The Creative PC-DVD Remote Control is a small, credit card sized (about the same size as 4-5 credit cards stacked on one another) remote control for use with your PC's DVD player and other media players. The layout of the buttons is simple, despite the size, in comparison with today's larger remotes.
Default Buttons for WinDVD
|--------------------|
| Py St Ps Ej |
| |
| Pv Rw FF Nx |
| |
| 01 02 03 Sf |
| |
| 04 05 06 Ms |
| |
| 07 08 09 V+ |
| |
| St 00 Mt V- |
|--------------------|
As you can see there is only a total of 24 buttons. However, the remote comes with a Remote Selector to let you define your own button functions (from a list provided) using the Shift and Mouse (acting as a second shift) buttons. The editor program therefore becomes a powerful tool when used properly, especially because you can alternate the buttons for each media program you have.
As you can guess, the Mouse button also puts your remote into Mouse-mode, in which you can move the mouse pointer around your screen, using at a painfully slow pace.
The default mouse buttons are as follows...
| 01 02 03 Sf |
| |
| 04 05 06 Ms |
| |
| 07 08 09 V+ |
With the combination between the shift and mouse button definitions, there is a possible 66 different available buttons for different functions. If I'm not mistaken, that's more than most larger remotes. Plus, because of the Remote Selector Program, there's almost countless possibilities for this little miracle.
The IR beam for the remote isn’t as strong as some of the better TV/DVD remotes I've encountered, but it's strong enough for me to stand 15 feet away with no direct path and unmute my music. I would presume the maximum range is 20-25 feet with a clear path (I have no room for testing, being in the smallest dorm room on campus). My favorite feature of the remote is that it will function even if the program is not maximized or if it is hidden within the task bar or something. No more searching for my mouse, maximizing WinAmp and then looking for a tiny little Next button that's hidden because of the Winamp Skin, I just pick up the remote, hit next, and I'm back to whatever I was doing a moment before with hardly an interruption. Another really sweet feature of the remote is the variety of programs it works with. A complete list from the website I bought it from is as follows:
As any non-Windows users can tell, The Remote is a Windows only device. Although it would probably be easy to be a 1337 hax0r and create Linux Drivers for this thing. Apparently, and I wouldn't know how, but the remote can be used in video decoders and editors. Of course I are wicked retahded and don't know how to use those.
Installation is easy. The IR reciever plugs into any serial port on your computer (although there are less and less of those now-a-days). And the battery for the remote is a small Lithium battery. The kind that's a bit larger than your thumbnail. I know nothing about batteries.
The Creative PC-DVD Remote Control is a very powerful tool if you're cheap and use your computer as your stereo and source of Video entertainment. The Remote is not available for sale on the Creative website, but numerous online vendors sell it at an average price of about $14 after shipping and handling charges; making it a cheap must-have addition to any geek's arsenal of toys to make normal people roll their eyes.
Sources, owning it, unless otherwise mentioned.
For those of you who will ask me, much like Servo5678 did, the remote is available here, http://www.superpcparts.com/item.jsp?itemID=3612 for really cheap.