Article: Control Your HTPC With A PS3 Remote Control

Having recently reviewed the SilverStone Grandia GD08 and loving it, I was looking for a way to satisfy the one need SilverStone left me with.  The case design didn’t allow for a standard 5.25 inch bay device to be used due to the flip down panels incorporated to conceal your optical drives.  This, in turn, meant that installing the coveted iMON VFD was out of the question; that means not have the control of my PC from a remote control.  In the interest of my budget ($10, set by the soon to be wife) and keeping my Dremel on the shelf, I set out looking for an easy way to incorporate operating my HTPC from a remote control without spending a pile of money, cutting up a beautiful SilverStone Grandia GD08, or having a keyboard and mouse on my coffee table.  After much research, I found a way to use the PS3 Remote Control I already had to control XBMC, WMC, or any other application that accepts keyboard input!

Requirements

• PlayStation 3 Remote Control ($24.99 @ Walmart)
• Bluetooth adapter (if your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth already) ($9.99 @ Newegg or Microcenter)
• PS3BluMote software (free)

Download

If your HTPC or computer already has Bluetooth, you are 1/3 of the way complete!  If not, there are plenty of nano sized adapters out there that can get you up and running with Bluetooth connectivity for around $10.00 USD.  Installing your Bluetooth adapter is usually plug and play with Windows 7 finding the drivers it requires quickly and without user intervention.

Lets get started…

Pages: 1 2 3 4