1 PC, 1 monitor, 1 TV, 2 rooms

[traveler17]

I an curious about Xlobby. But before I download it and invest time, effort and wireless items, I have a unique situation. I am an American living overseas. I'm usually gone off to school in Slovakia, but I visit my parents in Holland on holidays and breaks. Since my parents do not speak dutch, they download US TV shows offline. They have their TV and computer in seperate rooms (can't move them) . As a gift, I would like to set up for them a HTPC. The problem is, one of us has to run from room to room so we can watch something.

So, here is the main area of quandry, can I have Xlobby running on the TV, and use a PC remote to play video without messing with the computer in the other room? Like, can I program a remote to activate Xlobby and use it? I'm a student, so I do not have alot of money, and my parents don't have alot of money to spend either.

[rembetis]

From your post title, it sounds like you are limited to using just the 1 PC in the other room, but in the post itself you mention building them a HTPC. Did you simply mean use the main PC as an HTPC?

The simplest solution would be to build a cheap HTPC that sits in the TV room, connects to the TV, and acts as the playback device, running Xlobby. You could still store your files on the main PC (avoiding the need for a large hard drive in the HTPC), and network the two. If that isn't feasible, depending on the size of the house, you could run a composite or s-video cable from a video card in the main PC into the TV room, and use the TV as a secondary monitor. Assuming the distance isn't too great, a RF remote like the Remote Wonder (as opposed to a infrared remote that is line-of-sight) could theoretically control the PC in the other room, and you would even retain use of the main computer for other activities, but unless it has a newer processor and lots of ram you are likely to slow down and/or render inoperable each others activities (like I doubt you could run a movie on the TV and run Photoshop at the same time. You might be able to surf the internet though).

Others will have to chime in about the feasiblity of streaming video content over wireless. I know some are doing it, but I imagine that unless your wireless network is rock solid you may run into some problems.

Hope that helps.

[traveler17]

Sorry, it seems I didn't explain my situation very well.

We do have a S-video cable hooked up to our TV and PC. We simply run a PowerDVD window (maximised) on the TV. But to select a file and play it, we have to go to the PC in the other room. I want to ease my parents TV viewing so they can manage and play programs simply on the TV (thus my interest into HTPC freeware like Xlobby).

My main problem with useing Xlobby is that the PC is not going to be a dedicated HTPC. It still needs to be a PC, that a HTPC program can occationally run on demand. I'm wondering if you can program a PC remote to start/switch to Xlobby when needed. Otherwise you still have to get up and start Xlobby, which somewhat diminishes the whole point.

Notes:
1. The wireless thing I mentioned was a PC remote, thats all.
2. I cannot offord to build a dedicated HTPC for my parents

[art]

Your PC remote, is it IR or RF, or should I ask do you already have one or are you going to buy one?
On the software side, Girder would be your best solution to start XL with remote, you can search for its free version (I think it was 3.2 and there should be a link somewhere on this forum)
EDIT: here is link to girder

[rembetis]

Sorry, it seems I didn't explain my situation very well.

I guess I misread. My bad.

In that case, does your tv-out on your video card show up as a secondary monitor? If so, Xlobby can be set to run on the second monitor only. You still haven't mentioned how far it is from the TV room to the PC though. That will dictate your options for remotes.