OTOH, anyone looking to use this as a wireless mouse should be pretty happy. There is a large joystick button at the top of the remote that works pretty well for what it is. “L”, “Mouse Click” and “R” buttons are below the joystick to take the place of mouse buttons. The colored buttons at the top of the remote do things like spawn web browsers, etc. So as a virtual mouse, I guess it’s decent.

So, bottom line, if you’re just looking for a wireless handheld mouse/input device, this will work. If you’re looking for a truly compliant WMC/MCE remote, look elsewhere.
Rating: 3 / 5

To be fair, it has good qualities:

1) The mouse feature is nice, and works reliably.

2) The IR connects reliably to the computer and works easily from the couch.

3) Keys are mostly programmable to XP shortcuts.

But, these good qualities are easily outweighed by the negatives:

A) The remote ships without any branding, and thus does not come with any customer service, website, or online forums for assistance. To make this clear: this is not made by Sony, and frankly, I don’t know WHO makes it.

B) The instruction manual is written in very poor English. It’s almost humorous if it didn’t show how much thought they had put into this product.

C) The remote frequently sends the wrong signal to the computer, resulting in the computer confusing the “VOLUME UP” key with the “SHUT DOWN” key. It’s a really, really obnoxious feature.

D) Batteries easily fall out of remote.

E) Keys are awkward, and are very easy to mistakenly press the wrong key. Want to scroll to the right? Sure, just don’t press the “reveal desktop” key placed immediately below it.

It’s a good remote for those who are on the cheep. But if you’re looking to use your media center and not accidentally turn it off when turning up the volume, this isn’t the remote for you.
Rating: 2 / 5

Now, I suppose that I could have gone the Bluetooth adapter route but, frankly, without a coffee table what was I going to run it on? My leg? And since those presentation remotes are designed for Power Point, I wasn’t sure that any of them would work for what I needed; which was basically a mouse in a remote form.

Enter this little remote which, seemed a little too good to be true given the price and all, but despite my misgivings- this thing really does work. Seriously, all I have to do is hook up my lappy and turn him on for the night. I can even switch the displays using the remote from my couch and even turn it off at the end of the evening without ever having to cross the room- so he’s back to normal and ready for work the next morning without any extra fuss.

The unit itself comes in a small box with the remote, the IR USB adaptor, a slip of paper for the instructions and that’s it. The English in the instructions is- well, horrid, but understandable. (It’s a remote so, there’s really not a lot to explain anyway). As always, the most valuable bit of information in them is the button chart, particularly since there were a couple that aren’t necessarily standard; such as the window drag button (which, not only works just fine but is also a very clever and very useful feature for getting the display windows out of my way on the desktop but keeping them open for switching back later).

Unfortunately, as is true for all remotes- there are, however, those couple of buttons that really do nothing for me. Again, just like all of the others, I think it’s either due to my system (much as I love my lappy, he’s an el cheapo containing no bells and/or whistles of any sort), or due to my lack of knowledge (one or two clever tricks does not an expert make).

Still, this thing is clever, perfect for me and just what I needed to tell those idiots at scheduling that they can finally take a flying leap because, once again, I can watch my tv shows on my tv without having to dive across the room every time Nature or just the mother-in-law decides to call.
Rating: 5 / 5