Gyration GYR4101US Air Music Remote

This product is a good combination of a universal remote, a Windows Media Center remote, and a mouse. It can control up to three IR devices (TV, Aux, Cab/Sat) and one PC via RF. The integrated gyroscopic mouse is easy to control and very accurate. The remote provides a monochrome LCD screen for setup configuration and for controlling iTunes or Media Player music libraries. This last feature works well and provides similar functionality to the iPod interface: after installing the supplied software on the PC, it can connect to either iTunes or WMP, and allows you to select playlists or albums, pause and skip songs.

A few small drawbacks exist though. The remote has a "volume punch through" feature which allows the volume / mute control to be always assigned to one of the IR components, e.g., the aux receiver. However, volume control doesn't punch through when you are controlling the PC, only when you are controlling one of the IR components. This means that you have to select, for example, Aux to adjust the volume on the receiver when you are watching a movie on the PC. Not a big deal...

Another limitation is that you must be logged on the PC via the console in order to control iTunes with the remote. So, for example, if you are logged in to the PC via Remote Desktop then you can't control iTunes. Again, not a huge deal...

The other obvious limitation is that you can only select three external components but that may be enough in many cases...

Overall, a good remote for those who have a Windows Media Center HTPC.