2011-04-01, 22:16
I am currently using a Hauppage Remote control that came with tuner card for my HTPC. It's working fine, however I'm not able to do two things with it that I'd like to do.
The biggest thing is that it doesn't have a keyboard. Often times I find myself needing to key in a URL in a browser or other program and I have to go hook up a keyboard to do it. That gets annoying and when I'm sitting on my couch wanting to watch something, the last thing I want to do is go hookup up a keyboard and then type in what I want. The keys should also be backlit, I use the remote in a room that often has lights dimmed or even off since we watch movies and tv in there.
The other thing that really annoys me about my current remote is the inability to switch between different applications. I use Boxee, SageTV, Firefox, and a couple other applications on my HTPC and everytime I want to use something different I have to go hookup a mouse to the HTPC to open up the application I want to use. I'd really like a remote that allows me to easily switch between the different applications I want to use. I'm not sure, maybe this isn't even a remote feature and more of a function of another piece of software on the computer? If it isn't a remote feature is there anything you can recommend to help me switch between my apps? If the remote came with a mouse that would help a lot, but if I can accomplish just switching between applications without a mouse I'd be fine with that too.
Is anyone using any Qwerty Remotes they can recommend that help solve the annoyances I'm finding with my current remote? We are mainly just watching stuff through Boxee, TV through SageTV, or Hulu through the browser, so if the remote only works with those three I'd be fine with it. Thanks for any advice!
The biggest thing is that it doesn't have a keyboard. Often times I find myself needing to key in a URL in a browser or other program and I have to go hook up a keyboard to do it. That gets annoying and when I'm sitting on my couch wanting to watch something, the last thing I want to do is go hookup up a keyboard and then type in what I want. The keys should also be backlit, I use the remote in a room that often has lights dimmed or even off since we watch movies and tv in there.
The other thing that really annoys me about my current remote is the inability to switch between different applications. I use Boxee, SageTV, Firefox, and a couple other applications on my HTPC and everytime I want to use something different I have to go hookup a mouse to the HTPC to open up the application I want to use. I'd really like a remote that allows me to easily switch between the different applications I want to use. I'm not sure, maybe this isn't even a remote feature and more of a function of another piece of software on the computer? If it isn't a remote feature is there anything you can recommend to help me switch between my apps? If the remote came with a mouse that would help a lot, but if I can accomplish just switching between applications without a mouse I'd be fine with that too.
Is anyone using any Qwerty Remotes they can recommend that help solve the annoyances I'm finding with my current remote? We are mainly just watching stuff through Boxee, TV through SageTV, or Hulu through the browser, so if the remote only works with those three I'd be fine with it. Thanks for any advice!
