PC Remote Controls

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Rhino
Retired PR Developer
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PC Remote Controls

Post by Rhino »

Hey guys,

Looking for some help in finding a new PC Remote Control. I've had a few in the past but none of them have ever been able to deliver everything I've wanted out of a remote and the better ones I've had don't work with Win7 or my mobo.

Main points I'm looking for:
  • 100% Win7 Pro compatible, ignore the media centre **** I don't use that and probably never will.
  • Turn off PC function, turn on would be really, really good as well but unlikely to find a remote that can do that but massive + point if you can.
  • Compatible with most common media software, Winamp, VLC etc.
  • Preferably radio transmit rather than IR, the longer the range the better but probably wont be using it from outside my room much. Bluetooth is also an option since my mobo has BT.
  • Good design, something along the lines of a good TV remote.
Just to give you an overview of my old remotes so you can see what I'm looking for:

ATI Remote Wonder Bob
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Had this remote way, way, way back. In fact it was my first PC remote and it was pretty damn good. Although made for the ATI Multi-Media centre that I never used, it still worked with most other programs and you could program the buttons to do w/e you wanted as well. Pretty good design and was able to turn the PC off but not on. It was also a RF remote meaning I could use it without pointing it at the PC and from very far away, + had a nice little mouse moving pad but wasn't that useful. Main problem with this remote is that it doesn't work with Windows 7, or WinXP x64 :p

Asus DH Remote
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Got this remote as part of my old Asus P5W DH Deluxe mother board. The really nice thing about this remote was that it could turn your PC both on and off, but that was mainly down to it being designed to do that with the mobo. Other than that, it was pretty ****, none of the buttons really worked with anything (at least not in XP, never tried it on Vista or Win7) and even if they did work, hardly any buttons on it :p
It was also IR which meant you had to point it at the PC to use it but the on/off feature was the really useful thing about it, using it to turn my PC on/off 90% of the time.

Cyberlink Remote
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My current remote, although it dose f/a other than the volume controls work which is semi-useful, but nothing else dose with anything but WMC. Also IR which means you have to point it at the PC.



So ye if anyone can find a good remote that can do most or better still, all I want it to do that would be super awesome as I haven't been able to find one after doing a lot of searching but maybe I haven't been looking in the right places :(

Cheers! :D
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Mad-Mike
Posts: 3137
Joined: 2008-01-25 13:21

Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Mad-Mike »

Have you tryed your hands Rhino? :razz:

- It can turn on/off the PC
- It can press play,fast forward,rewind,pause etc..
- Can also give you pleasure to media that maybe on your PC.

On a serious note: Why do you need a remote? Do you have a big room or somthing? :?
Last edited by Mad-Mike on 2012-01-09 13:01, edited 1 time in total.
Rhino
Retired PR Developer
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Rhino »

I've got a pretty big room ye and I use my PC as my only music player (other than my portable mp3 player), watching videos on from my bed etc :p

Being able to turn your PC on with your remote is a huge + thou as in the morning when your 1/2 asleep, can just reach over, press the on button and by the time your awake its fully on etc :p
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A.Finest
Posts: 776
Joined: 2011-06-07 12:27

Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by A.Finest »

Now Im getting a remote lol!... Good point there Rhino ;)
Harrod200
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Joined: 2007-09-07 12:08

Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Harrod200 »

I use my laptop and VNC onto my PC to control everything :) Only thing it can't do is turn the PC on, but Wake on LAN can do that.
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/Randoph/
Posts: 251
Joined: 2008-09-10 13:26

Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by /Randoph/ »

I didn't know there is a remote control for PC until I saw this thread.lol
Apo
Posts: 150
Joined: 2011-04-13 16:43

Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Apo »

Alternative for lazy people:
Get a Keyboard with USB, plug in the keyboard in the Front panel, plug mouse into keyboard, put keyboard on a chair with wheels, pull chair to bed.

REMOTE CONTROL!
Cp
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Cp »

Thread moved to the hardware forums.
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hiberNative
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by hiberNative »

i have a logitech trackball mouse on my couch. so when i connect the monitor to my tv, i use the ball mouse on any surface to navigate around. kinda comfy.
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Mad-Mike
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Mad-Mike »

[R-DEV]Rhino wrote:I've got a pretty big room ye and I use my PC as my only music player (other than my portable mp3 player), watching videos on from my bed etc :p
Fair enough, I can see how one would be handy but my room isnt that big :(
LITOralis.nMd
Retired PR Developer
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by LITOralis.nMd »

AFAIK, Power ON is 100% dependent on your Mobo.
ASROCK and Zotac are leaders here, some Asus can too. ASRock however had totally failed on QC for all the AM3+ and Z68 mobos, so skip ASRock for now.

Power ON is the tough part.
Power OFF to Hibernate, or OFF to Sleep is easy for almost all mobos.

I am too lazy to deal with this on my own HTPC, I keep it on 24/7 for torrents...
but you need:
1. Native windows HID driver support, (x64 and win7 I presume)
2. Support for cold boot (S5) state.

An example, note this is a branded remote, they are not the manufacturer...

Internal IR w/MCE Remote

This sexy beast is flashable, but IDK the state of a windows flash ROM availability, most of the WMC remotes that are flashable are flashed for Linux systems(MythTV, Amahi, etc)
If you see visual picture of this same remote and it's labeled "R6" WMC compatible, no matter what the branding, it should be flashable.

The more expensive Logitech Harmony series of remotes can do this also.

ASRock > Products > Smart Remote
Note: The ASRock Smart Remote in only supported by some of ASRock motherboards.
Last edited by LITOralis.nMd on 2012-01-10 11:41, edited 1 time in total.
LITOralis.nMd
Retired PR Developer
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by LITOralis.nMd »

Forgot to mention... I use my old Android cellphone as my remote control for my htpc in the garage...

Free Solution : Use your Android phone if your computer is connected to a WLAN router

- Get XBMC remote, e.g. https://market.android.com/details?id=o ... rch_result
- Get a wake on LAN app, e.g. https://market.android.com/search?q=wak ... o=1&c=apps
- Get this to control Winamp... aWinampRemote - GeB Development - Berlin (audio files solution)
- get this to control VLC ... https://market.android.com/details?id=c ... e_us&hl=en or this https://market.android.com/details?id=o ... ZW1vdGUiXQ.. (video files solution)
there is also a foobar app but i haven't figured it out.
Rhino
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Rhino »

Cheers for the help so far guys!
hiberNative wrote:i have a logitech trackball mouse on my couch. so when i connect the monitor to my tv, i use the ball mouse on any surface to navigate around. kinda comfy.
Ye right now I'm just using my mouse in wireless mode but even thou my mouse is pretty decent in wireless, it doesn't come close to beating a remote for basic media controls :p



The internal solutions you posted Oralis sound interesting, but turning the PC on isn't a big one for me and that appears to be there main thing. If the remote had a decent design etc I would try it but ye, just dosen't look that good :p
Tempted thou but hoping for something better :)

As for smart phone, ye one of my mobo's advertised features is you can use a smartphone as a remote though its Bluetooth but the small problem I have with that is I don't have a smart phone and isn't that appealing to me, although dose look pretty good but ye, would prefer a simple remote :)
If I had a smart phone however I would go with it, but would like a proper remote too ;)
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MaSSive
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by MaSSive »

You can look at this page for known good remote controllers. Afaik there are no any BT remotes for PC, all of them are IrDa or RF. If you find one let me know :D
Last edited by MaSSive on 2012-01-10 14:00, edited 1 time in total.
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CATA4TW!

"People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt."
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Rhino
Retired PR Developer
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Rhino »

MaSSive wrote:You can look at this page for known good remote controllers. Afaik there are no any BT remotes for PC, all of them are IrDa or RF. If you find one let me know :D
That page is seriously out of date, with my old ATI Remote bob at the top of the list :p

But it did have a link to one company that has been going since that page was made and some of there products do look quite good: Welcome to ultiRemote Technology

Although many of there product pages don't work...

And don't appear to be going any more...
Last edited by Rhino on 2012-01-10 14:12, edited 2 times in total.
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MaSSive
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by MaSSive »

It clearly says known good ^^

Yeah the page you found has some new ones ( Win7 compatible ) but I dont think any of those is able to turn on PC. Use the one you got with mainboard for starting PC and the other one for all the others.
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CATA4TW!

"People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt."
"God has a special providence for fools, drunks, and the United States of America."
― Otto von Bismarck
Rhino
Retired PR Developer
Posts: 47909
Joined: 2005-12-13 20:00

Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Rhino »

MaSSive wrote:Use the one you got with mainboard for starting PC
That one only works with my old mobo :p

But like I've said, turning on the PC isn't a main point, its just a nice extra.
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LITOralis.nMd
Retired PR Developer
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by LITOralis.nMd »

IF you don't care about cold boot power on and off,
just buy any R6 WMC remote control you see on this list EXCEPT THE HAPPAUGEs, HAUPPAUGE has custom keymapping, it's annoying.
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/4_HTPC ... MCE_Remote

They all work with VLC after you install this:

MCE Remote with VLC ? arenddeboer.com

--------
If you want cold boot ON/Off, you can buy and install this:
http://www.simerec.com/PCS-2.html
Last edited by LITOralis.nMd on 2012-01-10 21:27, edited 1 time in total.
strima
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by strima »

Simples.

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Bringerof_D
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Re: PC Remote Controls

Post by Bringerof_D »

Apo wrote:Alternative for lazy people:
Get a Keyboard with USB, plug in the keyboard in the Front panel, plug mouse into keyboard, put keyboard on a chair with wheels, pull chair to bed.

REMOTE CONTROL!
i agree with Apo here, blue tooth keyboard is best if you ask me. not only can you get one with media controls for playing music and movies, you can also do everything else. you can also get a pretty decent range. on and off isn't an issue for me though since my PC is on 24/7 to torrent my anime unless i'm leaving the house for more than 16 hours. and of course turning it on half asleep isn't a problem cause i keep it on as my alarm.
Information in the hands of a critical thinker is invaluable, information alone is simply dangerous.
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