Good Remote Control for HTPC?

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Regs

4066 posts

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Snowflake

#594305 12-Mar-2012 19:18

justinbyoung: Hi,

My favorite remote was the Microsoft MCE remote. The reason, it had a second power button that could be programmed to power the TV on and off. Sadly it broke, so I am back to using a Hauppauge MCE remote and also the TV remote just for turning off the TV. It appears that MS no longer make that remote. All I want is that one extra button.

i have my microsoft remote relegated to controlling the xbox in the bedroom. i'm using a harmony (525?)for the lounge and that turns on Plasma, MCE and HT Amp all with the click of a single button. A single button to stop MCE playing whatever its playing and turn everything off too. I liked the feel of the buttons on the microsoft remote, but the harmony is so much more useful.

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password1

64 posts

Master Geek

#599372 24-Mar-2012 08:54

Trunks2: I got my mum one of these HP MCE remote it's quite nice.

I've got an unusual problem with the HP MCE remote I recently bought from the link above. It seems to get bogged down with remote button presses. For example, when time skipping, changing volume, browsing the EPG, or flicking through my movies, I manage to have several arrow button presses actioned by the PC, but then there is a pause. After that, only one or two button presses are registered by the PC. The pause time seems to get longer also. The pause can be avoided by pressing a different button, but only one or two presses will continue to be actioned.

If I let the PC rest, then multiple key presses seem to work again, so it's not a problem when watching a recorded TV programme and skipping the ads. It happens in MCE and in Mediaportal, so it's not a software issue. I've removed and reinstalled the drivers and tried different USB ports.

I suspect it is an HP clone remote. Anyone else have this problem and found a solution?

password1

64 posts

Master Geek

#599627 24-Mar-2012 22:47

Oh, and to add, the red light on the receiver comes on with all button presses, just there is sometimes no response from the PC. The remote model is HP RC1804912/06 RC6. Batteries are fine, USB ports checked, W7 recognises it as a Microsoft eHome Infrared Tranceiver and has no updates to the drivers.

AllenG

441 posts

Ultimate Geek

#599641 24-Mar-2012 23:21

Hi MovaNova.

If you only want to control the HTPC, get the Hauppauge MCE remote control kit. It has MCE remote, IR reciever and IR blaster for around $45 This is probably the cheapest way to get a MCE compatable IR reciever that you will need for using other universal remotes so you're going to need it regardless.

If you need wireless keyboard and mouse I highly recommend the Logitech K400 Keyboard/Touchpad in one. Good size for the coffee table.

If you want to control a whole home cinema, ie TV, AV receiver, subwoofer, other sources and they are all within direct aim of the remote then you won't go wrong with a Harmony one. Aprox $170 on pricespy. Cheaper Harmonys are OK but having the touch screen buttons for functions that you can't find a regular button for is worth paying the extra for a Harmony One or a Harmony 900.

If you have AV gear in a cabinet, opposite ends of a room, or an AV reciever covering 2 rooms than think seriously about a Harmony 900. The 900 outputs IR signals to devices in line of sight and emits RF to an IR blaster that you place near the equipment that is out of direct site of the IR. It's quite expensive (aprox $280 on pricespy) but pretty near perfect for a multi-room AV setup. It is rechargeable and backlit.

Don't be tempted to use a phone as a remote. OK at a pinch but the novelty will quickly wear off. In a light controlled cinema room do you really want the glow of a phone or have to take your eyes off the movie every time you want to operate your remote? Another often overlooked advantage of a remote with physical buttons is that you get to know where the buttons are by feel and don't need to look at the remote for the main buttons. Try doing that with a touch screen phone.

As an example of what you can do with the Harmony 900, I have eight activities programmed in my Harmony 900 eg "Watch TVix in Lounge" does the following with one button press in the lounge. The RF-IR blaster is in the cinema room aimed at the AV rack:

Turn on TViX media player in cinema room (RF)
Turn on AV receiver main zone in cinema room (RF)
Select AV receiver main zone to TViX input (for HDMI passthrough) (RF)
Turn on AV receiver Zone 2 (lounge speakers) (RF)
Select AV receiver zone 2 to TViX (RF)
Turn off AV receiver main zone (RF)
Turn on TV in lounge (IR)
Select TV input to HDMI (IR)

When everything is powered on in this activity the remote buttons are predominately assigned to TViX control but the volume and mute control the AV receiver zone 2 volume.

A single press of the power button turns all the devices off again.

The reason I turn on the main zone and select TViX input as well as Zone 2 is so that the dual HDMI output on my receiver will output the same source as the zone 2 over an HDMI extender to my lounge TV.

Regards Allen.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#599847 25-Mar-2012 20:30

Just saw this (http://nicegear.co.nz/htpc/motorola-htpc-remote/) today. Pretty cool little remote! No need to worry about IR either.

reven

3743 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#599885 25-Mar-2012 21:25

chevrolux: Just saw this (http://nicegear.co.nz/htpc/motorola-htpc-remote/) today. Pretty cool little remote! No need to worry about IR either.

yeah thats a nice remote for xbmc, you can get it from pulse-eight here http://www.pulse-eight.com/store/

considering getting one of these myself for a projector setup

Swaney

35 posts

Geek

#600451 26-Mar-2012 20:07

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-MCE-USB-IR-Receiver-HP-Media-center-remote-control-RC6-B-/260849292742?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cbbd455c6 is cheap ($24NZD shipped) and RC6 type (plug and play with xmbc) with IR sensor - you can certainly get a lot flasher if thats your thing though

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219 posts

Master Geek

#603375 1-Apr-2012 17:09

You can get the pulse eight remote from http://nicegear.co.nz (My only relationship with that website is as a happy customer).

I have one, but I am not overly happy with it. The keys need to be pressed quite hard and it just isn't a happy experiance I am afraid. Maybe I need ot persevere.

I just bought two of these http://www.ebay.ca/itm/180727780787 - $US 13 each delivered anywhere in the world from Hong Kong, came signature required to so not bad service. I have only used it on linux with the drivers from http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/ but it clearly has windows drivers too. Seems damned good so far. Cheap too.

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