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Hello all. I use XBMC on my PC (win7 x64) and I love it. I am interested in buying a remote control that I can use with it. I have found the wiki page about remotes to use with XBMC, and I have been doing some reading on the web.
What I am hoping to find is a remote that is very easy to use out-of-the-box. If I had to, I could use EventGhost or similar to program it, but I'd prefer not to. I don't need any advanced functions. Just the typical ones.
It is now November 2011 and I think maybe some info I have learned from my research could be outdated. So I thought I'd post here and ask.
Can anyone recommend a good remote that works (or almost works) out of the box? I'm not looking to invest in one of those harmony remotes or anything like that. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Fascix
Junior Member
Posts: 45
Still dont see why you wouldnt buy a harmony?
its just the easiest sulution you can find out there.
and if its the cost that you are worried about, all i can say dont!
logitech has launced a series of cheap harmony remotes that cost just about the same as any crap models out there.
Well with that said maby it is something else with the harmony remotes that bothers you. in that case stick with an original Microsoft MCE model.
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I found the Streamzap PC Remote to be pretty easy to set up though I use a Harmony One so I can control all of my entertainment system with a single remote.
Streamzap advantage: cheap (about $30 USD) but reliable and easy to setup to control ONE computer-based device.
But I do like the Harmony, which I have had for a few years now. A royal pita to setup initially (and I hate cloud-based software) but once set up it is extremely easy to run ANY ir device without needing a pile of remotes.
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Harmony works the best. They are note expensive at all.
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pko66
Senior Member
Posts: 193
I personally think that the harmonys are an overpriced piece of crap and can't understand why people recommend them carelessly for any application.
1) For people that just have TV and XBMC, I think there is simply no reason to spend money on a harmony
2) At least cheap harmonys like mine (well, if you consider 40€ "cheap", of course) have really bad "feeling" in the keys. cannot remember now the model number, I buyed it 3 years ago or so
3) You still need some way to get the signals to your XBMC installation, that means an IR receiver, a USB-CEC dongle or some other solution that usually will work pretty well without a harmony. I personally find the HP MCE remote pretty good, I just use the TV remote to switch it on/off and the MCE remote within XBMC for everything else
4) the harmonys programming is (or at least was 2 year ago when I was still trying to make my harmony work to my liking) "absolute code" oriented, but XBMC is not, because the same code can have wildly different meanings depending on context, so you cannot really make the harmonys do complex things with XBMC unless you invest A LOT of effort.
So: the harmonys are good if you want to consolidate a large number of devices each with its own remote, but it is not well adapted to XBMC.
The thing is, I do not have or need anything beyond XBMC and the screen (I never use even the tuner of the TV, nor have nor need DVD, BR, cable or satellite since the content I have with XBMC is vastly superior except in sports, and I do not like sports). With that consideration, the harmony is just like a really expensive universal remote not specially well adapted to XBMC
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I use a Rii and love it but I wouldn't use it for anything other than controlling XBMC, its no good for computing as far as typing and touch pad are concerned they work great its just to awkward its ok though for shutting the odd window and typing the odd word to search
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Please, tell me exactly how you got the original XBOX remote working. I have messed with it for days and I cant get it to work at all. It isn't the remote that's the problem, its the IR receiver. No matter what I do I can't get Windows (7 x86) to see it. I spliced in an old USB cord and I have no idea what to do with the yellow wire. So, I'm not sure if it's a driver issue or if it's my DIY-ing.... Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!!
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I believe easy is relative. I myself don't mind juggling around a bunch of remotes for separate devices, so I got the VRC-1100. It's less than 20 bucks, has a simple layout that's easy to use without looking at it. With a current build of XBMC, all of the basic functions just work... past that, it's just a matter of tinkering with a custom keymap. I've got more time invested in waiting on XBMC to reboot while configuring it than I do actually making changes and testing it.
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