Windows Media Center Remote Control

[Craig321]

Hi,

I've been looking for a cheapish (but good quality) remote control so I can watch films from my PC without having to get up and use the mouse and keyboard.

I have Vista Ultimate so I've got Media Centre which will make things easier.

I basically want it to be able to play/pause/stop/rewind/fast foward/start media player/stop media player/turn the pc off/volume up/down (turning the PC on isn't really important as I know that requires putting the PC into standby... I like to turn my PC completely off at night, but I definitely want to be able to turn the PC off).

I want something with nice reliable Vista x64 drivers as well.

Not really looking to spend too much.

Does anyone know what this is like?: http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=745541

Thanks,
Craig.

[TheReaFireblade]

That one will do what you need as well as any other... certainly at that sorta price

[Craig321]

Any idea on the quality of the remote control?

Oh, and does it start Media Centre up with the green button in the centre?

[Parm]

Craig, I've not used the Compro remote, but I have tried the Philips one on 64-bit Vista.

They should both function almost identically. I had no problems with it, and the big green button does load up media centre.

[Funkstar]

I would highly recomend getting an official Microsoft MCE remote.

I've tried a couple of non-MS ones and they were useless. The reciever for the MS one has a massive USB cable so you can easily hide the PC away and have the reciever right at the TV. The pickup field is also really good, i can control my system while sitting anywhere in the living room and pointing the remote i pretty much any direction as long as the signal is able to bounce off a wall.

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_5498.html

I'm guessing you could find it cheaper. Scan do have them from tiem to tim but not at the moment as far as I can see.

[dangel]

Originally Posted by Funkstar

I would highly recomend getting an official Microsoft MCE remote.
.

+1 there - it's excellent. Battery life is wife-proof and it's great to use.

[Craig321]

Ordered the Compro Videomate as Scan didn't have the MCE remote in stock & I got free postage with Scan because I had something else to order as well.

I would have probably gone with the MCE remote to ensure good quality - I love the quality of Microsoft's products (providing they've kept on the same track as their Xbox360 controllers).

I'm sure the Compro will do the job though

Thanks for the suggestions/comments everyone,
Craig.

[Will404]

Would like to know how it is, as I almost bought one some time back.

[Craig321]

Originally Posted by Will:)

Would like to know how it is, as I almost bought one some time back.

it does the job very well. although with mine using the drivers vista automatically installs you could only press one button in a row - so for example if you turned the volume up you'd have to press the + button, then another button, then the + button.

fixed easily with a simple registry edit though.

compro also sent me another remote control to sort the problem i explained above, so the support is excellent.

craig.

[eloquence]

The official MCE remotes have the advantage of being a transceiver, so you can control a Cable or Sky box with one... and they're not much more expensive off eBay or the like. The only problem I've had with them is that my XBox 360 also responds to the remote signal. The dedicated Media Center button and all the rest means that none of the non-MCE remote systems are worthwhile for a Media Center machine, but the non-official Media Center remotes and receivers should all be pretty good.

[harshw]

Does anyone who owns the Philips remote know if the remote has learning capabilities ? Is it easy to do so ? So it's like a cheap Logitech all-in-one...

And if it does, it would that mean I could teach it to operate my Logitech Z-5500 controls

[Funkstar]

Doesn't look like it.

Here is the Philips product page: http://www.consumer.philips.com/cons...l%20SRM5100-10

I've had a quick look at the manual and it doesn't look like there is a learning function. I also had a look at the database of remote codes (http://www.urc.philips.com/) and it doesn't look like there are any Logitech products in there. Check yourself though just in case I missed something.