jbrown96
November 21st, 2008, 09:30 PM
I built an HTPC some months ago, and I have really liked it. However, I need a new way to control it. The generic USB keyboard and Optical mouse are really annoying since I have rearranged my furniture. I'm looking for suggestions on what I can use. Here are my needs and then a couple of thoughts that I had. Please feel free to suggest other products and/or possible problems with my proposed setup.
What I need:
I have encrypted volumes that I typically leave locked when not in use, so I would need to have a keyboard to unlock them, although I could potentially use SSH with my laptop.
Some type of pointer device. I would rather use keyboard shortcuts all the time (such as Alt+F2), but there are quite a few things that too difficult to control (changing volume and aspect-ratio in VLC just to name a couple).
Wireless. I would like to be even more lazy and not have to get up to change videos.
My Ideas:
I can't stand desktop keyboards. I really like the laptop-style ones that have the low-profile keys. I was thinking about the Mac chicklet keyboards. They seem to be solid (good for carrying, especially with one hand) and are fairly resistant to accident keystrokes. However, they are very expensive. Any experience with generic Bluetooth dongles and Ubuntu??
Wii or PS3 controller. I think this idea would be super-cool. However, I have a PS3, so there may not be any way to connect the controller to my computer without pairing it to the PS3 first. I've heard about Gyro mice, but I'm not sure what they do. Are they like a Wii controller?
Keyboard with trackpad. This would be a good implementation as well; plus everything is contained on the same device. It would need to have the low-profile keys though.
Thanks for the suggestions
On an unrelated note. Does anyone know of a video library manager? Nautilus is nice, but is a little much. I would like something that would hold all my videos, and I could open them from VLC.
What I need:
I have encrypted volumes that I typically leave locked when not in use, so I would need to have a keyboard to unlock them, although I could potentially use SSH with my laptop.
Some type of pointer device. I would rather use keyboard shortcuts all the time (such as Alt+F2), but there are quite a few things that too difficult to control (changing volume and aspect-ratio in VLC just to name a couple).
Wireless. I would like to be even more lazy and not have to get up to change videos.
My Ideas:
I can't stand desktop keyboards. I really like the laptop-style ones that have the low-profile keys. I was thinking about the Mac chicklet keyboards. They seem to be solid (good for carrying, especially with one hand) and are fairly resistant to accident keystrokes. However, they are very expensive. Any experience with generic Bluetooth dongles and Ubuntu??
Wii or PS3 controller. I think this idea would be super-cool. However, I have a PS3, so there may not be any way to connect the controller to my computer without pairing it to the PS3 first. I've heard about Gyro mice, but I'm not sure what they do. Are they like a Wii controller?
Keyboard with trackpad. This would be a good implementation as well; plus everything is contained on the same device. It would need to have the low-profile keys though.
Thanks for the suggestions
On an unrelated note. Does anyone know of a video library manager? Nautilus is nice, but is a little much. I would like something that would hold all my videos, and I could open them from VLC.