What remote do you recommend?

[molitar]

My remote I use works but is getting dated it's the original X10 remote. What remote would you recommend? Is their a good all in one remote for controlling PC and other devices or is it best to keep these two controls seperate to a good all in one and a single good PC Remote?

[Fiasco]

Iphone/Ipod w/ CommandFusion

[merdok1981]

I use the bluetooth remote for the PS3, works brilliantly.

[Livin]

Your questions is WAY to general to give any decent answer.

Someone that truly wants to help guide you will need to know these answers...

a) what do you prefer, hard button or touch screen
b) what is your usage model
- how do you use your remotes today?
- how do you want to use your remote tomorrow? (ie what do you want improvement on)
c) do you want to create your own custom screens / button layout on the remote?
d) do you want it to act liek a traditional remote, or automate everything for you... e.g. push one button for a specific 'activity' like "Watch TV", "Watch Movies", "Guests are over", etc
e) what is your price range
d) exactly what do you want/need to control... Home Automation apps (X10, lighting, etc), what media center apps, what equipment, what level of PC control (mouse cursor or just automate in the background), etc.

I could go on but you get the picture.


I have tried MANY different things based on answering the above questions differently... from very complicated 10" touch screens, to voice control, to now... a single, simple Harmony remote supplemented with an iPod Touch (web page I built for Home Automation and multi-room music and XBMC app)

[molitar]

[quote="Livin"]Your questions is WAY to general to give any decent answer.

Someone that truly wants to help guide you will need to know these answers...

a) what do you prefer, hard button or touch screen
Open here

b) what is your usage model
- how do you use your remotes today?
Control my TV, DVD, and computer like Media Player Classic, Honeyview, ect.
- how do you want to use your remote tomorrow? (ie what do you want improvement on)
Better mouse support, newer model mine is an old serial port which is a dying technology
c) do you want to create your own custom screens / button layout on the remote?
Does not really matter.. Looking at wanting to control all functions of my HDTV, Stereo Receiver, DVD Player, and Computer (MUST HAVE RF FOR PC)
d) do you want it to act liek a traditional remote, or automate everything for you... e.g. push one button for a specific 'activity' like "Watch TV", "Watch Movies", "Guests are over", etc
I really don't do much with automation.
e) what is your price range
No more than $200 maximum
d) exactly what do you want/need to control... Home Automation apps (X10, lighting, etc), what media center apps, what equipment, what level of PC control (mouse cursor or just automate in the background), etc.
Programs like Mouse Remote, Media Player Classic, and other simple functions on PC as well as standard IR equipment

[Livin]

Your answer confuse me.

You say you do not automate but yet you are using EG, which is an automation tool? Are you using it only for IR?

From the answers you did give, since they really did not tell me HOW you do things, it looks like you are best off with an RF/bluetooth keyboard with a touch pad. Look into logitech, they have a full size and a mini.

If you want a more custom help, I need answers like...

"I prefer to use a mouse as much as possible. I use my HTPC like a normal PC, I do not try to automate anything."
"I want to use it like a traditional TV remote without any intelligence - I must press all buttons, no macros needed"
"I want to press one button and have all my equipment automatically set to the correct inputs/outputs for a given activity... Watch Movie, Listen to Radio, etc"
"I do most of my 'control' in rooms away from my equipment. I have multi-room music and need control no matter where I am."
"I am almost always in one room, the media room -all my equipment is there."
"I'm the only one that uses my system"
"I need everything as simple as possible for family/friends/guests to use"
... etc

[molitar]

Your answer confuse me.

You say you do not automate but yet you are using EG, which is an automation tool? Are you using it only for IR?

From the answers you did give, since they really did not tell me HOW you do things, it looks like you are best off with an RF/bluetooth keyboard with a touch pad. Look into logitech, they have a full size and a mini.

If you want a more custom help, I need answers like...

"I prefer to use a mouse as much as possible. I use my HTPC like a normal PC, I do not try to automate anything."
"I want to use it like a traditional TV remote without any intelligence - I must press all buttons, no macros needed"

It's not like I press one button to actually launch the media player classic. I usually manually open the program than I use it for the basic stuff like pause, skip ahead 5 sec/20 sec, or back, step frame by frame, minimize windows (since I usually watch video going out to the HDTV but have the primary window on my primary display), mute, volume control, and show me OSD of time left. So it's more of a media control button functions that I use my remote for. I use EventGhost to do the auto detecting when I bring my player to the foreground it auto switches to that mode exclusively, when I exit it than it switches to mouse mode, and when I open Honeyview (program to read my manga while still zipped) to control zoom, scroll up/down, next file, previous file. So really I just do really basic automation stuff with it. So as you can see I really don't do much automation with EventGhost just mainly basic media controls for an RF Remote.

So I prefer RF for PC so I don't have to point at an IR unit all the time but for standard devices like TV, DVD, ect IR is just fine. I can even live with 2 different remotes a specific one for PC and one for other devices I can live with that just don't want half a dozen remotes for everything else since most cheap remotes you buy only control simple functions like on/off, volume and not things like changing inputs, ect. But I do want RF for PC so when I am listening to music on my PC or that and leave the room I can control the volume or jump to the next song and sometimes I may use the wireless video transmitter to send the signal to the living room TV.

"I want to press one button and have all my equipment automatically set to the correct inputs/outputs for a given activity... Watch Movie, Listen to Radio, etc"
"I do most of my 'control' in rooms away from my equipment. I have multi-room music and need control no matter where I am."
"I am almost always in one room, the media room -all my equipment is there."
"I'm the only one that uses my system"
"I need everything as simple as possible for family/friends/guests to use"
... etc

[Livin]

When you asked "what remote" I figured you are trying to do some complicated stuff but you are not doing anything beyond the ordinary... and you are basically using your HTPC as regular PC, where most of us try to use an HTPC like an appliance... for you, just get a wireless keyboard with a touch-pad or a cheap X10 remote with a mouse pad.

[Livin]

molitar,
check out this app (http://validbit.com/RemotelyPossible/default.htm)
... just saw it yesterday, looks like something you might find useful

[CollinR]

Check out the snapstream firefly, I love mine!

[molitar]

Check out the snapstream firefly, I love mine!

Thanks I will

[CollinR]

Also the gyration stuff is nice, I have the mouse and keyboard plus the Firefly. Although the Firefly can be used as a mouse the gyration airmouse is light years better.

[Livin]

this looks sweet... I'm going to try this one myself... http://www.mobileairmouse.com/overview.html

[Beholder]

I'd stick with the Gyration technology too. I have this baby:
Gyration Media Center Vista Remote
http://kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_3060.html
I also got it from the above shop.

This thing is cool. I was able to configure it mostly to my wishes - all the while being a programmer and a perfectionist too. That means A LOT of tweaking and tinkering. I can switch wave volume with it (as opposed to general Windows volume), switch normalizer (SVM) on my X-Fi with it, use it to display/choose from on-screen menu, use stand-by button on the remote to switch off an application (instead of putting whole computer to sleep), switch mouse cursor sensitivity+speed, and use all but 3 special keys on the remote for what I need them in various apps. As I really don't need the MCE green button on my PC, I reconfigured it to middle mouse button. I use 2 programs to set up all this additional functionality: EG and AutoHotkey (well, for X-Fi also the X-Fi Mode Changer).

Reprogramming/setting up the PC for the remote took me whole week (no kidding) because I did find/figure it out mostly myself. Just like it took me about a week to create just the perfect keyboard emulation AutoHotkey configurator/script for my Competition Pro USB joystick, BTW.

I love to browse the internet in Opera browser with it. I use it to read news etc, mainly when I need to give my hand some rest from the PC mouse that is occasionally killing me. It's awesome to play point&click games with it. Also logical games in cooperation with your mate on the keyboard, both of you trying to figure out stuff while you both can move the cursor/game character. And movies, man.. I love the movies with this remote.

I like the air-mouse functionality although the gyros sometimes do get messed up and you have to leave it sit still for a very short while. That comes with design, I guess. Another thing is that the free mouse mode switches off after a few minutes to save energy on the remote, you just have to switch it on double clicking the go-air button again or stay in the mouse-movement-while-air-key-pressed mode.

Besides being truly excellent radio PC remote (non-IR functionality) it also serves as all-in-one custom-programmable IR remote for all other appliances. So that's the answer to both of your questions, I guess.

I'd add some videos to this post but my internet connection was flaky/slow for the last hour and I literally couldn't go and choose some because they won't play. So just watch the youtube after making a search for the remote there, will you?

[molitar]

I opted for this one for now.. http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-USB-Remo ... B001M56DI0 because price is definitely right. Later I want to pick up a Snapstream Firefly but waiting for a better deal to come out for it.