PC Remote Controls

[[R-COM]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.

[[R-COM]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?i...=search_result
- Get a wake on LAN app, e.g. https://market.android.com/search?q=...an&so=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?i...emote_us&hl=en or this https://market.android.com/details?i...bGNyZW1vdGUiXQ.. (video files solution)
there is also a foobar app but i haven't figured it out.

[[R-DEV]Rhino]

Cheers for the help so far guys!

Originally Posted 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.

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



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
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

[[R-COM]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

[[R-DEV]Rhino]

Originally Posted 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

That page is seriously out of date, with my old ATI Remote bob at the top of the list

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...

[[R-COM]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.

[[R-DEV]Rhino]

Originally Posted by MaSSive

Use the one you got with mainboard for starting PC

That one only works with my old mobo

But like I've said, turning on the PC isn't a main point, its just a nice extra.

[[R-COM]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_H...ces/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

[strima]

Simples.

[Bringerof_D]

Originally Posted 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!

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.