Windows 8

[edgar]

Hello All,

Has anyone tried SWRemote on Windows 8? How does it work?

I am thinking of buying a tablet...Windows or Ipad.....decisions.....

v/r

Kevin

[Richard Naninck]

I believe Dave bought a Samsung W8 Tablet and is vry happy with it.
I tried one the other day and it works fine. Just like on windows 7. Alphalists can be scrolled using a swipe gesture. Very handy and didn't know that would work. Pinch Zoom doesn't work. Therefore I would not buy an HD tablet (1920x1080) unless your theme matches that resolution. If it doesn't (mine is XGA) then it would display very small in size.
Best would be to make the SWRemote like an App so it can be called from the Metro Interface and called for while going through all open Apps. Now it has to run on the Desktop.
Not sure how much work it would be and maybe a simple recompile would do but having the SWRemote run like an app on a WP8 tablet would open up lots of possibilities. A lot less work than creating IOS and Android remotes.

[dlmorgan999]

Yep - I have a Samsung tablet that came with Windows 8. I also upgraded my ExoPC tablet to WIndows 8. These tablets are dedicated exclusively to software remote duties. They work great, although occasionally, the software remote app crashes during panel load (usually the first time after a reboot of the tablet). The second time, they always start correctly.

These tablets are - in my opinion - ideal for software remotes! I especially like the ease with which I can adjust the backlighting in Windows 8. This is very useful when I'm using the tablet in my home theater or other darkened room.

Both of these tablets are 1366 x 768, and as Richard mentioned, I actually prefer a lower resolution like this for software remotes. It also had a side benefit of making the tablets less expensive.

[Steve Horn]

Presumably, these tablet SWremotes are running under a full big boy version of windows 8 and not windows 8 RT. I was looking at the small Dell tablet (XPS 10), but a reviewer pointed out the 'RT' part.

[dlmorgan999]

Correct - software remotes require the full version of Windows 8.

[dlmorgan999]

On a related note, a coworker recently showed me a remote desktop app for the iPad called Jump Desktop. This one fully supports Windows 8 gestures and appears to allow the iPad to be used as if it were a Windows 8 tablet (assuming you have a Windows 8 desktop that you can RDP to). I figured I would add another variable to the mix.

[Steve Horn]

Correct - software remotes require the full version of Windows 8.

Thanks. Saved me $300.

[jacco van der Ven]

Next week I fly to the US (again) and I am thinking to buy this tablet for the software remote,

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/miix-2-8-32 ... &cp=1&lp=4

Will this be a good tablet ?

Jacco

[dlmorgan999]

I don't know anything about that particular tablet, but it seems to have decent specs. If you have time, it might be useful to search for some reviews first to see what other people think.

[jacco van der Ven]

Back from the states, I bought a Dell Veneu 8 Pro. With windows 8.1 (1280 x 800 )

perfect for Software Remote

[Richard Naninck]

Nice!
If only the SWRemote could be run as an app and support some gesture control HB would be current again.
I suppose alphalists do scroll through gestures.. right?

[ScottBot]

On the Dell Veneu 8 Pro, I'm curious to know if:

1. Button presses show the down state
2. You can disable the network card power-down saver so the connection is maintained

[dlmorgan999]

I'll have to check on the button press issue when I get home, but as to the network card, I've unfortunately not found a way to do that. Have you found a Windows 8 tablet that allows disabling (I suspect it's really more a function of who writes the driver)?

On a related note, on occasion when I start a remote on my Windows 8 devices, I get a crash error (I think it's a C++ runtime error, but I don't remember for sure). It always starts on the second run with no error, so I've largely ignored it but I've wondered about the cause. Do you see this?

[jacco van der Ven]

@Richard, I can control the scroll bar for alphalist, (swipe). If that is what you mean?


@Scott,
1. ) when I hold a button I can't see the down state.
2. ) I can't find that option, but when the tablet is in sleep mode, and I start it again, SWremote is still working.

[Richard Naninck]

Not using the scroll bar, but simply touch the data in the list itself and than swipe up or down. If the list moves along with the gesture, that is atleast something. Still waiting for the second gen hybrids before buying. After buying I can start writing Windows Phone apps. The other day I was looking into CommandFusion but I seriously doubt that I can get the status updates like they should be. HB needs to push instead of CF polling for data. So having a W8 compiled SWRemote with some of the nice gestures like moving from panel to panel using swipes etc would really do it for me

As for starting the SWRemot etwice because the first time errors out, I remember the same issue but it doesn't happen anymore and I don't know what I did to resolv it. Using W7 Ultimate 64