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Question of the Day: What is your ultimate pancake filling/topping?
Media Player vs HTPC
- Thread starter Dolby
- Start date
Compro K300 was just delivered, will only be able to test tonight, but I can confirm that there are big "RC6 ir" badges on the box and remote. The IR receiver is a USB stick type, so fairly small, hope the pickup range will be good. It also comes with a USB extension cable. The remote itself feels cheapish and has soft buttons, but tactile feedback is ok, except on the left and right buttons, they're still ok, but can feel a bit weird.
It looks like some Hauppauge models use RC5 and some RC6. The Hauppauge MCE Remote Kit sold here (model 226, I think) seems to use RC5 ... that said, I have only seen positive comments about it from Harmony owners, so no big deal.
It looks like some Hauppauge models use RC5 and some RC6. The Hauppauge MCE Remote Kit sold here (model 226, I think) seems to use RC5 ... that said, I have only seen positive comments about it from Harmony owners, so no big deal.
DrJohnZoidberg
Honorary Master
The K300 isn't too bad for the money - I have had one for a while now and its still going strong. The receiver is not very sensitive so you have to really point the remote, but other than that it works well and is responsive and haven't had any lag. It has a bunch of extra keys that I have programmed for xbmc use. I have also dropped it on the tiles numerous times and still works like the day I bought it.
OK, so first impressions on the Compro K300 ...
Everything works ... my Openelec box was powered off, so I booted up with the new IR receiver and the remote immediately worked ... I'm guessing it would even have been fine to just stick it into an already booted up Openelec. Sounds good ... mmmm.
The remote is junk ... just tapping a button does nothing ... there is a little blue light on it that lights up and there is even a red light on the receiver that flashes, indicating that a signal was sent, but to actually get a command across, you need to hold down the button for a short while 100 - 200 ms ... aargh, would drive me mad. IR transmitter is also very weak, need to be close to receiver (around 4 meters reliability starts dropping) AND you need to point it directly at receiver ...
So over to the IR receiver ... again, JUNK. Very very weak ... not only do you always have to point the remote directly at the receiver, but the receiver also needs to be pointed towards the remote, ie. very small angle for receiving signals.
It is RC6 and has no issues with my Harmony's, no lag either. To setup the new device in the Logitech Harmony software use Media Center PC->Microsoft->and then type "Windows Media Center" as the model nr.
The Harmony One has a much better transmitter than the Compro remote, so it works from further away and pointing it directly at receiver is not as critical as with the Compro, BUT the damn receiver still needs to be pointed towards you, so you can't just stand anywhere in the room.
For my Harmony 900 test, first using the IR transmitters in the 900 (i.e.. not RF mode) gives same results as the Harmony One, as would be expected. My Openelec box is in the lounge, and the 900's main RF blaster is in the theatre room, with only one mini blaster covering the lounge and sitting about 8 meters from the equipment. This works fine for the Samsung TV and DSTv HDPVR in the lounge, but was just too much to ask of the Compro receiver. I didn't want to move stuff around but still wanted to check the RF part of the 900, so ... out came an Ellies remote blaster (these things work brilliantly btw).
So the signal path ended up being:
Harmony 900 ---RF---> 900 Blaster ---IR---> Ellies A ---RF---> Ellies B ---IR---> Compro IR receiver
... and it worked perfectly without any detectable increase in lag.
The Harmony's doesn't have the "just tap a button" problem of the Compro remote. You can just tap it and the full command is at least sent.
I bought this kit basically for the receiver, but it is very weak ... I might break it open and solder on a better "eye" and then build it into the HP Proliant MS, but I think I'm just gonna order an HP RC6 IR Receiver on eBay ... and live with this one in the mean time.
For anyone thinking of getting a Harmony 900, go ahead, I still think it is the best universal remote ever.
Everything works ... my Openelec box was powered off, so I booted up with the new IR receiver and the remote immediately worked ... I'm guessing it would even have been fine to just stick it into an already booted up Openelec. Sounds good ... mmmm.
The remote is junk ... just tapping a button does nothing ... there is a little blue light on it that lights up and there is even a red light on the receiver that flashes, indicating that a signal was sent, but to actually get a command across, you need to hold down the button for a short while 100 - 200 ms ... aargh, would drive me mad. IR transmitter is also very weak, need to be close to receiver (around 4 meters reliability starts dropping) AND you need to point it directly at receiver ...
So over to the IR receiver ... again, JUNK. Very very weak ... not only do you always have to point the remote directly at the receiver, but the receiver also needs to be pointed towards the remote, ie. very small angle for receiving signals.
It is RC6 and has no issues with my Harmony's, no lag either. To setup the new device in the Logitech Harmony software use Media Center PC->Microsoft->and then type "Windows Media Center" as the model nr.
The Harmony One has a much better transmitter than the Compro remote, so it works from further away and pointing it directly at receiver is not as critical as with the Compro, BUT the damn receiver still needs to be pointed towards you, so you can't just stand anywhere in the room.
For my Harmony 900 test, first using the IR transmitters in the 900 (i.e.. not RF mode) gives same results as the Harmony One, as would be expected. My Openelec box is in the lounge, and the 900's main RF blaster is in the theatre room, with only one mini blaster covering the lounge and sitting about 8 meters from the equipment. This works fine for the Samsung TV and DSTv HDPVR in the lounge, but was just too much to ask of the Compro receiver. I didn't want to move stuff around but still wanted to check the RF part of the 900, so ... out came an Ellies remote blaster (these things work brilliantly btw).
So the signal path ended up being:
Harmony 900 ---RF---> 900 Blaster ---IR---> Ellies A ---RF---> Ellies B ---IR---> Compro IR receiver
... and it worked perfectly without any detectable increase in lag.
The Harmony's doesn't have the "just tap a button" problem of the Compro remote. You can just tap it and the full command is at least sent.
I bought this kit basically for the receiver, but it is very weak ... I might break it open and solder on a better "eye" and then build it into the HP Proliant MS, but I think I'm just gonna order an HP RC6 IR Receiver on eBay ... and live with this one in the mean time.
For anyone thinking of getting a Harmony 900, go ahead, I still think it is the best universal remote ever.
mh348 offereed me the hp ir receiver.
perhaps pm him and see if you if its still available.
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthr...-MicroServer?p=7494955&viewfull=1#post7494955
Also, a few guys broke the plastic case around the Compro receiver and said it improved it significantly. Perhaps you can try that.
I havent started using my Harmony 900 yet. Waiting for the receiver and then will try it all together.
Cant wait.
Is the Plex media server only compatible with LG/Sammy TV's? there is not too much info on their site?
Roman4604
Executive Member
Check out the forums ... http://forums.plexapp.com/
Besides client for Samsung & LG TVs & Bluray players, also Win, OSX, iPad, AppleTV, Android etc.
OK, so I can be seriously dof sometimes ...
I moved the HP to my main setup last night to check whether it was maybe too noisy and to test it within range of the Harmony 900's blasters. Worked very well with the 900, but it is actually a bit too noisy to my liking ... could still hear it over my aircon (searched long for a very very quiet aircon) ... HP's fans were just running at normal low speed as the machine was cold when I booted it up.
Anyway, HP is fine for the living room but decided I won't get another one for the main setup ... would rather go for something like a Shuttle XS35GTv2 (passively cooled) ... but luckily I eventually woke the &^%& up and realized that my dead quiet 27" iMac i7, standing right next to the TV and already connected to the AVR with a Thunderbolt-HDMI cable would probably be a good candidate for this task
So, yeah 10 minutes later up and running ... the iMac even has an IR receiver built in and works perfectly with the Harmony.
No, not when there is sound, but I'm anal about stuff like that ... You can definitely hear the thing when there is no sound, so I know that noise is still there all the time. The iMac on the other hand makes NO audible sound. Like I said, for the living room I'm 100% happy with the HP.
There's a hack to getting it working- I gave up (and I was using the Microsoft Media Center remote and keyboard)