I want to say thank you in advance for helping me out - I'm fairly new to all this. I just recently purchased a 42" 1080P Flat-Panel LCD monitor that will be connected to my PC via a 25ft. DVI -> HDMI cable. There is a wall in between the PC and the monitor.
There are a few questions I would like answered: - Which front-end will meet my requirements? - Which input device will meet my requirements? - Which receiver will meet my requirements?
Receiver - Since there is a wall in between the PC and the monitor, IR cannot be an option - What other options allow transmission of up to 25 feet through a wall? Bluetooth? RF? - Which of these types of transmissions be compatible with both the front-end and the input device?
Input Device - The device must be able to communicate effectively with the receiver - The device must provide the capability to "type" - this will be particularly useful when entering a website address or searching manually for a song - The device must also be able to control the Audio Receiver, TV, and Cable Box - all of which operate on an IR signale - Would not mind a touch-screen or a screen that changes for each device that is selected. I want to program it so that the remote would "look" like the original remote, but then change again for the next device. - The device should be fully programmable so that each key can correspond to whatever command I would like. For example, "Watch TV" could Power On my Audio, Power On my TV, Power On my PVR, Switch TV Input to Component 1, and Switch Audio input to Optical. "Play a Movie" could switch display modes on my PC to allow video output, switch Audio input to Coax, launch the Front-End to the Movies section.
Front-End - Play Movies in .mpg, .avi, .mov, etc. - Automatically pull Movie Information + Covers from Internet - Rival playback that is on par with PureVideo? - Play Music in .mp3 format - Be able to search by Genre, Album, Artist, etc. - Be able to search by manually typing in the appropriate field - The results for a manually-typed search should appear as you type them (like MediaMonkey) - View Photos - Launch Internet (Firefox) - Launch External Application - Can be completely controlled (including external applications) via the remote
