Remote suggestion for HTPC

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
39,145
12,027
146
I'm going to be building a dedicated HTPC. Just waiting on some parts. I will be putting it all together during the Christmas break. However, I want a remote that can navigate effectively from the couch. I plan on using Kodi for the UI. Any recommendations on the remote? Will the Logitech Harmony remote do the trick? I'm open to suggestions. TIA
 

JeffMD

Platinum Member
Feb 15, 2002
2,026
19
81
Back in the day I used air mouse in my ipod touch. Worked awesome as a wifi mouse for my htpc. Not quite what you would want if you are looking to assimilate remote control style buttons onto a pc app though.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
Back in the day I used air mouse in my ipod touch. Worked awesome as a wifi mouse for my htpc. Not quite what you would want if you are looking to assimilate remote control style buttons onto a pc app though.

Kodi is designed to be a 10 foot remote driven interface for the playback of media. Think of it like the Roku Netflix interface on steroids.

That reminds me OP, Yaste is the best Kodi smartphone remote app if you have Android.
 

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
39,145
12,027
146
Kodi is designed to be a 10 foot remote driven interface for the playback of media. Think of it like the Roku Netflix interface on steroids.

That reminds me OP, Yaste is the best Kodi smartphone remote app if you have Android.

Thanks for the heads up on the IR receiver. What Harmony model would you recommend? Or is it best just to use your smartphone and an app?
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
I prefer a Harmony because it can control the receiver and TV too. I use the app on the side personally. The Harmony makes it so my wife or mom can use any tv in my house without knowing how to switch inputs.

I am a huge fan of the Harmony 650. On sale at Best Buy now.
 

smitbret

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2006
3,389
23
81
If cost is a factor, get a FLIRC:
http://www.amazon.com/FLIRC-FL-0902...?ie=UTF8&qid=1449189986&sr=8-1&keywords=flirc

And a DirecTV R6x remote control to go with it:
http://www.amazon.com/DIRECTV-RC66R...qid=1449190012&sr=1-1&keywords=directv+remote

I have a Harmony 700 upstairs so the kids can switch between TV and HTPC without having to understand and deal with switching TV inputs, but downstairs I use the DirecTV+FLIRC for my HTPC and I don't even have DirecTV. The remotes are just solid and map really well with the FLIRC.

A Harmony 650 is a solid choice if you want to go that route.
 
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bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
39,145
12,027
146
A Harmony will work great, I use one in each of my three viewing zones with Kodi. What you need is a good IR reciever, and I can't recommend any more highly than a Flirc:

http://www.amazon.com/FLIRC-FL-09028-Universal-Receiver-Components/dp/B00BB0ETW8

It was created by Kodi fans for the Kodi community.

Ordered the Flirc. We'll see how that works out. I'm not sure I need a remote that does all that. It may be nice, but I have already trained my wife on how to switch things using my Denon programmable remote. It's definitely not as easy as the Harmony, but it's a bulletproof remote. I'm going to try Yatse first and see how it performs. I just want something that allows me to navigate Kodi from my couch. If I need something more robust I can then spend the extra moolah and get a better remote.

On a side note, I was sent the wrong video card for the HTPC. It's the same GPU, but inferior model costing $20 less. I can only hope it was an honest mistake.
 

slag

Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
10,473
81
101
For the record, any standard windows media remote/ir receiver or harmony remote/IR port seems to work at distances up to 25 feet away at least. I control mine from across the room and we measured it to be 24.5 feet from the furthest seat and it performed flawlessly.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
Ordered the Flirc. We'll see how that works out. I'm not sure I need a remote that does all that. It may be nice, but I have already trained my wife on how to switch things using my Denon programmable remote. It's definitely not as easy as the Harmony, but it's a bulletproof remote. I'm going to try Yatse first and see how it performs. I just want something that allows me to navigate Kodi from my couch. If I need something more robust I can then spend the extra moolah and get a better remote.

Flirc will work with any IR remote on the planet, so if you like that Denon one just use it. That is the magic of flirc.

I have a flirc just for my MK808b Plus, I paired it with a super thin DVD player remote from a bygone era and it is my small fotoprint hotel setup.

On a side note, I was sent the wrong video card for the HTPC. It's the same GPU, but inferior model costing $20 less. I can only hope it was an honest mistake.

What did they send you?
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
For the record, any standard windows media remote/ir receiver or harmony remote/IR port seems to work at distances up to 25 feet away at least. I control mine from across the room and we measured it to be 24.5 feet from the furthest seat and it performed flawlessly.

That is my second favorite option to a flirc, specifically the HP models.
 

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
39,145
12,027
146
I did find this remote behind my wife's bedroom flatscreen. I had previously purchased this so she could use it with WMC, but I think that her pc/gpu was not good enough to run it smoothly. Will this work with Kodi and Flirc?

 

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
39,145
12,027
146
What did they send you?

I ordered MSI GTX 950 Gaming 2G graphic card. I was sent an MSI GTX 950 2GD5T OC. It was through an affiliate of Amazon. So, instead of instant return I have to wait to hear from the seller. Good thing I'm not putting this all together until after Christmas.

I've already got the SSD (Samsung 850 EVO 250GB) and USB 3.0 PCI-E card. I was just going to say that the case wasn't scheduled to arrive until December 24th and then FedEx knocks on the door and leaves this puppy. Now, I wish I had the video card I ordered. Fun stuff awaits me soon!

 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
I'm looking more into this now. I decided to try out Flirc, and honestly, I haven't had much luck with it. I use it with Plex, which is probably my first problem. Plex doesn't have a profile built into Flirc like Kodi does, which means you have to first look up the Plex keyboard commands, and then use the keyboard option in Flirc to map the buttons to the keyboard. For example, Play maps to 'P', Stop maps to 'X', etc. This would be acceptable, but the problem is that I have to mash the buttons multiple times for them to even work.

Thinking about it... maybe the issue is the position of the IR receiver on the Flirc. At this point, I have it plugged into a top USB port, so it's clearly visible. However, if the receiver is at the top of the device, it may have a hard time receiving signals. I'm using it with an Inteset INT-422, which I bought for its Xbox One built-in control capability. The Xbox One control works great, but as mentioned, I've had nothing but trouble with Flirc.

In what may seem like a bout of pure lunacy, I've actually been looking at the Harmony Elite remote. The price makes me shy away from it, but what I want is a remote that is NOT IR and has proper play, pause, stop, previous, next, arrow, OK and back buttons. Honestly, I love my Gyration remotes, which I've been using for years, but they're notorious for just randomly dying. Although, oddly enough, I've actually use of the exact same buttons on both of my Gyration remotes at the exact same time, but the remote actually reports that it's sending the command. :hmm:
 
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