Motorola nyxboard, MP compatible??? (1 Viewer)

[BigB42078]

XBMC group brought this remote back from the dead and you can now preorder it from Pulse Eight sight. Does anyone know if this will be usable with Mediaportal? I like the idea of the software option for android (aMPdroid), have not tried it yet. But would also like hardware solution like the Lenovo N5901 I am currently using (not too crazy about the sensitive trackball). The nyxboard like the Boxee remote has remote and reverse keyboard, plus touchpad mouse and gyro to shut off unused side. It says "developers say it will work with installations on Mac, Windows, Linux and the original Apple TV on day one". Does that mean only XBMC, or will it be plug and play and you just have to map out the keys or create plugin for MP? Seems like it's the best hardware option out so far, although once it's out others like Logitech will probably one up it and add an air mouse feature. Looks cool though. What do you think?




Motorola NYXboard surfaces from the dead, XBMC reclaims it (update) -- Engadget

 

[buddman]

I too was wondering about this - that or if anyone knew of a good QWERTY remote that works well with Mediaportal.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi BigB42078

It says "developers say it will work with installations on Mac, Windows, Linux and the original Apple TV on day one". Does that mean only XBMC, or will it be plug and play and you just have to map out the keys or create plugin for MP?

That would depend on the drivers, so you'd have to ask the XBMC folks...

mm

 

[mpadam]

Hi All,

I am currently running a MediaPortal system using the NyxBoard. I would have to say that my opinion about it is "mixed". It has certain very good points, and it is so close to being a great product, but fails in various areas (as, unfortunately, so often is the case with HTPC gear)....

Good
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It really is something that does what you want - it's an RF remote control and it basically works, and it has a QWERTY keyboard and mouse on the flipside. Basically, nice - that's what I have been looking for all these years!

Detects turning over and so only one side is active at any point. Works great.

RF link to the HTPC, so no line of sight issues. Great.

It can double as an IR controller to swtich on/off and control other equipment and it can learn a meaning for each key. Learning is basic, but also works really well and is easy to do. For my purposes (just switching on / off a projector) it works fine, well, with the caveats below about switching mode.

The cursor mouse works really well in terms of accelerating in just the right way and also doing diagonal moves.

Comes with a tiny RF USB dongle that works great and does not need any drivers. Even in BIOS setup mode it works.

Without doing anything special it is a remote than can switch your HTPC in / out of standby because it functions just like the on/off key on a keyboard.

So far (several months in daily use) battery usage looks good. Certainly no disasters in this area anyway.

Clearly much better responsiveness than IR solutions I used before.

Bad
------------------------
It operates in two modes - IR and RF. This sounds great, but actually confuses "other members of your household". The mode is switched by a button that briefly flashes red or green to indicate the mode (and also flashes when you press a key). But when you are using the keyboard side you can't see this red/green LED because it's on the other side. And no, even though the keyboard only works in RF mode and even though it detects that you have turned the remote over it does not go into RF mode when you turn it keyboard side up. So you end up pressing keys and nothing happens because you are in the wrong mode.

The IR does not send a stream of repeats. So you hold down "volume up", but that only generates a single transmit event. You have to keep pressing to get more voume changes in IR mode. This is something highly counterintuitive compared to other remotes and also to how its own RF mode works. Crazy. Doesn't really affect my system as it's currently set up, but this is poor.

The keyboard.... no Escape key!!!!! :-( How they missed this one but gave us a Caps Lock and TWO return keys (OK and Enter) is beyond me. Also very annoying outside of MP use because Escape is generally how you exit full-screen video in websites.
- This can be solved using something like AutoHotKey, e.g. to map Caps Lock to Escape. But yeah, it's not ideal especially if you also have another keyboard.

Back is mapped to "backspace" on both sides of the remote, not to escape.
- You can workaround this with MP configuration.

It sends F7 when you turn it over. Causes Firefox and MP to do annoying things by default. Probably this is great in XBMC, but very annoying out of it.
- Again, AutoHotKey and MP config can block the key, but it's an annoyance.

You have to hold down a special key at the same time as using the cursor keys on the keyboard side to make the mouse work. Which is annoying given that if you are using a "cursor keys + enter" style of interface, the other side of the remote is more useful anyway. Again - this is something "other members of your household" will just not understand and it is simply bad ergonomics.

The keys have secondary uses screenprinted in dark blue. Even in normal indoor lighting they are unreadable. There is no backlight (that´s acceptable for the price in my view, but I would rather have paid more and got it).

The general build quality feels "cheap" (worse than the Hauppauge remote I used before).

Conclusion
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- You can make a useable Mediaportal remote using this product. Assign it as a HID device and make some changes to key mappings. I'm using it as the daily remote for a family HTPC and it is OK - it just doesn't do as much as you would hope.
- "Other users" will probably find the keyboard/mouse side unusable.
- Just misses out on various points that could so easily be rectified, in some cases just with a firmware change.

Dear Nyxboard Designers if you are listening and thinking about a MkII version
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- What I want is that per key you decide if it's an RF or an IR key. Or maybe just no IR - as it is it's more of a hindrance than a feature to me anyway.
- An escape key please.
- I don't want turning the remote over to generate a keypress
- I'd like a mouse that can be operated with only one finger.
- Backlight and better build quality - sure, I am appreciating how this device came about (kind of abandoned Motorola product picked up by enthusiasts of XBMC) so this is not really your fault as it were.