Hello all,

I want to say thank you in advance for helping me out - I'm fairly new to all this. I just recently purchased a 42" 1080P Flat-Panel LCD monitor that will be connected to my PC via a 25ft. DVI -> HDMI cable. There is a wall in between the PC and the monitor.

There are a few questions I would like answered:
- Which front-end will meet my requirements?
- Which input device will meet my requirements?
- Which receiver will meet my requirements?

Receiver
- Since there is a wall in between the PC and the monitor, IR cannot be an option
- What other options allow transmission of up to 25 feet through a wall? Bluetooth? RF?
- Which of these types of transmissions be compatible with both the front-end and the input device?

Input Device
- The device must be able to communicate effectively with the receiver
- The device must provide the capability to "type" - this will be particularly useful when entering a website address or searching manually for a song
- The device must also be able to control the Audio Receiver, TV, and Cable Box - all of which operate on an IR signale
- Would not mind a touch-screen or a screen that changes for each device that is selected. I want to program it so that the remote would "look" like the original remote, but then change again for the next device.
- The device should be fully programmable so that each key can correspond to whatever command I would like. For example, "Watch TV" could Power On my Audio, Power On my TV, Power On my PVR, Switch TV Input to Component 1, and Switch Audio input to Optical. "Play a Movie" could switch display modes on my PC to allow video output, switch Audio input to Coax, launch the Front-End to the Movies section.

Front-End
- Play Movies in .mpg, .avi, .mov, etc.
- Automatically pull Movie Information + Covers from Internet
- Rival playback that is on par with PureVideo?
- Play Music in .mp3 format
- Be able to search by Genre, Album, Artist, etc.
- Be able to search by manually typing in the appropriate field
- The results for a manually-typed search should appear as you type them (like MediaMonkey)
- View Photos
- Launch Internet (Firefox)
- Launch External Application
- Can be completely controlled (including external applications) via the remote

Ahem. I shall begin. I give bad advice, generally, but it is also simple device. Windows Media Center plays almost every format that most people need, most importantly Ts files for burned movies. Download MyMovies into Media Center and you have an awesome DVD organizer and browser. Mymovies also supports Theatertek DVD player which plays dvds, ts files, etc. and is quite possibly the best. It also has a small media browser which is not too impressive. Along with your copy of Theatertek ($70 from their website), you will be given Nvidia PureVideo Decoders which offer great video decoding AND audio if you're interested, though I used a SPDIF cable to my home theater. THEN spend $40 at your local computer store for an MCE remote which comes with an infrared receiver. This remote will browse Media Center, MyMovies AND Theatertek (which is inititated automatically when using Mymovies within Media CEnter) without any programming. Pause for breath. THEN buy a Oneforall or preferably a URC remote to learn the commands from the Media Center and then throw the MCE remote out the window. Try to aim for someone's head. The URCs can be combined with a powerful RF receiver, thus eliminating your wall program (my stuff is hidden ). The RF receiver transmits IR at your equipment (and also to the IR MCE remote receiever). TYPING, you say? That's my project this weekend : I have a wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse ($40) that works great, but would like to expand it's capabilities into my remote. Am looking at either Girder or an IR keyboard so I can teach the remote shortcuts and hotkeys.
WELL, there's my advice. There are probably better and more expensive solutions, and my advice IS usually bad, but it works great for me. By the way, Theatertek lets you set custom aspect ratios and screen sizes for any disc or file, AND it remembers the settings. Lovely...

They also make leapfrog devices, which are small pyramids that you put somewhere in your living room and it takes your IR imputs and transforms them via RF and sends them to another receiver in another room which rebroadcasts them as IR to your equipment. $40 and they work great. Again, with a URC 200, etc.. you can buy the transmitter they sell, which is much better.