PPC/NetRemote power on performance?

[brockgr]

Guys,

How long does it take for your NetRemote to power up, establish it's network connection and start being useable?

From sleep mode, with iPAQ 3650 and an 802.11b card in ad-hoc mode it takes me about 5-10 seconds before my first NetRemote commands make it through. It used to be slower, but removing DHCP (hard coding the IP) shaved off a couple of seconds.

How is everyone else? Is access-point mode faster to "associate"? Is Bluetooth better or worse?

We have some real bad TV in Japan - sometimes the response time of my off switch is not what I would like :evil:!!

Cheers, Gavin

[Ben S]

Very good question. I've been meaning to post this question for awhile.

Mine takes 5-10 seconds as well. Which is fine for whole-house audio, but watching movies? Ugh.

I'm thinking bluetooth -might- be faster. Anything more than a second has a significant downside to a "normal" remote.

Alternatively, if I have a way to turn the backlighting off and on, and leave the power to the unit on during movie watching (assuming the battery will last 3+ hours), it might be sufficient.

[brockgr]

Yep I have considered the "no-sleep" option, but the no backlight is not great for movies. With no tactile feedback on the screen, you need to see where your'e pressing.


Solution for now is one of theose dodgy 2000mAh iPAQ battery replacements and the backlight turning off as soon as possible.

I would love to know if BT is better - before burning cash on yet another networking system. The battery life would be better if nothing else.

Gavin

[z.mash]

I'm at about 3-5 seconds. I'm using a PCMCIA 802.11b adapter in the sleeve w/ the extended battery. I turn the backlight off ASAP, but leave the power on as long as possible.

I wonder if the iPronto has similar problems over wireless?

-Zak

[brockgr]

Does the iPronto talk ethernet? I would guess they have a dedicate protocl that doesn't have much more than wrapped IR codes. Ethernet is way overkill for a simple remote - but great for feedback etc.

[z.mash]

The new iPronto does ethernet and 802.11b:
http://www.remotecontrol.philips.com/library/ipronto/White%20paper_iPronto.pdf

[brockgr]

Yep it 802.11b all right. I guess they have some massive batteries in there (it is pretty thick - your arms are gonna ache (not to mention your wallet).

[ElvisIncognito]

Here's what I intend to do about this...

1) Have a cradle sitting on a coffee/end table somewhere
2) Place PPC in cradle when not in use
(Side benefit = batteries always fully charged.)
3) Set PPC to *not* turn off when powered by external power source. (Backlight, yes, but not the power.)
4) Stream content (DVD covers, trailers, cool animations, whatever...) from HTPC to PPC (possibly using web browser control and HTML page(s) on PPC with "META REFRESH" tag set to go to the next page after X# seconds.) This will not only keep the connection active, but will also provide the HT equivalent of one of those LCD/connected "picture frames" - only WAY cooler.

Flaws in this plan...
1) Wear and tear on the LCD panel. I'm not too worried about that - it would give me a good excuse to replace that damned Maestro with an Axim anyway! Besides, I can always hit the power button manually whenever I won't be using the HT system for awhile (e.g. before going to bed.)
2) HTPC would (probably) never go into standby mode (maybe - not sure.)

Anyway, that's one idea. Anybody got a better one? :cool:

[Ben S]

I've actually thought about doing something similar, as the Dell dock looks pretty snazzy, and would fit nicely in a theater (IMHO).

Of course, if the dock is plugged in, then you get into the realm of possibly using a hardwired network for better performance.

Also, you can change the settings on the HTPC to keep it from going into standby. I'm not sure how much energy you're saving with it off, as I always heard that the monitor was sucking up most of the power, and the box itself wasn't too bad.

Of course as long as you can get 4-5 hours on a single charge on the PPC, you could have it set to turn the backlight off in 15 seconds, and the unit off at it's max. The max on both of my units are 15 minutes, but if I could stretch that to 1+ hours, I'd be happier. Then when you exit the theater, dock the unit.

I'm sure collectively we'll solve this issue shortly.

[ElvisIncognito]

Hardwired is no good, though - then you'd have to leave it in the cradle to use NR. Wired remote controls are about as cool as wingtip shoes and coon-skin caps. Best left in the 50's... :mrgreen:

Would the web console control work for this (in theory)? Zak doesn't have any info posted on this topic just yet.

That's a misconception about the monitor consuming most of the power... If you want to know what's sucking up the juice, look for the heat.

[brockgr]

One thought on the streaming covers with I.E. is that you would need to leave NetRemote (the applications) to do this. There are some other options - you could just use a screenaver like PocketCandy (http://www16.brinkster.com/motbe/ce/PocketCandy.asp - I use the Matrix one http://www16.brinkster.com/motbe/ce/Matrix.asp). Otherwise something could be implemented in Girder and Image Feedback - I might have a go at theat for fun.

Cheers,

Gavin

[ElvisIncognito]

I use the PocketCandy/Matrix screen saver as well, and it's very cool, but my whole point here was keeping a connection open between the PPC and HTPC.