Remote for PC?

[Mark Kaine]

Apparently they're called "air mice"? But there's so many of them idk what to choose I just want a simple remote for basically watching YouTube,  open and close windows, volume control etc, I don't want/need a keyboard .

 

It would be nice to have backlight that can be turned off, preferably replaceable batteries and no USB dongle (but I guess that doesn't seem to exist, not sure, I know my PlayStation controller doesn't need a dongle, but my 360 controller does?)

 

Budget: ~20 USD/EUR

 

OS: Windows 10/11

[thrasher_565]

playstation has a built in dongle/wierless/bluetooth. think ps2 has ir well some do.

 

so... unless the ps has build in Bluetooth or wireless you need a dongle but there small so...

 

i use a wireless mouse for my bed to which youtube. 

 

what hand mouse is good i dont no never used one.

 

looks like just the mouse us called pointer mouse or pointer clicker.

Edited November 6, 2025 by thrasher_565

[ArnoG]

I don't really know your setup, but from what you are describing you need a simple bluetooth mouse. They have no dongle, and can run on changeable batteries.

 

As for starting up the computer, the air mouse or bluetooth mouse will not work. You'll need another solution for that, for example an expansion PCIe card which can connect to an app on your smartphone or use a remote bluetooth button to start/shutdown. I use that solution at home for my needs.

[Mark Kaine]

2 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

playstation has a built in dongle/wierless/bluetooth. think ps2 has ir well some do.

Oh right well my pc has build in bt so it should work I guess? (but still most wireless mice don't work without dongle)

 

Still question is which control (air mouse) a normal mouse is way to inconvenient for me especially because I also use a g502 hero and want to keep using that.

 

 

[Mark Kaine]

2 minutes ago, ArnoG said:

As for starting up the computer, the air mouse or bluetooth mouse will not work. You'll need another solution for that, for example an expansion PCIe card which can connect to an app on your smartphone or use a remote bluetooth button to start/shutdown. I use that solution at home for my needs.

Hmm I don't need to turn on off the pc with it, just control YouTube, switch tabs, open close windows etc...

 

Basically something like this should work?

 

[Needfuldoer]

6 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Hmm I don't need to turn on off the pc with it, just control YouTube, switch tabs, open close windows etc...

 

Basically something like this should work?

We have a bunch of those at work. (At least, that same controller under a different brand.)

They're okay, but kind of shaky. The old Wii controller had better tracking, since they had the "sensor bar" for their cameras to watch.

[ArnoG]

11 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Basically something like this should work?

It should, but I looked at the reviews and saw a decent amount of people having issues when using that remote with computers. So yeah... Not familiar with the air mice, but I would go with this mice example. It's cheap, fits your requirements of no dongle/no light/AAA batteries.

 

(I intentionally didn't share product name, as it was just a quick lookup. Just to prove they exist)

[Blue4130]

14 minutes ago, ArnoG said:

It should, but I looked at the reviews and saw a decent amount of people having issues when using that remote with computers. So yeah... Not familiar with the air mice, but I would go with this mice example. It's cheap, fits your requirements of no dongle/no light/AAA batteries.

 

(I intentionally didn't share product name, as it was just a quick lookup. Just to prove they exist)

 

I don't think you understand what he is looking for. I would guess that he wants play,pause, skip buttons more than a mouse pointer. 

[OhioYJ]

I've been using media keyboards ("full size") for a long time for my HTPCs. Finally wanted something smaller, and picked up a Rii K06 Mini Bluetooth Keyboard (also has a remote function). I liked the first one so well I ordered a second one for another one of my HTPCs. The small track pad works better if you turn the mouse speed up some, but other than that I like the smaller size. Having the keyboard is nice occasionally.

 

It still has the play and pause buttons and such as well. 

[Timme]

What about a simple programmable keypad with a knob? Something like this wireless one(clickable)

[Mark Kaine]

3 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

We have a bunch of those at work. (At least, that same controller under a different brand.)

They're okay, but kind of shaky. The old Wii controller had better tracking, since they had the "sensor bar" for their cameras to watch.

Well I don't need tracking, just start stop play volume and switch or close tabs... guess I'll try that remote.

 

3 hours ago, ArnoG said:

It should, but I looked at the reviews and saw a decent amount of people having issues when using that remote with computers. So yeah... Not familiar with the air mice, but I would go with this mice example. It's cheap, fits your requirements of no dongle/no light/AAA batteries.

 

(I intentionally didn't share product name, as it was just a quick lookup. Just to prove they exist)

I mean I specifically don't want a mouse....I even have this one... It's useless for me when I'm in bed / half asleep , I want a remote.

 

[Mark Kaine]

On 11/7/2025 at 12:59 AM, Needfuldoer said:

We have a bunch of those at work. (At least, that same controller under a different brand.)

They're okay, but kind of shaky. The old Wii controller had better tracking, since they had the "sensor bar" for their cameras to watch.

Oh I get it now... love it, works perfectly, I mean it's a bit wonky but way better than I imagined and it has backlight really important in the dark, and you can turn it off (as it's kinda useless in daylight that's good)

 

 

Pause play up down next previous volume save file open close etc it does everything, I kinda like it more than my mouse!

 

PS: would be cool to easily switch tabs as that's always tedious with any mouse.

 

Aaaaand oops! it actually turned my PC off! I hope that can be disabled my PC isn't supposed to be off