Or you could use a Wiimote as a remote and get a cheap bluetooth dongle. That's what I do for watching movies/anime on my computer. Of course, this is assuming the laptop has a free USB port.
It does have a free, working USB port. Thing is, I only have one Wiimote and the system is one floor under my room (it normally wouldn't be an issue, I guess, but I've actually been using my Wii for Megaman 9 as of late), so that's definitely a no-go. For now, the PSP, a web browser, or an old school remote (i.e. getting up and poking the keyboard) will have to do.
Also, my dad's main justification for getting a wireless keyboard and not just a remote is that we'd be able to surf the web from the couch and generally just use the computer for other things. Certainly not a bad idea -- a 32" LCD TV, even at a lowish resolution, certainly beats a 17" computer monitor. If nothing else, it's easier on the eyes since you're not right in front of it.
I probably wouldn't use it since my monitor is basically a 1200p TV anyway, but it's nice for my dad.
Damn. Even with the damage, that's a good deal to come across.
Indeed!
The only thing that concerns me is how much longer the system is going to last. The hard drive especially; after that many falls it's amazing the thing still works.
On the bright side, I can always switch to XBMC Live should the hard drive fail. We'd just have to stream all of the content through the network; nothing big.
I'd like to check that out sometime, get a chance to destroy mess with it, that sort of thing. Seeing as I'm something like 5 minutes away, it shouldn't be quite as hard to pull off as before. 
Haha, very true.
Just as a heads up, the system is running Windows XP, so no Tux love there. My dad wants to be able to use the system when he needs to and having Linux on it sort of compromises that.
The hard drive definitely isn't big enough for two operating systems and a plethora of media, either (it's only an 80GB drive and space is already becoming an issue given the rate that I'm filling it up).
The XBMC box only truly needs one more thing -- a way of getting rid of the damn XP Welcome screen a bit faster. When using a non-standard shell (such as StepMania or XBMC
) the Welcome screen tends to freeze on the profile loading step longer than it should. It wouldn't be an issue if that didn't completely prevent any full screen or 3D accelerated applications from running. Right now I have the startup script set to delay loading XBMC for thirty seconds to allow the screen to give up but that's obviously not ideal. Definitely something I need to research one of these days. The system starts up very quickly (15 seconds to the Welcome screen, if I were to guesstimate), it's a shame that I'd have to ruin that by inserting a completely arbitrary delay during the login phase.
On the subject, I'm working on making MPlayer work on that machine next time I go. That'll be a fun time, being able to watch movies and anime and such on the machine. 
Awesome.
Shouldn't be too hard, but the end result would definitely be worth it.
