Ir Remote Control For Windows

[Daren]

It's all in the title! I want an IR remote control for my W7 computer. I just need basic TV/DVD-type functionality - volume, pause, play, etc. - fancy LCD screens and the like are not needed or wanted. Something similar to this would be nice:

WIndows Media Center Remote

I checked online at Thanni.com and Shop4Thai.com but they didn't have what I was looking for. Shop4Thai.com has wireless presentation remote, but they're not optimal for a number of reasons.

I'm gonna go search at Pantip, but if someone could give me a tip on where to look would wonderful. Pantip is big....

Cheers!

[garyh]

A lot of TV cards cards come with a remote like the DVICO I have.

[Deke]

I bought something like that at IT Square (Laksi Plaza). It's just a simple IR remote but it controls volume and all those things that you mention. I don't remember the exact price any more but it seems like it was in the vicinity of 300 Baht.

The shop that I got it from is on the third floor, right hand side just as you walk in from the parking garage.

[Daren]

Thanks for the replies! I don't need a TV tuner, but thanks for chiming in! Hopefully I won't need to go all the way up to Laksi. Surely Pantip has something similar.

[Deke]

I'm sure that Panthip must have them as well.

The thing I bought has an IR receiver that plugs into a USB port on the computer plus the remote control itself.

No software to install or anything else. Works fine.

[keeniau96]

There is shop on 2d floor of Pantip Plaza with many small add-on items for PCs. The shop is on the inside corner of the central atrium. Looking from the main entrance it is the far left corner. Have bought many handy items there over the past eight years.

[Daren]

Perfect! I'll start there!

Thanks for the help everyone!

[Daren]

I went to Pantip today, but I was disappointed by the lack of good pc remote options. There were only 2 models in the entire place as far as I could see - a smaller black model with a retractible core on the IR receiver, and a larger grey remote that looked more like a standard TV remote. The best prices I found were 290 for the small, black one and 340 for the larger model. I opted for the more normal looking model, but I'm not really bkk that happy with it. Without installing 3rd party software (not free either), some of the buttons aren't recognised in some programs (like 'play' in vlc ). On the box, they claim 'no driver needed' but this is really more of a flaw than a feature. He they had included a button mapping program, I'm sure it would be much better. I can say that because that's essentially what the 3rd party app does. Button placement is also not good, 'my computer' is right above the 'up' and there is absolutely no tactile difference between the two so I find I'm constantly mashing the wrong one. Lastly, the mouse motion is really the deal breaker. I knew I wasn't getting a great piece of hardware for 340B, but the pointer doesn't move the direction I push, it's not smooth at all and it seems to click-lock, even though it's disabled, so dragging sliders is nearly impossible. I'm definetly considering taking it back but I'll give it one more day.

[Daren]

I'm sorry about the mistakes and lack of paragraphs - I wrote bkk that on my phone.

[garyh]

Don't have any of those issues with the remote on my TV card.

[Daren]

Garyh, I don't need a TV card though. Seems awfully superfluous to buy a TV card for the remote...

[Beggar]

I use a simple serial cable with an IR receiver on top of it. Has been working great for many years. To use it with any application and any remote I have Girder. The last free version was 3.2.9. It works with WinXP und Win7 (32 Bit I tested).

Perhaps you can find one of the old versions of Girder on the Internet. I still use it but I do not have the installer anymore otherwise I could send it to you. The advantage is that you can use any remote and control any software. But not so easy to set it up. I guess you use a USB receiver already. I am not sure if it might work with your hardware but it can use USB.

But perhaps there is other software on the Internet for the same purpose. Google might know it

[phazey]

Have you considered using your mobile phone as a remote for your computer (i say this in the small chance you have a phone capable of such a task - what phone?).

I'm using a remote app called "remote buddy" on one laptop - this will accept anything as a remote control, such as the included apple remote, or a nintendo wii controler, or an iphone/android/winmo phone as it has a built in webserver running quite a nifty webapp (can even see the laptops webcam).

On my media centre, i use "airmouse" - an iphone app that acts as a touchpad, numbered remote or a play/stop/ffwd/rwd type thing - over my wifi network.

I do have one proper pc remote here - came with a usb tv encoder (hauppage wintv-usb2) although i prefere the phone solutions.

just a thought..