Reddit mentions of Rii I8 Mini 2.4Ghz Wireless Touchpad Keyboard With Mouse For Pc, Pad, Xbox 360, Ps3, Google Android Tv Box, Htpc, Iptv (Black)

Good solutions:

1. Download the Xbox SmartGlass app on your smartphone and use the keyboard on there.
   
   
2. Buy an off-brand chatpad as a temporary solution until Microsoft makes an official one.
   
   
3. Buy one of these great mini wireless rechargeable keyboards: Candy Bar style & Controller Style

Nothing beats this solution for flexibility. I also use one of these with my HTPC.

I'm an ECE that got into Raspberry Pi about a month ago. I work in microelectronics (chip design), and wanted to use it to get back into larger scale electronics hacking and to do some more hardware oriented programming and projects.

As such, I had to basically reform my electronics gadget supply at the same time since I ditched my college collection a while back when moving to a new house.

Here's some of the key things I bought to go with my Pi that I felt I needed. I'm assuming you're like me and want to work on electronics hardware (lights, switches, etc).

• Raspberry Pi B+ : I wanted the larger sized one with more memory and USB ports as the prototype environment. As I get stuff fully working, then I plan to buy an A+ for the implementation environment. I bought the Canakit Ultimate Starter Kit on Amazon
  
• You'll want a good microSD card. I swapped out the 8GB one from the Canakit for a 16GB one since I want to store some data on the card for a project I have in mind
  
• A case : I used the one from the Canakit
  
• A USB keyboard. The Logitech K400 is nice (just make sure to pair it on a PC first), or the Rii i8 Mini work nice (I have both)
  
• If you want an onboard display, look at the PiTFT from Adafruit. I used that for my initial setup, then set up my Pi to autostart a VNC server on boot and now I work without a display. If you don't want the PiTFT, you can use a TV or a monitor if it supports HDMI (or a regular monitor with an HDMI to DVI adapter).
  
• If hardware hacking, a breadboard and cobbler board : You'll want a breadboard for prototyping electronics projects before soldering to a PCB, and a cobbler board to connect the pin header of the Raspberry to your breadboard. I used the one from the Canakit but there are various ones out there you can buy
  
• To go with a breadboard, I suggest flexible breadboard wire. These or these would work.
  
• If hardware hacking, you'll want LEDs, switched, and resistors/capacitors. I really like these resistors (they came bagged and labelled), the LEDs I started out with from Radio Shack, and for switches I really like these ones. They snap right into a breadboard. The caps I just got at RadioShack.
  
• You may want to grab a multimeter as well. I have two myself with different functions (one for logic probing mainly).
  
  Beyond those basic starter components, the rest is up to your imagination and what you want to do next. In my case, I plan to drive higher current components, so I'll be using optocouples and relays eventually. And I plan to make my own PCBs to snap onto the Raspberry, so I have PCBs, headers, and soldering stuff.
  
  If you're new to the Raspberry, there's online resources out there. I also got this book off Amazon as a starter as well, which I've been coupling with online resources.
  
  On the Arduino side, that's my next purchase since I may find it easier to have the software and server side of one of my projects on a Pi, and the hardware interface on an Arduino. I'm just going to get an R3 board to start since I have the rest of the stuff they usually include in a starter pack listed above.
  
  This blog did a nice writeup comparing some Arduino R3 starter kits:
  https://www.pretzellogix.net/2014/10/09/three-arduino-starter-kits-compared-and-reviewed/

Ok, so I did look at it. It's a MXQ with a Rii keyboard and one fuck of a markup. Definitely shit.

A lot of people recommend the Rii 8
https://www.amazon.com/Rii-Wireless-Touchpad-Keyboard-Android/dp/B00JO80LUI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1519495845&sr=8-4&keywords=rii+8

Other dude mentioned some remote options, you can also use a flirc remote dongle and control it with a Logitech harmony, also a little mini USB keyboard like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JO80LUI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Is there any reason this wouldn't work? (Sorry, mobile link)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00JO80LUI/ref=s9_simh_gw_d0_g147_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=mobile-1&pf_rd_r=1SHVYQXSF6MTZQJQYQ3C&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1824974342&pf_rd_i=mobile

I have one of the mini wireless keyboards and it works on my Chromebook they are cheap and may work for what you want.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JO80LUI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have this keyboard. Use it in the living room. It's not terrible, but I find that it tends to click on stuff I didn't mean to click on, no matter how delicate I am with the touch pad. Maybe it's just mine but it's super annoying. For another room I decided to take a chance on [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Rii-Wirelesss-Touchpad-Keyboard-Android/dp/B00JO80LUI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426788882&sr=8-1&keywords=rii+keyboard) and was surprised to find that it worked much, much better. I'm not saying don't go with the Logitech, but if you want to try something cheaper... Plus you can charge it via USB (no more batteries) and it has two options for mouse buttons (right and left) which I find are easier to use.

I do big picture, but also have one of these

http://www.amazon.com/Rii-Wireless-Touchpad-Keyboard-Android/dp/B00JO80LUI/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1418959772&sr=8-19&keywords=wireless+mouse+and+keyboard+combo&pebp=1418959777768

It's compact and lets me do whatever I need to do in a pinch.

I also use the TV as a second display, and can kill either display as needed, but rarely have to.

They have a budget version of it which is on sale.

http://www.amazon.com/Rii-Wireless-Touchpad-Keyboard-Android/dp/B00JO80LUI/

Can't vouch for it one way or the other. Plenty of reviews though.

You can control this setup with any standard IR remote. The hardware has a IR sensor and is pre-programed with xbox media center IR commands. So if you get a XBox Media Center ready remote or Harmony you're good too go.

So you can get a cheap $10 remote or $$ remote or even use a bluetooth keyboard...

As far as "Wife Proofing" what I did was this.. Buy this remote..
http://www.amazon.com/Fobis-Technologies-WE-10-Weemote-Control/dp/B0010S8G2A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416646314&sr=8-1&keywords=weemote+digital

SHE LOVES IT... jokes about how I had to get her a special remote with her friends..

It's a learning remote so you have to have a harmony to program this kiddie remote.. but I made the green button TV Power, Read Vol Down, Orange Vol Up and rocker standard and the "M" the back button. No insults to all the wifes out there, I'm sure many can use those $$ remotes but mine loves this little 5 button remote with the plex setup. The only thing she don't like is she can't fwd cuz I have the buttons programed as next chapter. But she can turn on the TV and so can the little ones. While I use this remote..

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Ultimate-Customizable-915-000224/dp/B00IAKLM54/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416646457&sr=8-3&keywords=harmony+remote

However if you're not ready for that you can do what I originally which was this..

1st I bought this..
http://www.amazon.com/Rii-Wireless-Touchpad-Keyboard-Android/dp/B00JO80LUI/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1416646515&sr=8-11&keywords=wireless+bluetooth+keyboard

Worked great.. but was RF so once I closed the av cabinet door it stoped working.. so this frustrated me so then I bought this.. which worked over the built in blue tooth..
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Keyboard-Built-In-Multi-Touch/dp/B005DKZTMG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416646515&sr=8-2&keywords=wireless+bluetooth+keyboard

Then when I had to program the wifes / kiddie remote cuz she complained about the keyboard because the kids would leave it turned on and it woudl be always be dead when she went to grab it so I used that as an excuse to buy the remote I really wanted which was the big harmony IR remote here..

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Ultimate-Customizable-915-000224/dp/B00IAKLM54/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416646457&sr=8-3&keywords=harmony+remote

I told her I needed it to program the kiddie remote.. but really you can use any xbox media remote do that... I just needed an excuse to get approval from the wife to spend $200 on a remote ;-)

I haven't really been looking into peripherals like that, as I was going to experiment with setting up some xbox360 controllers to do most everything for me. Perhaps something like this? It's not a name brand but it seems to get pretty good reviews overall.

I have one of these. As far as I can tell it is the same product with different branding. I love it, we use it with an android box for all of our TV watching. It has about a 50 ft range with LoS. In our house I have tested it through 2 walls, but signal drops off quickly after that. I charge the battery once every 3-4 weeks. The only things I have against mine are that the touch pad is not very sensitive and it defaults to the lowest sensitivity every time you turn it off. Also about once a week it will lose communication and I have to unplug the dongle and plug it back in.

I tried a couple of alternatives - like this Rii tiny keyboard but it sucked.

The hand held remote that came with my mini PC was IR and required line of sight.

The best remote to get around that is one of the remote apps you can download on your smart phone. Those work off your wifi and don't require line of sight.

Overall, the 400 is still my preferred choice - it's very responsive and despite its larger size compared to a hand held, having a good keyboard for searches is great. The mousepad is very responsive.