Selecting a Universtal remote (2 Viewers)

[coopers]

Hi all,

I think I read somewhere that some users have had problems with teaching certain universal remotes to work with mediportal?

Does anyone know about this issue?

I was intending to buy a huappage card, which comes with a remote - I would have thought that any universal remote should be able to learn the huappage remote buttons.

I am a remote N00b, is there anything I should look for?

thanks

 

[The_Stig]

Hi coopers,

me personally would go for a natively supported remote, like MS MCE or X10.

That usually is the easiest way to get everything going well.

Regards,

Paloema

 

[coopers]

Hi paloema,

Yeah, that's not really what I meant though - I will probably get the huappage card that comes with a 45 button remote - natively supported.

What I would like to do then, is buy a universal remote that can be trained to emulate that huappage remote, as well as an external dvd player, the stereo, the tv etc etc.

I heard there may be some problems training some universal remotes, and i am really wondering what to look for when making a choice...

 

[NickName]

Hi Coopers,

Sorry but I agree with paloema. Just buy an MCE remote as it can be trained to support two other devices. However, if you setup MP correctly, you won't need many/any external devices.
I love the way you just plug them in and they work, no mucking about with training it to use MP. Also if you build another MP box you can just get another MCE remote. You are not tied to one brand of tuner because of the supplied remote.

FYI. If my little kids lose a remote, I just grab one from the bedroom until the first one turns up. This is great for WAF as they only need to learn one remote, regardless of which PC/tuner they are using.
Obviously this is just my opinion and your needs may differ.
I got into HTPCs as I wanted an easy to use setup. My first home theater system has 4 remotes and whilst excellent, it had a low WAF due to the confusion with multiple remotes. My wife still can't use that setup but she loves our MP setups

regards,

Nick Name.

 

[coopers]

I just realized I can't spell "universal".

So, an MCE remote is kind of annoying, given that if I buy a case like say, silverstone L16m (looks nice...) that one comes with a remote, plus a huappage card comes with a remote, and you reckon I should buy another one?

If the huappage remote is natively supported then surely it will be just as good?

So noone knows really of problems teaching learning remotes?

that's good news actually.

 

[NickName]

Well, I have trained 1 learning remote in the past and I found it very annoying as:
a) the buttons were not labelled how I wanted them, i.e. My TV, My Recorded TV, DVD menu, etc.
b) training is a pain.

Having said that, if you bought one with an LCD screen AND it was configurable so that the screen displayed user-defined titles, then that would be pretty cool. Though you would being paying a few hundred dollars, which is expensive compared to an MCE remote.
If you do get an expensive one that works as above, it would be worth putting a mention on these forums somewhere for others to consider (or at least drool over, hehe).

Cheers,

Nick Name.

 

[coopers]

Yah, I'm looking at something like this:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/detailsharmony/AU/EN,CRID=2084,CONTENTID=11735

 

[NickName]

Wow, that looks pretty cool. I really hope it works well with MP as it would be great showpiece!
Mind you, at $399 (Australian dollars), I could buy 8 MCE remotes for that. Hopefully you have no little kids who might step on it... Kids feet and LCD screens don't go together too well.
Please let me know how well it works as, if it works well enough and it's tough, I might look at it as a Xmas present for the wife, hehe ;-)