RE: Remote Mouse and Keyboard

["Paul Gale" <groups@xxxxxxx>]

The lower power gyration mouse version was a little 'dodgy' for me - it
wou=
ldn't quite work with a leg in the way! The high power ver works great
thou=
gh :)  The keyboard works anywhere in the house :)

Paul.



-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Gordon [mailto:paul_gordon@xxxxxxx]=20
Sent: 08 September 2003 19:59
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Remote Mouse and Keyboard

Simon.

I suspect you will soon get irritated with an IR keyboard/mouse
solution,=20
(as I have). Seems fine for a while, until you get to the point where
you=20
are sitting comfortably, but no longer have line-of-sight to the IR=20
receiver... I very quickly got fed up of having to change position in
order=
=20
for the keyboard/mouse to work...

Same goes for those times when someone walks (and stays) between you and
th=
e=20
receiver... contortions galore trying to point the keyboard around the=20
obstruction whilst still being able to operate it...

I've given up on IR keyboard/mouse solutions and have bought a Gyration=20
ultra set. The basic version of this has a claimed 25-foot range, and
whils=
t=20
that is presumably in open-air, and would likely be significantly less
with=
=20
a wall/floor in the way, you may very well find that if the distance
betwee=
n=20
your viewing position & the PC is small enough, its still enough to
work...=
=20
If not, then there is a higher power version available that claims 100ft=20
range, however that is a tad on the expensive side :-( (it would probably
b=
e=20
cheaper to buy a "silent" mini-ITX PC to live in the living
room!)

The 25-foot version goes for around the =A380 mark....

Other alternatives are not to use a keyboard at all, but use something
like=
=20
an X10 mouseremote instead? (I also have one of these). This gives
enough=20
functionality for basic use, - lets you move the mouse pointer around
and=20
click on things etc... also buttons can be programmed to launch=20
applications, start predefined playlists etc... There are a couple of=20
different flavours of these around, and I believe most use *both* IR and
RF=
.=20
Radio reception through a floor might be an issue, - not sure of the range=
=20
of these though.

And yet another potential solution is to decouple the controller from the
P=
C=20
and use either xPL or xAP as a control mechanism. - Might not be so
relevan=
t=20
is your case though, as one way or another you eventually have to get
the=20
control signals into the PC in question, and if that is the closest PC
to=20
the viewing position it seems likely that any xAP/xPL infrastructure would=
=20
be installed on that PC as well,  - which begs the question of by bother
to=
=20
install an extra layer when you probably don't need to...

HTH

Paul G.




>From: "Simon Brazier" <simon@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>Subject: [ukha_d] Remote Mouse and Keyboard
>Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 11:21:04 -0000 (GMT)
>
>I've managed to get the output of my main PC to display on the TV in
the
>lounge thanks to an RF modulator I had knocking around and the loftbox
I
>have installed. The only trouble is that I don't have mouse or keyboard
>control.
>
>The PC is only about 10 metres away from where I would sit in front of
the
>TV, but it is on a different floor of the house so it's not very easy
to
>run cables.
>
>How do people normally achieve control ? Would an RF keyboard and mouse
>transmit through a ceiling, is it worth trying a Bluetooth keyboard and
>mouse, or is it best to get an IR keyboard and mouse and use something
>like a Powermid to do the transmission ? Or would the best results come
>from a video sender which transmits the IR as well as audio and video ?
>
>Main reason I'm wanting to do this is so that I can play music from the
PC
>upstairs in the lounge without having a noise PC in the lounge. The
sound
>and vision works, but without mouse control I can't add any tracks.
>
>Thanks
>
>
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