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More and more of us are using Smart TV's, but invariably we try and control this awesome power with a traditional magic wand. Plugging a media centre PC into the TV brings advantages – and challenges of its own. The problem of ‘remote control' is central to this. Logitech has been spending money on research into this problem for many years and sent us its latest effort for judgement. Is it time to make space on the sofa for the K830?
The latest version of the Sky Remote is a wonder of modern design. Nothing else makes quite so much sense in your hand. Like the unchanging form of the shark beneath the ocean, this remote has been around forever and we love it. Unless you want to do something other than use a Sky box.
Controlling a smart TV etc using a remote – any remote – is a truly thankless task. Entering your broadband router's 10-character password takes nerves of steel and the patience of a saint. Overall, you're left with the feeling that tying shoelaces with chopsticks might be marginally easier.
So what if you decide to take control of your TV through something like a media centre PC?
In that case, you'd love a proper keyboard. But it would have to exhibit a very specific feature-set, including:-
- You need to be able to find it/use it in the dark.
- It would need to work smoothly at a distance of up to 10 metres (33 feet).
- You won't have a mouse mat, so that function needs to be built in.
- Batteries are expensive and a pain, so rechargeable would be a bonus.
- If a full charge lasted more than a week, that would be great.
- Complex actions should be bunched together and/or allocated to a special key – so you get the advantage of a customisable layout.
- Plenty of built in short-cuts for things that everyone will be doing on a regular basis.
- It needs to look right next to your brand new Samsung 4K TV.
From what Logitech have told us, all of these feature points have been nailed by the K830.
