These are my first impressions of the Interlink ExpressCard bluetooth remote control. See the basic idea here:
http://www.interlinkelectronics.com/index.php?id=Njg1
I got mine from Dell for $36
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=A0691231
First thing I noticed was that it sticks out of the slot around a quarter of an inch. At first this bothered me but I then realized that it was good - I can easily pull it out w/o bothering with the finickeky plastice eject button on my e1505.
The remote gets quite hot while charging. I assume this is due to the heat inside the laptop.
Setting up the connection to my bluetooth (Toshiba stack) took around 30 seconds and was impressively easy.
It says in the owners manual that the buttons work differently in different programs. Here is what I found.
Global - the volume/mute buttons control the system volume, regardless of which program you are controlling with the other buttons. (I find this advantageous: Other remotes that I have tried control the volume of the program, but when you are not using the remote and want to change the volume most people use the buttons on the computer which control the system volume. This is problematic e.g. if you lower the volume on the remote while on your couch, and later while sitting by the computer want to raise the volume - it won't go louder than the program volume)
iTunes -WORKS EVEN WHEN MINIMIZED!!!!! (I am very pumped about that......). You can skip to the next track, previous track, and pause. (when iTunes has focus you can also forward/rewind in a track)
winDVD - works to rewind/forward but not to pause. Very annoying as this is my favorite DVD player.
WMP - works to rewind/forward and to pause video clips. (I did not try with audio files). However, if iTunes is running, when you press the play/pause button it will control iTunes as well. So you must first close iTunes.
QuickTime - works fine. Minor problem - the pause button is a different button than the play button.
Adobe PS elements 4, and Windows Picture viewer - Control next picture, previous picture. (Cute idea - when showing off pics, play music from iTunes, and you can pause the music or skip to next picture with one remote).
Again, this is what I noticed in the first few hours. Overall I am quite happy with it (I got it primarly for iTunes). I will post again when I have more to say.
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One of the reasons that it might seem to be getting hot is because the expresscard slot is directly above the hard drive, which in my case is the only thing that actually gets hot in my laptop.
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IMPORTANT - what I wrote above that the remote controls iTunes even when it is minimized - That is the case only because I use multi-plugin to allow my media keys to control iTunes even when minimized. When I disable multi-plug in, then the remote only works when the focus is on iTunes.
(Links to info about multi-plugin:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=36286&highlight=itunes+buttons
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=77489&highlight=itunes+buttons
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For those of you that have this Remote with Media Direct 3.0 (dell), make sure to run the patch if you are having trouble with getting it to work properly:
http://interlinkstore.com/store/?action=dsp_faq&productID=8587#6
My Express Card Media remote seems to only work with Dell Media Direct, not with any other program.
Please download this patch from the link listed below. Unzip and run the setup file. http://download.ieuseng.com/et/bc/Dell_Patch/
First impressions - Bluetooth remote (Interlink)
Discussion in 'Accessories' started by bTaryag, Sep 28, 2006.