Home Theater Review

Universal Remote Control has recently released its $399 PSX-2 personal server. Although I am a fan of the company I had not originally paid much attention to the PSX-2 or its predecessor the PSX-1. At first glance it appears to be yet another one of many, many iPod docks on the market. However, when you take a closer look it becomes clear that it is much more. Universal Remote Control provides its PSX Link software at no extra charge to be used with its line of PSX products. The software allows the docks to act as servers, streaming information that is stored on your network. The PSX server system is not as full featured as the dedicated Sonos or Squeezebox solutions but those servers do not provide the iPod connectivity of the PSX.

Additional Resouces
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With the PSX-2 you can browse content, including cover art and video on an attached video display. The PSX-2's screensaver automatically displays cover art, artist & track information. A "Jukebox" feature allowed me to easily create playlists by including either entire albums or single tracks.

As you would expect from a remote control company the dock-server system is programmed to accept hundreds of discreet IR commands that make accessing your media much simpler. Users can perform alpha searches and pre-program buttons for one touch access (for example press a button and you go straight to your Coldplay tracks or even to a particular song). An unusual but useful feature on the PSX-2 is the "play more from" feature that allows you to press a button to play more from an artist or genre.