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I think we've all struggled with the problem of the remote. Like you, I also have a strong desire for RF instead of infrared. Here is the landscape as I see it.
- CEC. It sucks, the TV manufacturers can't seem to implement it right. I love Pulse Eight for making the HDMI CEC, but it's useless to me since my CEC compatible devices are all brain dead.
- The Tivo Slide remote is awesome. It's a $60 RF/IR hybrid like the NYXBoard. It's also discontinued, and I broke mine - so it's a non-starter these days.
- Spend $300 or more on a Harmony 900 like I did. It's OK. The lag sucks - especially if using the RF transmitter, which is the whole point of getting the 900! Also, it seems like the Harmony line had a referesh recently, so the 300, 900, One, etc. may all be deprecated anyway.
- Get a Global Cache IP2IR for $100, add $50 for iRule, another $200 on a tablet (Nexus 7 is sweet!), spend a few weeks designing your own.
These are the paths that I have followed (so far). I haven't found anything I liked better than the Tivo Slide, and the $ I've put into this problem are ridiculous. Remotes seem to be highly personal: what's perfect for one person is terrible for the next. In the end, it seems most people sell their souls and just buy a Harmony.
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Actually, the remote I link to does NOT need software to program - it is a stand along that you program through the LCD (I actually own a few of the "pro" versions of it called the mx-350). So from that POV you are ok.
But, yes to get to their higher level stuff you need software. Its not illegal to own if you are not a pro/installer its just they wont give it out because they dont want to deal with all the support if it was freely available. It is NOT the easiest thing in the world to use. I bought all of my remotes from an online authorized dealer who gives the software freely to all of their customers. Actually, I have even seen people on Ebay selling CD-Rs with the software burned onto it for a few bucks - I would assume if URC had a real problem with it they would have Ebay pull the postings.
The big thing you have to watch out for is the warranty as some manufactures like to ignore it if you dont get it from someone they approve of but that is true with alot of higher end consume electronics.
Ernie
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poplap
Senior Member
Posts: 195
Wow nice finds! Really like the Rikomagic MK702 II, the Advance-Tech SRC-4408, and the C&D RF091. Just wonder what the quality will be like. $40 is a bit much to blow on a remote that could fall apart in five days. I might grab the Rikomagic MK702 II this week and see how it turns out, going to do a little more searching first.
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poplap
Senior Member
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Well I ordered the Rikomagic MK702 II off eBay. Will report back on its quality and if it works at all.
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It doesnt look to bad. Is that a speaker I see built into it? Nice that is a learning remote so you can hopefully ditch you others. Ya, let us know.
Ernie
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If you have a bluetooth option go with the ps3blumote. For the keyboard, I just use an external keyboard or an iphone/android.
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poplap
Senior Member
Posts: 195
Well like I said I would report back about the Rikomagic MK702 II. So here it goes:
The remote does not feel too cheap, a little "plasticy" feeling but seems solid enough however still light. It is rather thin and feels rather good in the hand although the hand tends to favor the bottom when using the remote and so moving is need to reach the power button and AV/TV button. The buttons feel solid and do click which is nice, they are very responsive and work well. Although the IR beam cone seems a little small, at least with my TV you have to be a little more in front of it then with the original remote. The surface is really bad with fingerprints, and I mean really bad very smudgy.
The learning feature is dead simple and works great, I have it controlling the TV and HDMI switcher. The biggest drawback, and this annoys me a bit, is that the remote part does not control XBMC or anything other than the IR, there is no option for controlling things over RF with the remote side.
The Keyboard side works well for its purpose but is not as convenient as a remote would be. To use the keyboard you first must flip a switch on the side to turn it on, there is an off timer, which is nice but to turn it back on from sleep you must flip the switch on and off and if you go to fast it will not turn on again. The air mouse is nice and works well if you rest your hand on something otherwise, for me at least, the mouse moves a little too much when clicking sometime and can cause you to miss where you were clicking. It also auto turns on the air mouse when the remote is turned on, it can be disabled with a button but its annoying when you go to use the keyboard again after it fell asleep.
The Battery has not needed to be charged sense I got it although, admittedly, that was not that long ago. Haven't used the mic or speaker so I can't say to their quality.
Overall not a bad remote, nor a bad mini keyboard, but I wish I could use the remote with XBMC and not just the keyboard, to do this I would need to add an IR to my Raspberry Pi which defeats the purpose of the RF.
Hope that helps.
Thank you