User reviews for the Streamzap PC Remote from Streamzap Inc. Ratings Reviews MSRP (USD) Average: 3.33/5.00 Median: 4.00/5.00 11 $39.95 The PC Remote Control is an infrared add-on for any USB-enabled Windows PC that offers buttons for the most popular functions, volume control, cursor control and the ability to integrate with other learning remote controls. Message Forum Our Review Add Your Review Get it at:

Written by FishMan123 from Dallas, TX. The reviewer has used this remote control for under 1 month.

Review 11 made on Thursday July 31, 2008 at 2:01 PM. Also owned: MX-700 and others Strengths: The hardware is simple and straightforward. Not too many buttons. There is a nice indicator light on the receiver unit which can be helpful for debugging. Weaknesses: The software is limited in functionality and has serious reliability issues. Customer support is by email only (no phone). Software is hard-coded for specific applications. The 4 user-customizable buttons can only be set to a limited set of actions. Review: I am a professional software developer. I purchased this product to control a media PC running Beyond TV (on a dedicated Windows XP system). Key selling points were that the product advertised specific support for Beyond TV and also Girder (promixis.com) advertises support of the remote. Initial impression was moderately favorable. The remote is packaged with a driver CD. A quick web-site check showed the CD to be current. The remote installed ok and immediately worked with Beyond TV. Then I started checking the supported functionality and found that several Beyond TV functions were not supported. No problem I thought... I'd assign these functions to one of the 4 colored buttons at the bottom. Unfortunately, you can't even assign a keystroke to one of these. The driver supports only a limited, fixed, set of actions - and doesn't include the most obvious one - typing a keystroke. Then came the driver problems. After everything looked OK, I left the PC and came back later. The remote no longer functioned. The red indicator on the receiver flashed (nice feature) but no action was taken on the PC. I tried to restart the supporting software with no success. Reboot of the PC clears the problem. It seems that after a period of inactivity, the driver will go into a processing loop. On my dual-core machine, it maintains a steady 27% while in this state. Others postings on the net have confirmed this problem. I've contacted their support - no phone number - only email. Other than an automated confirmation email, no response after 3 days. (Other users have reported the same.) Bottom line - the hardware seems OK, but the driver is unacceptable. Even if the driver didn't get stuck, the limited, hard-coded functionality provided is weak (at best). I strongly recommend AGAINST this remote. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by smoses from Texas. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-2 years.

Review 10 made on Saturday November 17, 2007 at 12:14 AM. Strengths: Worked well with XP Weaknesses: Does not work with Vista. No supported drivers. Review: Is Steamzap out of business? Two inquirys via email and no response. Web site says Vista drivers out soon, 3 to 4 weeks. That was six months ago. If it worked with Vista I would give it decent marks but since they don't respond to my emails and can't produce Vista drivers... don't waste your money. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Timber from USA. The reviewer has used this remote control for 6-12 months.

Review 9 made on Sunday January 14, 2007 at 9:44 PM. Also owned: RTI Weaknesses: The streamzap reciever causes my XP computer to go "blue screen". Tried numerous attempts to contact technical support for 6 months. Sent emails to every address listed on their website. Phone support number states all technical support issues are handled by email. No operator, no way to leave message, no way to contact anyone. Review: Don't waste your time or money purchasing one of these. If you ever have a problem you will not be able to return it or get any technical support. Their website states "no returns without RMA". With no way to contact anyone, you will never recieve a RMA. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Cruz from Miami, Fl. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 8 made on Sunday February 20, 2005 at 9:52 AM. Strengths: Easy installation. Works instantly with several common programs. Weaknesses: Default controls associated with several common programs use way too much cpu resources. Review: I bought this remote to be used on my music server which is an old Pentium II 233MHz computer running Windows XP. Winamp is the only program installed in that computer. So I only wanted a remote to control winamp. Installation took a few seconds, and controlled Winamp instantly. At first, the remote was really buggy. I'm using Winamp 2.81 which is the lightest of the winamp applications, so I thought the remote should not hesitate. I would press Next, and it would take 1 or 2 seconds to react. Pause didn't even work. If I did try to pause, I would lose all control from the remote. It sucked. So I started reading and found out it used a lot of my cpu resources. I opened up Task Manager to watch my cpu usage and sure enough, Streamzap was killing my 233Mhz cpu. If I pressed any button to control Winamp, my cpu resource would jump up to 80%. I tried the Streamzap on my laptop which has a 2.2GHz, and if I pressed a button for Winamp, it still took 40%. Even though it was faster, it was still slow. Then I heard about Girder. It acts as a software bridge. Remote sends the command to Girder, and Girder executes the command on the pc. I installed it on my Pentium II pc, and after configuring it to Winamp, the remote works PERFECT. Each button only takes about 6% of cpu resource, the the instant I press the next button for Winamp, Winamp changes songs. For an old Pentium II computer, it works lightning fast now that it is teams up with Girder. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for an affordable easy pc remote. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by John from Yongsan Garrison, ROK. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 7 made on Friday October 31, 2003 at 4:44 AM. Strengths: Price, Ease of use Weaknesses: Limited number of functions, very little customizability Review: I purchased the Streamzap to use with my Home Theater / Home Automation PC. I needed an easy way to deliver commands to the PC remotely, and needed an IR method so I could program it to MX-700. The streamzap worked great right out of the box, and never used more than 2-3% of my PIII 800 mHz processor. In order for my PC to do everything I need it to, it runs HomeSeer, MainLobby, J River Media Center, Outlook and Girder. The remote needed to be able to interface with all of these, one way or another. Unfortunately, it won't right out of the box. It'll work with some of them, one at a time, but not all of them. I used Girder, which I was already using for other things, to overcome that problem, and now everything's playing well together. Bottom-line, the Streamzap is great by itself for running a single media player and doing some light web surfing. The Streamzap + Girder is an OUTSTANDING combination for doing pretty much whatever you need to with your HTPC. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by James from Seattle. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 6 made on Monday September 29, 2003 at 3:22 AM. Strengths: Easy setup if you install the software first before plugging in the remote. Simple cheap and works with myHTPC. Weaknesses: Biggest weakness I found is it used 25% of my 1.8Ghz CPU. I downloaded the latest driver and it used 60%! Way too much drain on my CPU just for a remote. Review: If you have a P4 5Ghz or better then you can afford to waste precious CPU cycles. If your system is low to mid 2.0Ghz, look elsewhere because it takes away to much CPU to play back movies. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by johngonz from New York City, NY. The reviewer has used this remote control for 3-6 months.

Review 5 made on Sunday July 6, 2003 at 10:18 AM. Strengths: It works really well with my PVR software (SnapStrem Personal Video Station 3), there aren't too many buttons so members of my family don't get lost using it Weaknesses: Like Daniel, I wish there were more labeled function buttons (DVD, Music, etc), sometimes the range of the remote control can be a problem, the software could be more configurable. Review: I love this product, I bought it specifically to use with SnapStream Personal Video Station 3 and the performance with SnapStream is great. It integrates perfectly. Quality: Features: Value:

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