Originally Posted by
stevenshev
That was exactly my follow-up question. With remotes like the 890, they must be RF, right, since everything is hidden? But then do you need to connect something to all your devices (eg PS3, TV, lights) to RF-enable them? Also, how do you make your lights remote-controllable? I would love nothing more than to be able to turn off the lights in my bedroom using a remote, it would justify the cost of the 890 itself - but I have no idea how to do it.
Yes, the 890 is RF and IR. It comes with a RF box that has a bunch of IR emitters that go in the cabinet. The RF it uses is actually a standard called ZWave. You can buy Zwave outlets, dimmers, etc and they replace the standard outlets in your wall.
There are even modules that can control powered window blinds and shutters, that's our next upgrade.
Here is an example of a dimmer. I don't remember which one we got because it's been a long time.
Since the PS3 uses bluetooth, it required a cheap 3rd party IR remote that plug into a USB port, then the logitech IR emitters are stuck onto that. Most of the time though, I still use the dedicated PS3 BT remote since the button layout works better.
One thing to note is that I really don't like the 890 remote hardware that much. The buttons are very hard to read in certain lighting conditions and it feels very plasticy. For the price I expected much better, but it does work very well after we got it setup. Setup took a long time to perfect though. I got mine during an Amazon sale for around $199, but have seen them for as little as $169.