Got a wireless input solution for a couch-and-Hulu lovin' soul?

November 6, 2009 9:48 AM

Help me in my quest to never have to get up from the couch: What kind of wireless keyboard/mouse, keyboard/trackball, or keyboard/something-I-haven't-heard-of combo would you suggest for a media savvy couch potato who doesn't want to have to get up to navigate Hulu?

Considerations:
I am looking for something that is lefty-friendly. One would think that many mice (mouses??) are...they look symmetrical but trust me, they aren't.

From my research, I know that infra-red solutions aren't really solutions as much as a failing hassle that will torment me into making that short trip towards the tv.

The point is to sit back & hulu-surf which makes me veer away from wii-mote-ing or gyrating.

Oh--and due to the nature of kicking back and relaxing, I won't always have a flat surface, per se.

Anything else I should take into consideration?

posted by tihleigh to computers & internet (9 comments total)

AirMouse with an iPod Touch/iPhone.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:29 AM on November 6 [2 favorites has favorites]

The Gyro mouse works quite well over long distances (up to 50 ft iirc) and is symmetrical. It doesn't need a surface, as it works gyroscopically as well as working as a "normal" mouse. I used one happily for half a year or so. The only snag I found is that to work in gyro mode, you must press and hold a trigger button, and that pulling action could sometimes interfere with accurate positioning. It's a neat device.
posted by anadem at 10:34 AM on November 6

iPod TOuch/iPhone with Hippo Remote.
posted by Good Brain at 10:38 AM on November 6

What are you running Hulu on? A Mac? PC? Other set-top box?
posted by olinerd at 10:57 AM on November 6

The Adesso WKB-4000US wireless keyboard is pretty decent for the money, and worth looking at if you need to type as well as click. It's essentially a laptop keyboard that wirelessly connects to your HTPC via a 2.4GHz RF USB dongle. It has a built in trackpad with edge scrolling. It works with my Mac natively, even though Mac OS X isn't officially supported.
posted by mosk at 11:23 AM on November 6

I use a Logitech DiNovo Mini which sounds like it would be great for you except for the mouse trackpad/arrow button thing being on the right side. Hulu is pretty easy to navigate with just the arrow keys, though, so this may not be a deal-breaker. And really it's a trackpad for the thumb, so the mouse might not even be that bad for a lefty. Not to diminish the lefty consideration; you're be perfectly justified rejecting it out of hand and I'm sorry if this is a time-wastey answer as a result. I just think it's the most compact keyboard/mouse all-in-one hardware solution available.
posted by cowbellemoo at 11:30 AM on November 6

I haven't used it, but Hulu Desktop (mac|win|linux) has a '10-ft' interface designed to be used with a remote.
posted by unmake at 11:44 AM on November 6

Got an XBOX 360? Software like TVersity and PlayOn, when installed on your MediaCenter PC, will stream hulu (and other things) through to your XBOX. This enhances the Xbox's ability to deliver any/all the content your MediaCenter PC is already handling through itself to your TV.

And all though a nice 10-foot interface that you can control with a 360 controller, or any of the various tv-remote-like accessories that are available for the 360 like this or this (of you need a more complex universal remote). Not sure how lefty-friendly those controllers are, though.

Very nice if you've got your Media Center PC in a different room than your TV, or if you've got trouble getting a good picture out of it; I find that my 360 does a better job of delivering a good HD picture to my TV than my MediaCenter PC does, for some reason.
posted by bartleby at 1:17 PM on November 6

My media center remote (I have a media center pc with windows but I think any windows machine with media player can be operated using this remote) and Hulu Desktop play nicely with each other. It is also great for watching DVDs or any videos that play in media center.
posted by k8lin at 9:38 PM on November 6