[PatrickVogeli]

Logitech Harmony 300i and Philips SRP5004/86, with an Asrock 300HT receiver.

[voochi]

Emprex 3009 something, which is complete garbage and has a range of about 6 inches.

I have to get something better but im not impressed with most of the stuff on the market.

[rchapoteau]

Decided to use Hippo Remote for iPhone instead, and its been awesome because I'm not just using it for XBMC. If I was xbmc only I would probably use the xbmc iphone app (which I do on my other xbmc box)

[thunderbunny]

Not on your list but im using an logitech harmony one. It's the last remote you ever going to buy

You are correct

[dtviewer]

Only if you don't mind the lag of Harmony compared to the original MS MCE which is a real superior over everything in my eyes.

I am also using MS MCE on the same way by the way.
The only difference is that I am turning on the HTPC along with the TV Set by a single button (PC Power) using IR blasting (which is really really a cool feature) and the TV Power button controls the AMP. Certainly the volume buttons also reconfigured to control the volume of the AMP.

If you are using a correct IR receiver there is NO lag with Harmony remotes.

[BrooksyX]

Xbox 360 Wireless controller w/ windows usb receiver here

Just out of curiosity. those having this gamepad, to map actions in xbmc, do you use:

- Eventghost
- x360eventclient + a keymap.xml
- a Xbox.360.Wireless.Controller.xml
- Xpadder or something else

Right now I am using xpadder but I would like to find a better way to use it. Preferably evenghost

[nsviper]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0038...ss_product

This one got my TV's, surround sound system, Sky HD, and my Apple TV's on it

[Legba]

Question to those using an Xbox controller: Is it possible to use it with Linux? I'm intending to run XBMC under a parred down version of Ubuntu, and would really like to use my wireless Xbox 360 controller with it, but will buy something else online if that's not possible.

[olympia]

If you are using a correct IR receiver there is NO lag with Harmony remotes.

I am not going into this discussion again, but please, please don't try to be that smart!

[Jay_M]

I have got my TV, Onkyo Receiver, DirecTV reciever and HTPC all programmed on my standard DirecTV remote using a MCE receiver and eventghost on the computer. I can control both XBMC and TME3 on my pc. Cheap but effective!

[THRobinson]

so the receiver is the most important part?

I was hoping this thread would make my decision easier... kinda backfired.

Do the eBay $20 remotes also control the TV? Do I 'need' the IR transmitter for that even if the receiver is inches from the TV?

[MidnightWatcher]

This is the remote in my hand:

[Jay_M]

so the receiver is the most important part?

Yes, for the computer the most critical piece of hardware is the IR receiver. The IR receiver will capture the IR signals from the remote that you are using. It doesn't matter which remote. What does matter is what is done with those signals.

By and far the standard is the Microsoft IR receiver. Using this IR receiver and a Microsoft remote or a remote with one of its devices programmed as a Microsoft remote and XBMC will just work. This is because Windows properly detects these signals and XBMC has been programmed to use them.

This is what most people do with the Harmony remotes. They are just fancy programmable remotes. The exact same thing could be done with a $10 remote as long as it has codes to program it as a Microsoft device and to my knowledge most do.

It is possible to use other remotes as well. This requires more work but allows more control. Myself, I have programmed one of the AV devices on my DirecTV remote as different model DirecTV receiver than the one I have. This activates all of the buttons on the remote. Then I use a program called EventGhost to map the signals received by the IR receiver to the different commands that I want in XBMC. I also have it mapped to control other programs on my computer but that is for another post. You could do this same thing with any old remote you have lying around if you wished, say an old DVD remote perhaps. I am not recommending just saying that you can.

Do the eBay $20 remotes also control the TV? Do I 'need' the IR transmitter for that even if the receiver is inches from the TV?

Yes, some can be programmed. No the "transmitter" is used to have the computer send IR signals to a device without using the remote directly.

I purchased my IR reciever from ebay. One of the HP Media Center jobs. Eskro has a link to some as well.

I was hoping this thread would make my decision easier... kinda backfired

Sorry, remotes seem to be one of the topics that XBMCers get fanatical about.

[THRobinson]

Sorry, remotes seem to be one of the topics that XBMCers get fanatical about.

Yup... had a few in another threat recommend remotes $150 and up that well, outta my budget and overkill for my needs.

I have a TV and a Computer... that's it! I just want to sit, navigate and have control over my TV for simple things like volume, power, and wide in case for some reason things don't size properly.

Sadly, my Sony remote doesn't really have buttons on it for choosing cable, tv, dvd, aux... like my older remotes did, so, think I'm stuck getting another one anyway. Prob is, I see info about Microsoft, HP, etc remotes but 0 mention if it can control my TV.

There is a Harmony 300i on sale locally for $30 if any stock left. From what I am hearing those are good... and saw mention that they work best with the HP receivers. A specific model was listed, but finding they all look the same on eBay and none list the model.

Really just wanting something simple and easy out of the box...

ESKRO's link looks promising.
http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-5187-4592-MEDIA-C...19c2920457

As for the transmitter, so likely nothing I need then. Receiver will be under the TV and the PC 5' away.

[Raphael Barros]

We could use this topic to make in the wiki some evaluation and recommendations about hardware, where people could give scores about price, functions, how well works in linux, windows, OSX, etc.