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Author Topic: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo  (Read 5026 times)

beanernsd

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 I am building a HTPC and am setting up Media Center 12 on it.
 First I'd like to say Media Center 12 is the answer to my
 dreams for a home theater pc so far. Everything I wanted to do
 with it Media Center does almost perfectly. I'm still learning the
 many features of it. I just want to mention that the Gyration
 remote & keyboard I bought for it works perfectly and controls
 every function of Media Center. I didn't have to install any
 drivers for MC12 it just started working when I installed MC12.
 Gyration remote & Media Center 12 are great combination. I'm
 surprised JRiver doesn't mention the Gyration in their documents
 on remotes. 

 Also, Gyration is RF so you don't have to point it at the unit. I
 works from anywhere. It also has infrared built in so you can
 program other devices.  :)
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steveklein

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2008, 11:54:21 pm »

a walking commercial if i ever saw one.

for what it's worth, i have finally said good riddance to Gyration. Their keyboard/mouse never really jived with me. I thought the buttons on the keyboard were too small and didn't feel right. The mouse had to be charged far too often (just gimme AA's that I have to replace once every 4-6 months instead of having to charge my mouse every other day, thanks)/

And I frequently had to adjust the position of the Gyration base unit because it wasn't picking up keystrokes or mouse movements.
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brentk

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2008, 12:46:37 am »

I can't say anything about the keyboard or mouse, but the remote control is actually pretty great. If I'm not doing much typing I use the remote rather than my track pad or wireless mouse. It's almost everything I've ever wanted for a media center remote. With MC especially. I've tried most of the programs out there and the combination of these two is the best I've found. Only thing I've never understood is that sometimes the stop button on the remote doesn't stop media center. Having mouse control on the remote makes stopping easy enough though.
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beanernsd

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2008, 01:32:25 am »

Sorry to hear that Junior. You must have had an older or different model. The keys on mine are actually larger than my full size keyboard. As far as batteries I have about a dozen devices around the house and bike lights that use either AA or AAA so I long ago invested in a couple of dozen NiMH batteries. They pay for themselves quickly and one particular brand is very economical and seems to last longer than the expensive brands. I won't plug them here but it starts with Ray. The RF of the Gyration really makes it over other remotes. I can turn the volume up/dn, mute or change songs etc. from another room. You just have to be careful with the mouse mode button because you may do something you didn't want to without even being in the same room.  :D
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MattRensing

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2008, 08:20:16 am »

I've had the mouse and keyboard combo for a few years, with mixed results.  I like the mouse, but receiver placement is a problem.  I've also had problems with the keyboard - it's run off AA batteries (rechargable for me), but frequently gets an erroneous "stuck key" (with none actually depressed) that continually transmits and drains the batteries.  As a result, any time I pull out the keyboard it's dead and requires new batteries.  An on/off switch would have improved matters immensely...
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Peter_T

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2008, 09:13:53 am »

I also love the mouse/keyboard combo.  I'd get the remote if I didn't already have a MCE remote, an Amp remote,  an Amp Zone 2 remote, and a DVD player remote,  The only one I've been able to stick in a drawer is the TV remote; I've got to work on eliminating some others.  In fact, I'd love to eliminate the DVD player altogether, but there's nothing like turning the HTPC off and using the stand-alone unit - the menus work right every time and the picture seems way better.  Component upsampled to 1080p on the DVD player, VGA on the PC.

But back to the Gyration stuff - I have had some problems with receiver placement but sorted that out quick enough; I find it's an awesome way to use my HTPC.

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thurston

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2008, 10:20:04 am »

I have the gyration remote and agree that it works great with MC12.  I've been thinking of buying a harmony remote, but I'm not sure if I could get it to work in a way that would turn on MC12 properly. 
Anyway, I also recommend the Gyration remote.
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fitbrit

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2008, 10:53:26 am »

I use a combination of the following:

BTC-URFIII keyboard
Gyration mouse (which I love)
Harmony 880 remote with iMON VFD

I also have the gyration mini keyboard, but use it very rarely.

For MC I use the the mouse and keyboard for standard view stuff, and the mouse/harmony for Theater View. I use the Harmony only for Display View. The Harmony controls the rest of my HT setup.
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ukahfur

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #8 on: May 30, 2008, 03:30:30 pm »

I don't have the gyration keyboard, but I would highly recommend the gyration remote. It's just about perfect. It's a universal learning remote too, so you can use it to turn on your TV, play a DVD, etc..There is nothing else out there like it as far as I know. I was thinking about getting a harmony remote, but being able to control the mouse cursor by simply moving your hand makes this remote 100 times more useful than a Harmony if you have your computer hooked up to your TV. The only real disadvantage is that if you can't  reprogram how the buttons will control your PC. I use it with XP and I really wanted to be able to push a button to switch between programs (i.e., Alt-Esc), so I finally broke down and bought this software called intelliremote which allows you to change what the buttons on the gyration remote do...so now the big green "Vista" button on the remote is my change programs button.

yeah...this remote rocks.
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JONCAT

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #9 on: July 03, 2008, 01:06:48 pm »

Ukahfur, your box is full so I'll post here.

Hello again,

I noticed that on the 1st page of Intelliremote it reads USB Device: None

So I went online and downlooaded the profiles .zip file thinking that running the Gyration profile is what I needed.

I'm at a loss, I can't seem to configure Intelliremote to do anything.

Any ideas?

I really appreciate it. This remote is really something, especially for 35 dollars. The hardness of the Harmony buttons alone was enough to sell me on the Gyration. I've said elsewhere, by default, you can use all the media controls with MC and the back button and full screen cycle (F11) also already work out of the box.

Jon
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beanernsd

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2008, 11:30:26 am »

Now that Gyration support told me you have to point the bottom of their remote toward the top of the remote you want to program individual keys from, I have 100% control of my Samsung 40", SA HDTV cable box and my HTPC running Media Center 12. I was able to add the button for changing screens from cable HDMI to HTPC on my Cable box menu. It not only works perfect but I have it set up to actually work easier and better than the remotes that came with my Sansung HDTV and SA cable box. The wireless keyboard is very handy for maintenance work like adding play list etc. The keys pop loose easily though causing it to stick so you need to make sure all the keys are seated. The only thing about MC12 that could use improvement is navigating through playlist. It gets a little clumsy sometimes and the text could be larger. Other that that I love the MC12 & Gyration combination.  :)  8)
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Melloware

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Re: Gyration remote and keyboard & Media Center 12 - a super combo
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2008, 10:03:08 pm »


I noticed that on the 1st page of Intelliremote it reads USB Device: None

So I went online and downlooaded the profiles .zip file thinking that running the Gyration profile is what I needed.

I'm at a loss, I can't seem to configure Intelliremote to do anything.

Doctor Cilantro,

I think it was because i needed to add another ID for the Gyration remotes to Intelliremote.   If you give it another shot i bet it works now with the latest version.  Also i have a JRiver MC profile now included with Intelliremote.

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