PPC or Remote???

[arkania]

Okay, I'm at a loss on which direction I should take and would like input from you folks on your opnion...

I have a ATI Remote Wonder as well as a Dell Axim PPC and I'm having a hard time deciding which is more suitable to use with my home theatre. Has anyone here had experience with both types of setups? If so, what is your preference?

I don't want to waste to much time setting up xlobby for use with one type of device only to find out the other works better.

Would appreciate any comments you guys might have.

Thanks.

Gary.

[gamejester]

Why not both

In my experience / opinion each has its own merits.
I also have a Pronto, touch screen IR remote…………now this is my feeling.

General navigation of the stuff you do 90% of the time you want a good tactile IR remote with hard buttons, I think the best one of these is the Tivo remote, that is what I use with my Xlobby.

For overall On/Off, macros, clever stuff I still fall back on the pronto - example: 1 button programmed to switch on projector, turn on dvd, turn on amp, set projector to correct input, change amp to correct input, dim lights and play dvd.

Where I plan to use the PPC for xlobby (not written these screens yet) is for music. I think a portable pad you can control your music from that gives you 2 way feed back of what track is playing, play list and the ability to que up a new song is a winner as you do not need to turn on your TV to play music. + the ppc interface also looks flashy for impressing your friends.

Bottom line, if you have to look at a remote to perform an action it takes longer and gets annoying + if you have to use 2 hands to hold the remote this makes things even worse!

[Roscoe62]

I also have a Pronto, but I'm almost ready to switch completely over to a Dell Axim PPC for total control. Been doing lots of testing and I'm almost there.

Extra things to think about....

On the plus side for the PPC...

- as mentioned, the ability to browse and select items from your music collection without having to turn on the TV is a huge bonus.
- no line-of-sight issues as PPC is RF based - this makes it miles easier to use as you don't have to point the device at the IR receiver
- range (assuming a reasonable wireless access point) is huge. I can happily change tracks, turn volume up/down etc from outside on our deck without any problems.
- you can-NOT deny the cool factor in displaying thumbs of your movies or album covers, or whatever on the screen. Definitely impressive!

On the minus side...

- it does take longer to set up for use unless you use a skin that's already PPC-centric
- there is the additional setup expense required - the purchase of a wireless AP, a switch/router, cables etc
- if you want a function or something that no-one else has you have to figure it out for yourself (but there are lots of people on this forum that are happy to point you in the right direction )

Good luck!

[arkania]

Thanks for the input guys, some interesting points.

I really think the ppc method is cool, but I'm not sure how pratical it is yet (I don't want to fumble around when I can just press a button on a remote).

Still, I think I'll implement the ppc method for browsing music around the house, and keep the remote for the theatre.

So I guess I will use both, LOL. Duh....

Gary.