[Philistine]

Since buying a Nokia N800 to use as a remote for my SB/TP it's been 'upgraded' to my traveling tablet having replaced my laptop on overnight stays.  It's such a relief not to do the TAS dance anymore, provided the hotel has wireless and not just a wired connection.  Consequently I'm back to square one regarding a good remote for my SB/TP.

With the new Slimdevices Controller, and the Ipod Touch, I guess that these should be considered as remote options.

Any recommendations?

[IronLion]

Why not just get another N800?  Also, have you found the N800 slow or laggy when using it as a TP remote?  I forget where I read it but I think I read that somewhere.  Any chance you could post some pics of how it looks using it as a TP remote?  I'd be interested in that as well.  Thanks. 

[Philistine]

This thread has screen shots of the Nokia:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=47070.0

A second Nokia would work fine, maybe a 770, but they're so good its too tempting to use them for web surfing/Skype/emails.

[sts9fan]

I have a N800 and personally I never use it as a remote.  It is way too slow and I can fly through my collection much better with the regular SB remote.  It is niffty though. 

[slow_down]

I'd jump all over the controller if they'd get a learning function in place so I can control my preamp volume with it.  The remote itself has no IR receiver to learn IR signals, but supposedly in the future you'll be able to teach it through the duet receiver or SB3 somehow?  Don't quite understand it, but hope they get it ironed out soon.

[pardales]

This topic is of interest to me as well; I have been wanting to add remote to my set-up. I need something to talk to iTunes on my laptop. My system consists of laptop--connected DAC--connected to integrated amp. I don't need to control volume, just iTunes on my computer so I can change songs/albums.

My stereo is in a different room than my speakers. So, could I use the Touch to talk to iTunes on my computer in the other room?

[Wayne1]

Phil,

I have used a Dell Axxim running TelCanto, A Nokia 770 using the Nokia skin, an OQO, and a wireless laptop to control my SB. I can say that, for ME, the Controller is the BEST thing I have ever used for the SB.

The physical buttons and jog wheel are a lot easier to use than a touch screen, for me. The display is just the right size. The font size is easy for even my 53 yr. old eyes to see.

SlimCenter 7 does take a little bit of time to get used to. I test quite a few SB's every week in my system. I have to run through set-up and  navigate through all the different menus and options to make sure the mods all work fine. In the past, I always used the SB remote as it was faster and more intuitive for me. Lately, I have found myself wishing all my remotes were Controllers.

An iTouch does more than a Controller will. I do feel the Controller does the job it was designed for better than anything I have tried.

[mgalusha]

I had a chance to play with Wayne's controller today and it is very slick. I've been thinking about an iTouch as well because of the additional functionality. I have used a Nokia 770 and found I didn't really use it much, it was faster for me to just use the standard SB remote. If I buy a duet it's a moot point but I'm very fond of my heavily modded SB2, so that may not happen for a while. Gotta say tho that the Slim controller was very nice.

[Philistine]

Thanks for the feedback, and my apologies for the overdue response.  I've spent just over a week in the UK, and I guess I've been in the US too long, here are my observations:

Austin Powers style teeth prevail.
When I ask for a coke with ice I get one cube
Coffee refills, you have to pay for 

Back to the matter in hand, looks like a Controller is the best solution.

[Pneumonic]

The nice thing about the Duet controller is that it, in addition to being a portable display device for your music files, it is also hardwired to (eventually) be a portable audio player that can stream your source files as well.   

[rydenfan]

I use my ipod touch as a remote and it works very nicely. I can flip between landscape and portrait when flipping through album art which is very cool. It is a little on the slow side, but I have not played with the controller so I am not sure how its speed would compare? Since I already owned my touch I didn't feel the additional $300 was neccissary, but I would like to play with the controller.

[ninthsrw]

I have used a Sony U Series hand-held PC running XP, various Think-pad X series tablet PC's, my blackberry, and my girlfriends HP iPaq thing as remotes over the years. The U series had a battery life of 2 hours left on, or could be switched in and and out of standby every time you wanted to use it with relative ease. The X-Series tablet PC was clunky, and required a stylus. The Blackberry (8830 Worldphone) had a small screen, required that I leave at least one port on my music serving PC wide open (though a more savvy fellow might manage a way around that), and was big. All were run on 802.11g, except for the Blackberry of course. I got the Controller (now sold separately from the receiver for $299) the a few days ago, and am very happy with it. I have  4 SB3s (now dubbed SB classic) and the remote is working very well. SqueezCenter leaves something to be desired, as it has turned into a bit of a bloated resource wh0r*, but at least there is a "SqueezeCenter Classic" skin.

The controller is awesome, and bests all my previous efforts to come up with a good remote. It has great battery life. The scroll wheel works great, however it is a little slick feeling. It spins very fast. I have a 900+ album collection, and scrolling through it all takes only 15 seconds or so. The scroll speed seems to be speed variable, which is to say that it scroll speed accelerates to a very fast maximum if you are spinning the wheel for an extended period at a constant rate. However, there is not scroll speed control provided. The high gloss black plastic of the remote scratches super easily, and the remote shows fingerprints very easily, though I am admittedly little OCD about such things. Battery life is around 6 hours between charges. The battery looks to be a standard Blackberry battery, and is easily replaced. Album art can take a few seconds to load, but seems as fast as, if not faster than, Sony U series and X-series efforts. Overall, I highly recommend it. The remote has a nice feel to it. It is surprisingly light weight, and easy to hold onto thanks to an indentation in the back, however moist hands would make it very difficult to grip. Technically speaking, it is excellent, better than any UMPC or tablet PC solution. The controller is very good looking too, however the finishes / materials used to construct the shell of the device clearly do not wear well.