Over the past 20 years, I’ve been on a personal crusade to find the ideal HTPC/living room keyboard/mouse combo to use with my HTPC. Of course, the quest waned around 7 years ago when I gave up and traded my HTPCs and Windows MCE Extenders (running cable card tuners) throughout the house for Roku boxes while cutting the cord. Over the years, I tried the ATi Remote Wonder, ATi Remote Wonder II, Gyration 3101US, Microsoft MCE Remotes and Lenovo N5902 of which none were able to shiver my timbers in a way that felt like the ultimate solution to my HTPC on a TV screen control needs. I recall the remotes not being cheap, but then again, it was also a long time ago.
Enter CES 2020 as I’m wandering the Las Vegas Convention Center and I happen upon the Rii booth. The tossing of a bag with a free mouse pad in it draws me into conversation and my eyes immediately focused on the Rii X8 keyboard that they had set up as a demo. I picked it up and gave it a try – it functioned as any other keyboard and touch pad mouse would have and it brought back memories of my pre-Roku HTPC ambitions. I spoke with their representative and learned that it came with its own USB receiver and would work by default with most smart TVs on the market as well as HTPCs – a win win sort of situation in my mind. The keyboard has an integrated rechargeable lithium ion battery and some RGB bling that everyone expects out of new kit these days.
I was interested at that point, and then he mentioned that they e-tail on Amazon for a whopping $25.99, I knew it could be a useful gadget for our readers. Upon further investigation, I saw a $4 coupon that could be clipped bringing it down to $21.99 – something perfect for the occasional use with your Smart TVs, Playstations, XBoxes and/or HTPCs.
Discussion
Yup, the Amazon link is a commissioned link that’ll we’ll receive commission if you click and buy.