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[lalittle]

I was just wondering what the general consensus was on the two X10 remotes that MC has plugins for -- the "Mouse Remote" and the "MP3" remote (which I assume is what X10 calls the "Anywhere" remote, correct?)  I'm interested in hearing opinions on these two remotes, and why people prefer one over the other.  I'm especially interested in hearing opinions from anyone who has actually used both.

Does either one have faster response, or does one work "better" with MC?  I'm only interested in using this device with MC, so I don't need it to control any other software at this point (I don't want another application running all the time -- I'd rather just use native MC capabilities.)

Thanks for any feedback on this,

Larry

PS.  I've seen the MP3 remote referred to as the UR51, but on the X10 site all I see is the UR81A which they call the "Anywhere" remote.  Is this the "MP3" remote?  Does the current MC "MP3 Remote" plugin work with the X10 VK26A kit, which is the kit that includes the UR81A remote and the MK26A receiver?  According to the X10 support it sounds like this IS the "MP3" remote, but I just want to verify this.

[skeeterfood]

I have the mouseremote, but I no longer use it because the receiver tends to be noisy and spuriously injects commands the remote hasn't issued!  It's an RF remote, so who knows what is blasting out RF and confusing it...

I'd try and stick with an IR based remote/receiver unless you really need non-line-of-sight use.  The mouseremote doesn't have very good range anyway...

-John

[Magicland]

The mouseremote is probably a good one to avoid. I've got one, have had it for years, it's sat in a drawer until I got MC. It works, but not well. It's very easy to overshoot what you're looking for when moving through menus, as it seems rather "hit and miss" when it comes to registering button presses for movement. This makes navigating and re-navigating menus necessary. When using the remote with MC, apparantly it isn't possible to use it as a mouse, which means you can use it as a mouse, and run MC that way (though I wouldn't recommend it, as it scrolls horribly slowly across the screen), or you can set it up to work with MC (and it seems to only work if you've deleted the "serial mouse" device), which will let you scroll around the menus, and program the buttons (though somewhat limited). I plan on ditching it once I get Girder set up with my MCE remote, which works MUCH better.

[lalittle]

I definitely do need an RF remote since the purpose of the remote in my case is to use it without line of site in more than one room.  Is the MP3 "Anywhere" remote any better than the "Mouse Remote"?  The "Anywhere" does not act as a "mouse" controller (i.e. it only does basic functions and left-right-up-down position commands) so the mouse control issues don't apply to this remote, but I am still somewhat concerned about the general reliability and response speed.  Is it acceptable for something like basic functions in MC's Theater View?

Thanks again for any feedback on this subject,

Larry

[JohnT]

I'd go with the "anywhere" remote over the mouse remote. Like others have said, the X10 RF remotes are subject to interference and the claimed 100 foot range is exaggerated. They do work but are less reliable than the IR remotes.

Another option would be to stick with IR and get an IR repeater from Radio Shack or other sources. This uses RF to transfer the IR signal to another location so the interference and range issues still apply, but I've heard others say that they work pretty well. Never tried it myself.

In my case it was easy to run a wire to the other room so I built a small IR receiver (from a kit) to receive the IR signal in one room and send it over the wire to an IR emitter in the room where the IRMAN receiver is located. This works very nicely. Strangely, there don't seem to be any ready made products for doing a wired IR repeater (at least not reasonably priced), the only one I found was in kit form.

[Magicland]

I haven't used the X10 MP3 remote. Other sources of IR repeaters are xantech (www.xantech.com), not cheap, but they make just about anything you could ever need for IR/RF, I've used them on several high-end whole house audio systems. www.smarthome.com also carries a bunch of IR/RF stuff, from powermid powerline IR transmitters (just plug a transmitter into each room you want to use a remote, and stick a receiver by the AV equipment), leapfrog units, and IR/RF converters (use with an IR remote to transmit RF signals to a receiver near your AV equipment, up to 150 feet away). I believe X-10 also has a version of the powermid.

[lalittle]

I basically want an RF remote since I don't want to put IR receivers in every room.  If these remotes work as advertised, they would be a much more elegant solution for me.  The key word, however, is of course "if."  I do have a similar RF remote to control my HT lights, which works perfectly, but this is different than controlling PC functions.

Does anyone have any actual experience with MC and the MP3 "Anywhere" remote -- it would be nice to get some direct feedback from users of this specific device.

Thanks again,

Larry