Control for your HTPC

July 19, 2008 · Filed Under Suggested Hardware

The way you control your Home Theatre PC can really affect your entire home theatre experience. It is important that you get a good remote to get the easiest experience and make your home theatre PC seem like a completely integrated solution. Here we outline the major ways of controlling you HTPC:

Remotes

Some HTPC cases and TV tuners come with remotes. Be careful when paying extra for these as some of them can only control the TV application that comes with the card. This is fine if you are not doing other things on your Home Theatre PC, but if you are you will probably want to get a remote that can control your whole PC.

The most popular remote for controlling you entire HTPC is the Media Centre remote, also known as the Windows MCE Remote. This is designed to control the entire PC so has buttons to make it easy.

Another popular remote is the Logitech Harmony Universal Remote Control. These come in various models that have different features and range from relatively cheap to very expensive. Some are designed to specifically to control Home Theatre PCs. The good thing about these remotes is they are a universal remote control, so you can use them to control your other Home theatre devices and your TV, meaning you can have just one remote to control all your home theatre devices.

Wireless Keyboard and Mouse

If you are going to use your Home Theatre PC for other things other than just watching media content, you may want to get a keyboard and mouse. A wireless keyboard and mouse is a good option, as then you can sit on your couch and use your TV. If you are going to be directly in front of your HTPC, a normal IR receiver will be fine, but if you are going to be moving around and accessing it from far away or from an angle, you may want to invest in a Blutooth keyboard and mouse combo, as these have a lot better range.

A lot of people choose to have a keyboard with the mouse integrated, so that they don’t have to carry around a mouse. The most popular of these is the Logitech diNovo Mini which is a small keyboard with a touch pad on it. If you want a full sized keyboard with an integrated touchpad, the Logitech diNovo is a great choice. The only downside of these is that they can be quite expensive.

Gyro Mouse

This is also known as an air mouse. These are very cool for a Home Theatre PC, it basically lets you hold the mouse in the air like a remote, and point and click easily at where you want on your TV (like the Wii remotes). The problem with these is that they aren’t that accurate if you want to play games or edit pictures on your HTPC.

This article has covered some of the most popular options for controlling your HTPC. Each of them has both pros and cons, and picking one is dependent on what type of application you primarily use your Home Theatre PC for.

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