Remote control unit for PC recommendation

[Kurses]

Heya guys.  I have a nice little pimped out setup at home that has an hdmi cable going from the back of my computer to a 46" LCD TV.  Works great for watching anime all day while leaning back on my bed.  I was thinking of getting some kinda attachment for my PC which lets me use a remote control, so that I don't have to get up all the time to change episodes (or when using a playlist, so I can skip the next episode previews and such).  Problem is there are a lot to choose from, so I don't really know what to get.  Does anyone have any experience with something like this?  Ideally I'm not really looking for one that has built in storage or its own media centre, just something that would work with my existing setup.  Any idea how it would handle things like switching subtitles and audio tracks? 

I'm not even really sure how it works to TBH, does it just emulate mouse clicks or hotkeys when buttons are pressed on it?  I know zoom player has remote control support in it, but it's hard to find details on it.

Any opinions or even just a link to something I can peruse on my own would be appreciated.  Thanks!

[fohfoh]

Remote? Not really. Wifi keyboard/mouse combo... yes.

[Mcgreag]

One thing that lots of people used to recommend are the Microsoft Mediacenter Remote but it's not for sale anymore.
The main problem you will have is that most remotes does NOT come with a IR receiver. They assume that you already have one for one reason or the other. That's one of the reasons the MS MC Remote was recommended because it came with an universal receiver that worked with all the Logitech Harmony controls for example (they are usually the most popular ones).

You can take a look at this one:
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&prod=22
It has it's own receiver and is very cheap (20-30$), sadly the receiver is not universal, it only works with that remote. Also it's not programmable like the more expensive Logitech Harmony solutions.

[halfelite]

there are so many good options. Why not get something like the diNovo Mini its a keyboard/mouse/remote in the palm of your hand about the size of an xbox360 controller.


or if you want something smaller you can look at he rii

[Arveene]

One thing that lots of people used to recommend are the Microsoft Mediacenter Remote but it's not for sale anymore.
The main problem you will have is that most remotes does NOT come with a IR receiver. They assume that you already have one for one reason or the other. That's one of the reasons the MS MC Remote was recommended because it came with an universal receiver that worked with all the Logitech Harmony controls for example (they are usually the most popular ones)..

Hmm.. I believe you can still get the media center remote with a Hauppauge TV tuner card. Kinda expensive for just a tv tuner tho. If you have a use for a tv tuner card, I'd go with that.

[bork]

http://www.pcremotecontrol.com/

[bcr123]

I have one of these, picked it up at Frys a while back.

http://www.gopcshop.com/top/product_info.php?products_id=30293

[Kurses]

Thanks for the input everyone!  Originally I thought I'd just get a bluetooth dongle and use my ps3 remote with some software I can DL, but then I'd have to reset it to my ps3 every time I wanted to switch which device it was bound to.

I think going with halfelite's suggestion would work best for my needs as I don't want something thats forced to windows media player.

Thanks for the help guys!

[bcr123]

Thanks for the input everyone!  Originally I thought I'd just get a bluetooth dongle and use my ps3 remote with some software I can DL, but then I'd have to reset it to my ps3 every time I wanted to switch which device it was bound to.

I think going with halfelite's suggestion would work best for my needs as I don't want something thats forced to windows media player.

Thanks for the help guys!

None of the remotes are "forced" to windows media player, what gave you that impression?  All the remotes are is specialized "keyboards" that send particular key combos.  You can map the bindings in software, most players already bind the "normal" functions like play/pause FFwd, skip etc..

[vortex69]

I use a ~US$7 USB IR remote that I got on ebay, not perfect, but great for the price (even emulates the mouse using a directional pad). Works great with Windows Media Center, MPC-HC, Winamp and Media Portal.
Obviously if I wasn't on a low budget (which I am 99.9% of the time) I would get something from the Logitech Harmony line of products or the Rii, it looks awfully 'geeky' so I like it

[NaRu]

Get this one
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/3848

[x5ga]

This. For about ~25-30$ you get a pretty good tv/fm tuner and capture device / streaming server with a customizable remote control with ~50 buttons. You can modify each button on the remote to do anything from a keypress, key combination, mouse action or to run a program/script. Also supports application profiles. Works perfectly with MPC-HC which supports hotkeys.

[costi]

Just go to ebay, there's tons of the stuff. For about $20 you can get a pimped-out HP remote with a receiver.

I'm using an RF receiver, a cheap Chinese thingy that cost me about $12 (the model number is OR22V). It works, tho it does have a very cheap feeling. The only thing I can't do is to get it to work in Ubuntu, for some reason lirc just refuses to start.

[morset]

Pumping an old thread
The best and cheapest option IMO is using this software (working with almost any mobile)
http://blueshareware.com/bluetooth_remote_control.asp
With this program i set an old nokia 6230 mobile to work as wireless mouse/keyboard/and gamepad...full functions
It just need a little tweak 

[mgz]

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/3616

can find these for as cheap as 45$ after MIR

they work great im on my second the first one lasted me almost 4 years and im not nice to it