I have my Harmony 890 and have the add on for the PS3, so I already have been able to control my Xbox 360, PS3, TV, and Home Theater system with no issues. Switching between them is where the cost come in. 30 dollars for this remote sounds like a great price, but to turn devices on and off you probably have to push many buttons.. If you get something like a Harmony (which are EASY to setup) or a newer Philips TSU 9300+, you can switch between what you are doing with 1 button push. I can press xbox 360 and if I'm playing my PS3, it will shut down my ps3, switch my stereo system to the correct input, switch TV to correct input and turn on the Xbox 360... now replicate that on a cheap remote. Device PS3 (probably can't be controlled) so you have to use your controller. Device press for stereo system and select input, select xbox and go through the presses to power on(probably easy on this remote), select TV and change inputs.
There is a reason why people pay 200-300 for a remote... ease of use and ones that are smart like the Harmony keep track of what is on and off and can switch what you are watching very fast.... play the PS3... one button... Xbox, one button, DVR, one button..
To be fair, if you are getting 1000 devices... 30 dollars for this remote seems like a decent deal to me... I don't know why they are making a deal out of the price... maybe if it was over 50 or 60 or even more... but 30??? If you ask me, its a bargain...
Compare with the 300 I spent on my Harmony and you will see why... I would never switch because of how easy it was to program and the features on it are amazing, but they are making too much of what really is a non issue.... its price