Tue 5/4/04 -- Want to kick back
and relax, enjoying an MP3 playlist or DVD movie on your PC without sitting at
attention in front of the keyboard? Want to stroll around the room while giving
a PowerPoint presentation, or just step aside to give your audience a better
view of your notebook LCD? Want a simple device that does what it promises and
is priced low enough to be an impulse buy? The Streamzap PC Remote is
$40.
This infrared remote control,
advertised to work over 40 feet away from its USB receiver (we managed only
about 30, not because of the hardware but because of walls blocking further
line-of-sight retreat from our PC), is a poor man's partial substitute for a
Windows XP Media Center PC: It works with your favorite multimedia applications,
from Windows Media Player, Winamp, and MusicMatch Jukebox to -- assuming you
have the proper hardware -- your DVD playback and TV tuner software, letting you
select, play, pause, and mute or adjust the volume of music or video tracks
without touching your keyboard and mouse.
Setup is simple, though neither two AAA
batteries for the remote nor a Hattori Hanzo sword (required to open the sealed
blister-pack package) is included. The supplied CD automatically copies files to
your hard disk, then prompts you to plug the sub-mouse-sized receiver into a USB
port (either 1.1 or 2.0 is fine) so Windows can detect the remote and install
the driver.
After that, it steers you through a
brief tutorial slide show, explaining button functions and loading Winamp so you
can practice the play, pause, next/previous track, and volume controls. Oddly,
the setup wizard doesn't suggest you check Streamzap's Web site for a fresh
driver; the version 2.0 driver on our test unit's CD has already been supplanted
by version 2.6 as of this writing, and downloading and double-clicking a driver
runs the whole setup and tutorial process again instead of simply upgrading your
installation.
