Remote control for computer? I watch TV on my computer now,
March 18, 2015 8:10 PM Subscribe
Hi Hivemind,
so I got a Google chromebase (like a computer, only internet) in the bedroom now to watch tv. is there a remote I can buy?
I thought I read that people were using their chromebase as an alarm clock, so I figure there must be a remoter control out there, so that I can watch the computer from bed.
thanks!
Logitech Harmony Remote?
posted by Freedomboy at 10:21 PM on March 18, 2015
posted by Freedomboy at 10:21 PM on March 18, 2015
I thought the whole point of chrome was that you control it from the smartphone app...i found this in the android app store...google is generally pretty good about making iphone versions, too. There might be simpler options if you look around...
posted by sexyrobot at 10:38 PM on March 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by sexyrobot at 10:38 PM on March 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is an under-served product market (TV-like remotes for home entertainment PCs) in general.
Your specific case is made a little harder by being limited to devices that can be used with the Chrome OS (vs. Windows or Mac) - it's less like a computer than it is like a giant Android tablet or phone.
Your safest bet is probably a 'living room keyboard', which incorporates a keyboard (gotta type selections in sometimes) with a touchpad/trackpad that acts as a mouse. I've been using this $40 one for a while now, and it's light, reliable, and the batteries last about as long as a TV remote if I remember to turn it off when I'm not using it. It's not a TV remote, but it's your second across-the-room control over the Chromebase.
If that's too clunky, any bluetooth mouse will at least let you click around on the screen from across the room. You might want to go into the settings to adjust the size of your mouse pointer, so you can see the little arrow better from a distance.
It doesn't help you in your case, since you've already got the Chromebase, but this is what all those Streaming Sticks are about these days - Chromecast, Roku, Fire,AppleTV, etc. If you had a TV or a monitor (with built-in speakers and an HDMI input) in the bedroom, you'd plug one of those sticks into it, and use a smartphone or tablet app as a remote to control it. (Open Netflix app on your phone, pick movie, click Play to 'Bedroom Chromecast', plays in bedroom, use Netflix phone app to pause when you gotta pee, done.) The TV+stick combo is really just a big screen for things you can do on a tablet or phone - you control the Hulu app or whatever on the gadget in your hand, but show it on the screen across the room.
posted by bartleby at 11:39 AM on March 19, 2015
Your specific case is made a little harder by being limited to devices that can be used with the Chrome OS (vs. Windows or Mac) - it's less like a computer than it is like a giant Android tablet or phone.
Your safest bet is probably a 'living room keyboard', which incorporates a keyboard (gotta type selections in sometimes) with a touchpad/trackpad that acts as a mouse. I've been using this $40 one for a while now, and it's light, reliable, and the batteries last about as long as a TV remote if I remember to turn it off when I'm not using it. It's not a TV remote, but it's your second across-the-room control over the Chromebase.
If that's too clunky, any bluetooth mouse will at least let you click around on the screen from across the room. You might want to go into the settings to adjust the size of your mouse pointer, so you can see the little arrow better from a distance.
It doesn't help you in your case, since you've already got the Chromebase, but this is what all those Streaming Sticks are about these days - Chromecast, Roku, Fire,AppleTV, etc. If you had a TV or a monitor (with built-in speakers and an HDMI input) in the bedroom, you'd plug one of those sticks into it, and use a smartphone or tablet app as a remote to control it. (Open Netflix app on your phone, pick movie, click Play to 'Bedroom Chromecast', plays in bedroom, use Netflix phone app to pause when you gotta pee, done.) The TV+stick combo is really just a big screen for things you can do on a tablet or phone - you control the Hulu app or whatever on the gadget in your hand, but show it on the screen across the room.
posted by bartleby at 11:39 AM on March 19, 2015
Response by poster: hmm this is interesting I have a google nexus tablet, maybe I could use that as a remote
posted by cheetahchick at 12:43 PM on March 19, 2015
posted by cheetahchick at 12:43 PM on March 19, 2015
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posted by pompomtom at 9:02 PM on March 18, 2015