[mythtv-users] remote vs wireless keyboard vs mythdroid vs mythmote please share your experience

[Matt Emmott]

On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 11:04 AM, Rob Verduijn <rob.verduijn at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> I've been tweaking around with mythtv for sometime now and I've always
> been happy to control it with just my remote.
> But nowadays I added netvision and start to get annoyed with typing
> with a remote on the on screen keyboard when looking for media with
> the search.
> I know there are plenty of remotes that have a keyboard for easy
> access, but my experience with mythtv is that configuring a new remote
> is not something I look forward too.
>
> Thus I want to explore some alternatives.
>
> I considered a wireless keyboard like this one:
>  http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/3848
>  It's just an example I'm open for other suggestions.
>  Did anybody get one that could be configured to wake up the frontend ?
>  That is the only thing that I can imagine as a con for this solution.
> Right now the wireless keyboard is the most viable option to me, cause
> I know a keyboard deals with the current problems
>  and as far as I can think the only drawback is that I have to flip
> the power switch on my frontend to get it started.
>
> Furthermore I found these 2 options:
> mythmote
> http://code.google.com/p/mythmote/
> mythdroid
> http://code.google.com/p/mythdroid/
>
> Biggest drawback of these is that I invest in an android device which
> come at a slightly higher price than the remote keyboard.
> I'm not talking about the transformer prime (even though I've been
> drooling about that one), but a more lo-end device like the ones
> produced by yarvik or whatever cheap lo-end brand you can come up
> with.
>
> Does anybody have experience with any of the above and would you care
> to share it
>

I've used several different remotes over the years. Here's a brief
breakdown:

1) StreamZap remote with IR USB receiver - Worked fairly well but I never
got around to tweaking all the keys, using the default LIRC setup that
comes with Mythbuntu-Control-Centre.

2) Logitech Harmony remote with StreamZap receiver - I could never get the
timing to work correctly. It would often register single button presses as
multiple presses and was maddening. The big "OK" button in the middle of
the remote wasn't mapped to anything.

3) Lenovo mini RF keyboard with scrollball - Worked fairly well but the
tiny keys made it a bit tough to navigate and type 'stuff', not to mention
that I had to use the alt key for some characters.

4) Logitech K700 keyboard/trackpad with unifying receiver - This thing
rocks. It's big; almost the size of a full keyboard. But it is phenominal
and under fifty bucks. The unifying RF receiver works like a bluetooth
device, pairing with its keyboard, which is good because I now have three
of these in my living room - One for MythTV, one for the Boxee Box and one
for the Google TV. The biggest drawback is that I needed to use my Windows
machine to initially pair the receiver. But the combination of a full
QWERTY keyboard and the kickass trackpad and directional-pad on the right
hand side make this a winner AFAIC.
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