Lean Back Technology for your HTPC!

So, you’ve got this fancy new HTPC, but how do you use it?  Well, I thought we would take a look at the various options for controlling your HTPC.  I am splitting this post into a two part series covering both keyboard and mice solutions in the first post while wand style remotes will be featured in the second post.  Like previous posts on technology, products covered are limited to what I had immediately available — not intended to cover all the different options out there. Likewise, this is not intended to be a review of all the different solutions, just an introduction to a few available products. 

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a few of these different solutions for testing thanks to our technology partners.  As such, I brought these devices home for a brief period so I could see how my family liked them. I know, I said I should never use my family as beta testers, but this seemed a little different and I felt it would be more useful to provide their feedback in addition to mine to provide a wider cross section of user experiences. More about their responses later on.

Keyboards and mice come in many different flavors; some are clearly aimed at the desk environment with their cables running to the back of your PC (aka the 2 foot experience).  They provide little value in a living room setting while you are sitting on the couch.  However, with the advent of wireless keyboards, you  are no longer tethered to your PC. 

The ultimate goal of the HTPC for me is that I would never have need of a keyboard or mouse and that I could do everything with a remote in hand.  As covered in the “What Can an HTPC Do?” series (part 1 and part 2), I showed you a lot of what you can do with just a remote in hand.  However, as mentioned, the HTPC is also a fully functional PC and therefore, the addition of a keyboard and mouse opens it up to just about all the things you could do on a traditional PC.  Now, I don’t do my “PC” type activities on my HTPC, but there are a lot of different video websites that I routinely visit for TV content.  Having a keyboard and mouse for searching content on those sites can be useful.  So, let’s discuss some of the technologies and the options available for your HTPC.
 
Technology
First, it is important to understand there are various cordless keyboard technologies on the market.  Some may be infrared (IR) based solutions, while others may be radio frequency (RF) or Bluetooth® (BT) based technologies.  The difference can impact cost, reliability, line of sight, distance, and other factors.  IR solutions are typically the cheapest solutions to implement and work in much the same way as a traditional remote control might work.  Typically, they will have good range but would require direct line of sight to the sensor in order to send the keystrokes (your typing) to your HTPC.  RF on the other hand is usually more common and uses radio waves to send those keystroke.  These can vary in range from 3 feet to 10-15 feet or more but can be impacted by interference from other devices in the home (cordless phones, etc.) or home construction (metals used in the walls, venting, stairway rails, etc). BT keyboards are usually the most expensive solutions, but typically have the longest range and can work well at distances up to 30 feet. 

Some HTPC keyboards integrate cursor control via a mouse pad (like those on laptops), a track ball or other forms into the keyboard design, while others bundle separate mice in the package. Now, I personally feel that the integrated solution is a really nice feature that eliminates the need for a separate mouse.  However, these may not be ideal if you are trying to game on an HTPC.  Integrated cursor control may not have the precision movement or ease of control offered by a separate mouse and therefore may not work as well in a gaming environment. 

Another common feature found in HTPC style keyboards is a rechargeable battery.  This is another nice touch because like any device, these can go through batteries quite often.  Having a recharging deck can save the consumer the hassle of changing batteries and can also be more convenient.  Not all wireless keyboards offer recharging stations so be sure to check the package before making your purchase if that is important to you.

Some vendors will include software applications and drivers with their keyboards.  Some of these applications can be useful for media playback, programming hotkeys, etc.  These may also automatically check for version updates for you, but this can also happen at less than ideal times.  However, you often have control over when these updates should or should not take place.  So, let’s look at a few different solutions (in no particular order). 

Keyboards for HTPC
One of the first RF keyboards I tried was the nMedia PC RF keyboard and remote combo package.   

This is a full size keyboard operating on a 2.4Ghz RF band.  It has an integrated trackball on the right hand side with your left and right click buttons on the left side.  Along the top edge are Internet hot keys and multimedia hot keys for quick access to common functions.  The keyboard has a very nice tactile feel without being loud as you type.  The overall shape has a very comfortable feel in your hands.  Using the trackball can take a little practice, especially if you are more familiar using a full size mouse in a desktop environment.  There is an option to bundle the keyboard with a remote as well (to be discussed in part 2 of this post).  This option can be a great, cost effective solution for those on a tight budget.

Another interesting set of solutions comes from Microsoft. Microsoft has numerous wireless keyboards on the market, but they have some that specifically target Media Center type applications.

The Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 is another full size keyboard solution that integrates cursor control along with numerous other functions into the keyboard design. It is a popular choice among many HTPC enthusiasts. It uses BT technology so the range is very good.  It is very thin and light and has a rechargeable battery for ease of use. It too is comfortable and quiet when typing. The many built-in hot keys bring a lot of functionality to the finger tips with a single button press.  It comes bundled with a cordless mouse as well giving you a couple of options for controlling the cursor.  Although more expensive than the nMedia solution mentioned above, it is quite a bit less costly than some of the higher end units on the market while delivering a great mid range solution.  While I did not have one of these to test, I have seen it in several stores and found it a very compelling solution. 

Logitech has some great products as well, two of which are nice keyboard solutions for HTPC users.  The Logitech diNovo Edge^TM and the Logitech diNovo Mini^TM are keyboard and mice solutions that provide two very different user experiences.  Like the Microsoft solution above, the Logitech solutions listed leverage BT technology for great range.    

The diNovo Edge^TM is a full size keyboard and mouse solution for the HTPC.  It has back lit keys, integrated mouse pad, touch based volume slider all in a very slim, rechargeable design.  This is probably one of the more sexy solutions I have seen in keyboards for the HTPC space.  The elegant design is both aesthetically pleasing and very functional.  The hot keys make for quick access to commonly used functions.  The battery seems to last a long time on a single charge, but this depends on how often it is used so mileage may vary, so to speak. When not in use, the recharging station also makes for a convenient stand for storage. This falls into the mid to high end type price point, but you can often find it on sale online.  

The diNovo Mini^TM is a much smaller solution that uses a thumb style QWERTY keyboard and also includes a mouse touch pad.  It comes with a charger and it has pretty good life out of a single charge.  One particularly nice feature included in the diNovo Mini is a switch that converts the touch pad into an up/down/left/right select navigation control (like those found on traditional wand style remotes).  This is pretty handy for having one solution that can navigate Windows® Media Center similar to a wand remote as well as operate as a keyboard and mouse solution for general PC duties. It has media control keys along the top for easy playback of your favorite media content along with channel up/down for TV control (assuming you have a TV Tuner in your HTPC).  It also has back lit keys so you can easily find the letters in low light situations.

User Experience
It is difficult to write in depth about the full user experience and functionality of all these keyboards in a single post so I will be brief.  Each one of these products could easily deserve its own post, therefore, I would suggest that you read some in depth reviews and go to the product pages to get a list of the full functionality offered by each of these products as well as to learn what other solutions are out there that might best meet your needs.

User experiences of these solutions differ from one unit to the next and also from one person to the next.  Full size keyboards are easy to adapt to since most people use them daily with their PCs.  Both my wife and I found the larger keyboards very easy to use and comfortable.  Even my kids liked the full size keyboards.  I personally liked all of them, but found the touch pads a little easier to use since it was the same technology used on my laptop.  However, full size keyboards can take up a lot of space on coffee tables or entertainment shelves in your living room and don’t always fit the decor.  

If you are space constricted, the smaller micro size keyboards or the thumb style like the diNovo Mini might be better suited.  While I like the diNovo Mini a lot (its small size while being fully functional was great), I am just not as adept at the thumb style keyboard as my wife and kids.  My daughter is a texting queen and her lightening fast fingers are a blur as she texts people on her phone.  As such, she was able to quickly adapt to the smaller diNovo mini.  She did mention that the keyboard is bigger than that of her phone, but it did not appear to throw her off at all.  Heck, based upon some of her comments, I have to keep an eye on it just to make sure my daughter does not hijack it for her room.

Therefore, if you are comfortable and quick with texting on phones, the thumb style solutions like the diNovo Mini might make for a great solution for you.  However, if you tend to fumble those smaller keyboards like me (I too often send out garbled messages or take forever just to send a two word response), a full size keyboard might be the answer for you.  I only covered a small amount of solutions on the market; there are a lot of options out there to meet the needs of the consumers. 

Next time, we will look at a few of the wand style remote controls to give you an idea of what is available on the market today.  Stay tuned.  If you have some feedback about this blog or have some info you would like to share on your favorite HTPC keyboard solution, please feel free to leave a comment.

Till next time, Happy Trails!

Jay Taylor is a Senior Developer Relations Engineer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.