Okay, I’ve got an idea for something that I want to do in my house and I know one way how I can do it, I’m curious if there’s another way of doing it, though.
What I want to do is set my place up so that it doesn’t matter what room of the house I’m in, I’ll be able to access my PC. So, for example, if my PC’s in the bedroom and I’m in the den and I want to listen to my MP3’s that are on my PC over the stereo in my den, I can do it without having to go into the bedroom and fiddle with the PC. I know that I could do this with a PC in the bedroom and one in the den and had them networked together, but is there I anyway I can do it (relatively inexpensively) without having the second PC?
I’d also like to be able to watch a video that I’ve downloaded on the TV in the den, again without having to go into the bedroom and fiddle with the PC there. Can I do that as well, without having to add a second PC.
Finally, expand this so that I can do that in every room in the house. Again, is this possible without having a PC in every room? If it is possible, what’s the ballpark estimate on a per room basis?
How about a wireless network and a cheap laptop you can carry room to room, then you can control the PC from anywhere. Then you could run speaker wire from your PC to your stereo(s). For video, the cheapest way would probably get some kind of TV-out card, hook it up to the video-in on a VCR, then run coaxial from that vcr to all the TVs, so that channel 3 or 4 will show your PC screen. Total cost? I have no idea. Sounds like a fun project.
Nope, because I want to be a fat and lazy American who doesn’t have to get off his fat ass and track down where he left his laptop to do this. (Damn thing prolly end up between the sofa cushions next to the remotes.)
Uh, no, because I don’t want to just play MP3’s. I basically want to be able to have access to my PC no matter where I’m in the house, not simply play MP3s.
Not exactly a cheap way to do what you want, but you’ll find everything you need to do this at http://www.x10.com. Read everything they have, and you’ll come out okay. Unless, of course, you have a Mac.
The historical, “conventional” X10 stuff is great, too, since you want to be a lazy American! (i.e., remote control lights and outlets).
The problem you have to overcome is managing the I/O remotely. To successfully operate one of today’s PCs, you need a keyboard or mouse for input, and to see what you just did you need some sort of video display.
The only way I can think of to achieve the effect you are after without having some sort of remote I/O devices would be to use voice recognition software on the PC and then carry a radio transmitter around the house with you with the receiver stationed at the PC. However, given the current state of voice recognition technology that I have seen, the interjection of radio transmission into the process may well render it useless. We aren’t quite to the Star Trek Next Generation level of being able to say “Computer, please play my Best of Slim Whitman collection.”
So, out of curiosity, what is the one way you do know how to do it?
Balthisar is right. You can get the stuff you need from x10.com. They have software that will control your other media software from an infrared or RF remote, and ‘remote extenders’ which you could place in each room.
After that, it’s just a matter of getting your signals to each room, which you could also do wirelessly if desired with x10 products.
What happens if you connect several USB keyboards / mice to the same computer? Is it possible to have several keyboards, distributed over the house to controll the same PC? I believe that I have seen USB repeaters that claim to work over >10m, which would be enough for my small abode.
The next problem is with the output. I know that the good old-fashioned Hercules adapters (from mid 80’s ) could be connected in parallell, with very long cables ( I have seen a setup with several monocrome displays connected to the same graphics adapter, with no apparent problems, some of the cables were >10m.) I assume that you cannot do the same with a modern display?
Just did a Google using ’ “remote control” activated pc '. From the first item, I followed a link to this page, which talks about simple RC operation (not keyboard, mouse, monitor etc.). Presumably you then set up RC relays around your house (like you might do for satellite TV).
Good luck and I hope this helps you achieve your goal (being a fat & lazy American ) .
(btw, if the first part of the second link scares you, scroll down and see if the ready-made stuff is of any use).
In fact, having just read some more, try scrolling right to the bottom of the second link and see if the shareware program PC Remote Control is good enough for you - it looks like it should be.
I also thought I’d tidy up the signal distribution side - the SV-1000 was what I was thinking of. Now, I don’t think that One-for-All sell it in the US (hence the UK link), but at least you know what I was talking about. I guess you’d need one receiver per room and only one sender, but as they’re sold in pairs that would cost you £50 per pair here (est. $50/pair, as stuff’s cheaper on your side).
Shame on me Tuckerfan. You did say that in your OP but I kind of lost sight of it. I guess I thought you knew of one way besides a multi-PC network. Myself, I really, really want a fully verbal computer ala Star Trek - TNG. Maybe in my lifetime?!?
What about a cheap FM transmitter ? I just looked on Ebay and they cost about 20 bucks. That would let you send audio from the output of your PC to an FM radio somewhere else in your house. The range might be limited if you have a really huge house but then again you might even be able to treat your neighbors to some tunes.
.