I too am looking around and do not think all are the same. With Infrared (IR) remotes you need to point at the IR reciever, no obstructions can be in between. Radio Frequency (RF) doesn't need line of sight so that is what I've been looking into. This remote is interesting: KEYSPAN ER-V2 Silver RF Wireless RF Remote for Windows Vista But haven't found anything about how it works with XBMC