Reddit mentions of Lenovo N5902 Enhanced Multimedia Remote with Backlit Keyboard (57Y6678)

Personally, I'd go the other route and just get a wireless keyboard/mouse. You can plug your laptop in by your TV and then control it from your couch. I've been looking at getting something like the Lenovo N5902 to do that at my house.

I have been using the Lenovo N5902 for 7 years now.

I love it because it

• fits in one hand
  
• has an integrrated tracking wheel / mouse wheel
  
• is pretty durable
  
• is backlit
  
  I had to replace it recently because my kids dropped in on the tile floor one too many times. It works like a champ though and always recommend it

Damn, This got a bit long and didn't really scratch the surface. Sorry.

Here's my setup:

Router: Linksys E3000 running dd-wrt firmware

Media Server/Nas: Re-purposed Dell Vostro 200, Celeron 420 1.6Ghz, 4Gb Ram, Win7 Pro, 6TB Storage (2TB+4TB), Shares are served with Windows SMB & haneWIN NFS Server.

House Has 3 TVs: Living Room, Bedroom, and Basement Office

Living Room: XBMC Running on a Foxconn nt-A3700, Win7, 4gb RAM, 500gb HDD. Connected via Wireless N. Bose Cinemate II Sound System (1080p HDMI, S/PDIF Coaxial)

Bedroom: Raspberry Pi running RASPBMC, Connected with Edimax EW-7811un Wireless Adapter. using NFS shares. (1080p HDMI, TV Speakers)

Basement/Home Office: An old self assembled gaming rig re-purposed as a dedicated HTPC. GeForce 9800GTx+, Sony STR-DH520 7.1 Audio System. (1080p HDMI, S/PDIF-TOSLINK)

Other Devices: WDTV Media Player non-XBMC. Would not reliably see windows SMB shares, but NFS worked well. Not in use.

Thoughts: If you're serious. At some point get a dedicated server PC of some sort. It doesn't need to be much in terms of hardware if all you intend to do is serve media files on your LAN. If you plan on converting the files as you serve them (Plex? not necessary with XBMC), then you'll need some processing power behind your server setup. Mine sits in a locked room with our surveillance DVR. No monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Ethernet plugged directly into the router for the full 1000 mbp/s.

The Foxconn nt-A3700 connected in the living room is a great little box. We bought it back in 2012, and I haven't regretted it yet. I guess a contemporary alternative would be the Intel NUC. We use a MCE IR remote to control XBMC. IR reciever connected with a usb dongle.

The best of them is the basement office HTPC. I have a PS3 Remote control connected via bluetooth for XBMC. It works seamlessly between the Sony TV and Sony Reciever. I play video games on it (Steam Big Picture with an Xbox 360 controller), surf the web, browse Reddit. ect I use a Lenovo N5902 when I need it to act like a PC.

The Raspberry Pi: It's not perfect, but I like it. It runs RASPBMC. The interface (Confluence Skin) can be a little laggy at times, but I kind of expected that from a 700mhz processor (I'm currently overclocked to 900 with heatsinks). You'll have to buy the MPEG-2 license for your board if you plan on playing files using that codec. Ours uses a MCE Remote similar to the Living room htpc but the IR reciever is connected to the GPIO Pins. It was a bit of a pain to find a good wireless adapter. I went through 3 different models before I found the Edimax. That seems to be the theme of the Pi. Yeah it works but only with certain peripherals. Mine still struggles with 3gb+ 1080p movies over wireless (Stuttering/Buffering), but it handles 2gb 720p movies with ease. This feels like more of a wifi/usb power limitation of the Pi. Hard-wired it will play those same 1080p files just fine. If you like to tinker then get it. If you don't want to fuss with it then get a bookshelf htpc like the NUC (or Foxconn nt-A3700) But you're looking at apples and oranges between a 35$ media player(100~ with accessories) and a 300$ PC

The media library is housed on two internal hard drives. 2TB and 4TB. I have windows set to email if there are any issues with the disks as I have had to replace the 4TB once in the last 4 years and nearly lost a metric fuck-ton of data. I use four folders as my shares. 'Television' on the root of that 4TB drive because it needs nearly all of it. Movies and Music on the root of the 2TB system drive. They are shared via windows built-in SMB and hanewin NFS Server. The reason I use hanewinNFS over windows SMB is that the Pi seems to perform better using NFS shares over wireless. Could be lower the overhead or just voodoo. Who Knows?
I use theRenamer to rename all media before I add it to the XBMC library. Then I scrape it using Media Companion and have it store the info on the server with the media. The reasoning behind this is that when I need to repair, rebuild, or add another XBMC client (It happens from time to time) It doesn't have to scrape 1000's of episodes and movies from the web. It's all there next to the file for XBMC to find quickly. You're welcome imdb/theTVDB.com

Hope that gives you a general idea.

Is the problem that you can't control the phone, or see the display?

If it's just a control issue, use a USB OTG adapter, which allows you to use a mouse or keyboard (I use one of those Lenovo wireless multimedia remotes).

If you can't see what you're doing, then getting a cheap screen is probably the best option (check your local phone repair store, maybe they can do this cheaper by temporary using another broken screen).

I'm not sure why but I never got into the whole Boxee and XBMC thing, although I do have a softmodded gen 1 Xbox with XBMC on it.

Also I'm controlling my media pc with this so I can do just about anything I can with a normal PC setup.

I have a Lenovo N5901. I'd consider it a must have. There's a newer version: Lenovo N5902. You would also need to buy a Bluetooth adapter.

Some suggestions for keyboard/mice:

Lenovo N5902. Goes on sale regularly.

Logitech K400

Generic keyboard/touchpad remote. There are many slight variants on this.

I've found that due to the size/shape/content of my living room, a wireless receiver plugged into my HTPC doesn't work 100% reliably. I've connected a USB extension cable to the back of my HTPC and run it behind things and under my couch to give me the best reception. Generally you can go up to 15 feet; any longer than that and you need a powered extension.

If you have a Logitech Harmony remote, I highly recommend the OVU4003/00 (RC6) USB IR reciever. Once set up with Windows and the Harmony remote, it works with XBMC/Kodi out of the box. This receiver was branded as HP/Dell/Gateway/Philips and probably many more. A Flirc is another option but it is ugly (IMO) and more expensive.

Regarding hardware, if you aren't gaming you don't need a lot. When using older gear the most important thing is video hardware acceleration. For Intel machines, you need something with at least GMA 4500 (Q45 chipset) graphics or later, and for AMD you need something with at least a 760G chipset. This hardware dates back to 2008/2009. Dedicated graphics cards should be at least a Radeon HD 2600 or a GeForce 8500. These cards date back to 2006/2007. CPUs are a grey area, but any mainstream dual core CPU (Athlon X2, Core 2 Duo) from 2007+ should be able to handle most everything. My first HTPC had an AMD Athlon X2 5000+ and it's still working just fine with W7 and Kodi.

If you want to game (and don't want to use a device like the DOKO), you'll need to find a quiet case that supports full length video cards. There are a bunch available, and I'm not sure if this has changed in the last 2-3 years, but the vast majority of HTPC cases large enough to support full size gear and M-ATX motherboards are simply too long to fit in a standard A/V rack or TV stand. The only exceptions I am aware of are the Silverstone GD05 and GD04. I'd be willing to bet that Silverstone has some other cases that will work also.

Additionally, you'll want to find a PSU, case fans and CPU cooler that are quiet and efficient. The best resource for this is http://www.silentpcreview.com/.

Lastly, if your A/V receiver has only S/PDIF audio inputs (no HDMI) and you want to play games in 5.1 surround sound, you're going to need to find either a sound card or motherboard with an S/PDIF output that supports DTS-Connect and/or Dolby Digital Live. Motherboards stopped coming with this around 2008 (AFAIK) and the cheapest option to get it in an add-on card is the Sound Blaster Z.

ok - here's what you need (I got one - it's awesome)

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Enhanced-Multimedia-Backlit-Keyboard/dp/B005L2NTTQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1413335995&sr=1-1&keywords=lenovo+remote

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Enhanced-Multimedia-Keyboard-57Y6678/dp/B005L2NTTQ/ref=pd_sim_e_2

? :)

Lenovo n5902.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005L2NTTQ/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

Try eBay.

These are awesome:
Lenovo N5902 Enhanced Multimedia Remote with Backlit Keyboard

Yeah, I can see that. I don't play any first person shooters so I use a game controller for all most every game. If I'm playing an emulator I usually use of controller that's made for that console (GameCube, PS1,2,3 like that). It's a full time HTPC as well so I use this remote from the couch.
HTPC Remote

I do that, but with a laptop and wireless keyboard/mouse. You could go ahead and get those before you get the desktop.

I also have one of these (you can get it way cheaper than MSRP) for movies, or reading from the couch, or whenever I don't want to use the full keyboard/mouse.

I mostly use my TV to read the few digital comics I read because I don't have a tablet, but I've never been happy with the way the lettering looks. I'm using a 42" flatscreen, so the pages are much larger than a comic book, but it's still hard to read for some reason. I don't know if it's a resolution issue or what. Thoughts?

This Lenovo is great butttt, moving the mouse is a little "slow" small movements each time.

Not great for using android pocket pc's for example due to the the "touch work" needed - kinda swiping wit hthe lenovo isn't easy, I gotta press the left mouse button with 1 hand and do a fast movement on the mouse wit hthe other hand holding the lenovo and the thumb doing the moving and releasing the left mouse buton with the other hand's fingers at the same time.

For pc it's great, typing is comfortable and it has excellent multimedia buttons, basically the volume up down, play, next.

/

Hrm... I never had a problem putting my computer to sleep after or during a movie played by MPC or VLC. You should consider looking into that because that isn't normal behavior. Also, maybe the answer to your problem is a wireless keyboard/mouse such as this. You can easily use that to put your computer to sleep without having to get out of bed.

This:

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Enhanced-Multimedia-Backlit-Keyboard/dp/B005L2NTTQ

to control the HTPC, I use it to control Netflix, Plex, Spotify etc.

Then a Logitech harmony remote to control the TV, AV Receiver and Speakers. I have the Harmony 700.

Two remotes means my wife and kids can use without stuffing anything up too much

I use one of these... they're pretty easy to find for ~$20. Lenovo N5902 Enhanced Multimedia Remote with Backlit Keyboard (57Y6678) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005L2NTTQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_aLXOzbXEFZR7J

> Yes I do use a mouse

That's a problem for most people. Or at least for me, and I'm projecting my desires as those of the normal streaming service watcher.

I want to sit on my couch with a small remote control and be able to control everything. I don't want to have to figure out using a mouse on a couch. I don't want a trackball (something like this is a compromise that might work, but I once had a similar device, the Logitech diNovo Mini and it really wasn't very good). I don't want to wave my arm around with an airmouse (I hated the Wii interface 14 years ago, and I definitely don't want that for my main interface in 2019). I need a remote that can handle simple functions:

• Media playback (play/pause/stop/ffwd/skip fwd/rev/skip back)
  
• Menu navigation and show selection
  
• Moving between apps
  
  Most W10 apps fall down on the second item. Netflix certainly does. Browser-based playback usually fails all three.
  
  HTPCs are great. I love my HTPC. I use it every single day, for TV/DVR, for gaming, and for local media files/Plex (PlexKodiConnect is amazing). I can even use it for Netflix, sort of, with Kodi integration (there are some problems with tracking played status on Netflix, it doesn't support 4k very well yet, there are sometimes weird errors that take the addon down for several days, etc). But for most streaming services (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, D+, HBO Go), I switch over to my Xbone. Because apps there are intended for 10' consumption, and thus satisfy all my control requirements above.

Interesting. I have this keyboard/mouse and since my set up is in the living room, I'm not sure i like the look of a keyboard on the table. Mine does have a home button though but it just takes me the top of the page, ill look around for a linux driver and see if that fixes it.

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Enhanced-Multimedia-Backlit-Keyboard/dp/B005L2NTTQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_147_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41E5HRbocOL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=007N8GGB236ENAV9EKJ0

If you know of a smaller profile combo than mine, please share