First Understand - RC and Bluetooth devices are great but unfortunately with HTPC's it is necessary frequently to adjust the bios. Both these types of control devices use drivers that do not become available until Windows is loaded. This means you will need a wired keyboard and mouse if it becomes necessary to adjust the bios. Also in a multi user machine you will not be able to select the user using Bluetooth as the user must be selected to load the Bluetooth drivers. Solution (make your HTPC a single user machine)
Unfortunately always a necessity for Bios and Safe Mode choice.
I have bought numerous RC keyboards with track pads and have never been happy with any of them. Things like moving a Window is really difficult as you have to use one hand to depress the LB and hold while moving the window with the other hand. It is this inconvenience that has caused me to carry a RC mouse with my Netbook. A track pad is not a mouse equivalent.
I bought a RC keyboard with a trackball about five years ago that I really liked. The trackball stopped working after a couple of months. Deciding I had nothing to lose a sprayed the device with WD40 after which everything worked fine and continues to work to this day. I have tried to purchase more of these but they are no longer available.
I have now been using this keyboard on all three of my desktop machine and I have gotten used to the feel which is similar to my Netbook. This device is a little pricey at $90 but its battery works for weeks even with the key back light enabled and it can easily be switched between several machines (FN - F1, F2, F3). I recommend this device paired with a RC mouse for HTPC's . Unfortunately Bluetooth devices do not work on KVM switches various RC keyboards such as the Logitech K360 do however .
I have a RC mouse I buy 5 at a time from China for $4 ea. When they get dirty or start to malfunction I just goto a new one. It has about a 30' range which is comparable to Bluetooth. It uses 1 AA battery rather than 2 AAA which I prefer. I have purchased dozens of these and the only problem I have experienced is you must keep each mouse and its transceiver paired or there are cases where they will not work. The drivers always load without problem when the device is inserted.
Thinking a Bluetooth mouse is replacement for a wired mouse is a bad mistake. Each of my HTPC machines controlled with both Bluetooth and RC mice, but I also have a wired mouse attached. Unfortunately a Bluetooth device requires drivers that are not loaded until the Windows user is selected and you can't select using the Bluetooth device because the drivers are not yet loaded. Also many Mobo's now have a mouse interface for the BIOS and of course the Bluetooth mouse and keyboard are not available.
I have only used the Trendnet transceiver to date which comes with the Blue Soliel software package. I have had a lot of difficulty pairing, collecting services, and device activation and often have to unpair and reinstall to get it working. My current feeling is that the RC mouse above performs approximately the same, without getting involved with difficulties encountered with Bluetooth.
Note 2016.12 : I am looking into alternative transceivers and software.
I have used many IR controllers over the years and in the past designed a HTPC software system controlled with an IR controller. There is a lot of different IR controllers being sold in China (see dealextreme.com or tinydeal.com) . Unfortunatly the ASCII designations for the buttons is hardwired by the manufacturer making it necessary to program specifically for the device being used. I have given up on these devices in favor of the RCmouse above with a button GUI.
It looks like USB3.0 is the emerging technology replacing both eSATA and Firewire. 2016GS
Put side by side with eSATA and FireWire 800, USB 3.0 is far superior. eSATA, an external connection that runs at the same speed as the internal SATA 1.0 bus ( our machines are SATA3.0 which is much faster 6Gbps), has a maximum theoretical of 3Gbps. This makes USB 3.0 faster than eSATA and about six times faster than FireWire 800 (full duplex at 800Mbps).
USB 3.0 also provides another advantage; while eSATA is faster than FireWire 800, unlike FireWire it cannot supply power. USB 3.0 has the advantage of being faster than both, even while supplying power.
Finally, USB 3.0 has improved power management, meaning that devices can move into idle, suspend, and sleep states. This potentially means more battery life out of laptops and other battery-based USB-supporting devices like cameras and mobile phones.
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