If you don't want to read further - two thumbs up - way up!
My setup - Nvidia ION HTPC, Windows 7, 64 bit, VoxCommano .875b (most current at this time), and the on-sale for $149 Amulet Remote. *(Normal remote is a fully customized Logitech Harmony One).
Purpose for the Amulet - primarily to handle my 21,000+ music library. *Using a normal remote blows goats quite frankly.
Physical design:
- [li]A little too bottom heavy for my taste - but it has a very handy groove in the back of the remote that stops it from sliding down when you tilt it up to your mouth to use the microphone. * I'd like to see it a little more curvy at the top so it fits in your hand more like a microphone - which is the main reason everyone's going to buy this remote. [/li]
[li]The directional section that surrounds the Ok button is a little too ridged for my taste - almost sharp.
[/li]
[li]The red light that lights up when the microphone is very cool looking.[/li]
*
Usability out of the box with MCE - flawless. *If you like MCE, which I don't.
Usability out of the box with XBMC and VoxCommando - I wasn't happy with it at first - but after following the following tips and tricks it's working awesome.
TIPS AND TRICKS!!!!
1. *Follow this excellent guide -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JBI6FIh-bU for setting it all up. *When you find as I did that the voice recognition accuracy was not good enough to run XBMC - have no fear.
2. *Open up Amulet's speech training - Start/ All Programs/ Amulet Devices/ Speech Setup/ Speech Training. *
If, like me, you have lots of visitors to the house, Click on New *and create a new profile with your name. *Then select it, and Train that profile.
Or don't and just use the default profile. *That way when people go to use your remote, you can just laugh *at them, and tell them that they have to be smarter than the computer.....
Anyway - you'll then find that voxcommando works FLAWLESSLY in XBMC. *Two big thumbs up!
Even with the volume cranked up pretty high, the Amulet works very well to capture what you say - and VoxCommando handles XBMC.
On a side note - I was getting an error when I open VoxCommando: *
error creating group: *XBMC Request Music by Name - VoxCommando will continue to load, but commands in this group will not be available.
- So the command "Play hits by" artist wasn't working....since this is key to my original purpose of handling my music library, I had to get it fixed.
EDIT: *with JitterJames' help, I removed the Play Song command, and voxcommando started working. *Link to fix here: *
http://voxcommando.com/forum/index.php?t...08#msg3008
I very happily just paid for the license and am now LOVING both of them!