Cheap/simple way to turn TV on/off using computer and/or Windows Meda Center remote

I have a Windows Media Center HTPC, and it's great. I'm trying to rid myself of one last minor inconvenience, though. The only thing I need my TV remote for on a day-to-day basis is to turn the TV on/off. Everything else I can do from my WMC remote. Is there anything I can do to get it off my coffee table that doesn't involve a Logitech Harmony or similar? It seems kind of silly to buy a universal remote just to power one device on/off.

I'd prefer something a bit more elegant than duct-taping a TV-B-Gone to the bottom of my WMC remote (which is sadly the best idea I've thought of so far).

Any ideas?

Joel Wietelmann

Posted 2010-10-12T17:14:42.917

Reputation: 131

Answers

You can program some of the buttons (TV power and volume) on your microsoft media center remote (Assuming that's what you have)...

Put the Media Center remote into learning mode by holding down the “Ok” button and the “DVD Menu” button at the same time. Once the lights have gone out, you are in learning mode.
Press the button the Media Center remote (TV Power or volume) that you would like to program. The light on the remote will flash once.
While holding the two remotes so that their IR nodes are facing each other, press the button from the other remote for which you would like the Media Center remote to learn. If the operation is successful the lights on the Media Center Remote will flash twice. If it wasn’t successful then they will flash four times.

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falter

Posted 2010-10-12T17:14:42.917

Reputation: 2 009

I've been using this remote for many years and I did not know you could do that. I thought one had to use the blaster things that came with it, but I never got around to using them. Which buttons are programmable? – paradroid – 2011-04-15T13:55:02.253

I don't think my one has the second power button, and it has four coloured buttons at the bottom, just like this one: http://support.boxee.tv/attachments/token/rio0gs44ofqd8n0/?name=MCE_remote.jpg

– paradroid – 2011-04-15T13:58:54.000

Volume and power buttons are programmable - sorry I've never seen one without the 2nd power button on that you linked to! – falter – 2011-05-12T15:36:29.887

The only thing I can think of is that you buy a some kind of Infrared sender (assuming your tv-remote uses that) and use that to send the signal used by your tv-remote.

The TV-B-Gone option is way simpler in my opinion.

Nifle

Posted 2010-10-12T17:14:42.917

Reputation: 31 337

You could always take the two remotes apart and frankenstein them together so you just have to flip the remote over to hit power. This has the same sort of issues as the TV-B-Gone though, I'd think.

Joshua Nurczyk

Posted 2010-10-12T17:14:42.917

Reputation: 2 316