I stated before, but it didn’t take long to see if Hyperkin has kept its word. There are so many things wrong with this remote that I don’t really know where to begin.
Plugging the device in
The unit comes with its own USB receiver, which eliminates the need for “pairing” the device like Sony’s Bluetooth remote control. Once plugged in, the remote did take immediate control of any playing movie, but there are a few things that it cannot do. Because it has its own receiver, the remote cannot power on the console (like the Sony remote can). It also loses connection if your PS3 soft-reboots (like after applying the Weekly System Update). There are also times when the receiver “wigs out”, rendering the remote powerless, which can sometimes be remedied by unplugging and reinserting the USB receiver.
The QWERTY keyboard
One thing you’ll notice right away is the insanely bright blue LED that lets you know the remote is working. It flashes fast when communicating with the receiver, and has a steady blink when it has temporarially lost connection (which happens frequently). You usually have to look dead-on to the remote to see what you’re doing, and you are blinded by this blue LED, which makes finding buttons a chore in a dark room.
As a remote control
Using the remote’s top face, I found that it does control Bluray movies, videos, and music. Unfortunately, the buttons are so close together that it makes for a frustrating experience. The main point of contention is the placement of the “shape” buttons. They are right next to the arrow hub, so it is very easy to hit one of these buttons when navigating. There are so many times that I’ve accidentally stopped playback or navigated to the completely wrong area of a menu. Other times I have accidentally jumped a chapter by pressing one of the shoulder buttons with the palm of my hand. Sony’s remote has it right by placing these buttons diagonally to the navigation wheel so that they are not accidentally pressed.
As a keyboard / controller
I understand that this remote was not meant to be a game controller replacement, but may make for easier “casual” use like Playstation Home or Internet browsing. Unfortunately, the keyboard and analog sticks are so broken that even casual use is a painful experience.
The main point of contention is that there is not enough clearance between the keyboard and the “flipped-up” part of the remote. This makes pressing anything on the top row practically impossible with your thumbs. It also takes too much pressing effort before any of the keys register, as the keys are just too shallow. The game buttons are also too small and hard to press, but the shoulder buttons are within good reach.
Overall the keyboard is just barely usable, and does not make typing any faster as you can probably use the onscreen keyboard just as quickly. If anything using this keyboard will cause more spelling mistakes.
The analog sticks are recessed, and feel somewhat pleasant, but it is very easy to overcompensate with them, much like the PSP’s analog stick. Also, the left stick seemed to “time out” an awful lot. In many games I would be walking forward, and my character would just stop. Sometimes control would come back, and other times I had to press a different button before the stick would resume control. Other times when pressing the stick forward my character would walk, stop, walk some more, and stop again. Regardless of the technical issue, the remote has some severe connection problems.
You really want to see the verdict? Click on the next page…
I really wanted to like the Hyperkin PS3 Text Link Remote, as it had a lot of promise and there doesn’t appear to be anything else like it on the market. It even works on the PC as a media remote and keyboard, but alas there is no mouse control, so the possibility of this being a presentation remote are shot. The product is just riddled with usability issues that the remote is practically useless as a remote control, keyboard, and game controller. It is possible that the connection and timeout issues may be isolated to my sample, but the remote and keyboard usability is reason enough to cause frustration.
The lowdown on this product is as follows: bad layout makes for bad navigation. Since the remote uses its own RF receiver, the remote has sporadic connectivity issues. The keyboard and controller combination is just not very useful, and makes for a bad typing experience. I hate to say it, but the Hyperkin PS3 Text Link Remote fails in just about every category.
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