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Does a motion sensor "point-n-click" mouse, akin to LG's magic remote, exist?
So I'm looking for a solution that's basically just a remote to scroll the web while I'm slouched down in the couch. Something that doesn't require a flat surface to work.
I'd also be interested to hear your solutions for your living room PCs. Thanks!
I think the search term you want is “air mouse.”
I have a couple but the quality isn’t something that would lead me to recommend either.
Hah, apparently that is indeed an entire product category. Thank you! I just kept thinking this has to be a thing, there's no way this isn't.
I used to have one that came with some obviously machine translated instructions which referred to the device as a "squirrel." Or maybe it was a "flying squirrel?" Definitely had the word "squirrel" in it.
Anyway, the point is a lot of what's available isn't exactly high end.
Personally I prefer the little mini keyboards with touch pads built in. They come small enough that they're basically just a remote control for your computer. This is the one I've got currently, for example. It's about the same length as a typical smart phone and a little wider. It's still a cheap nasty little device, but the underlying tech is so much more mature that even the low end pretty much just works.
The best ones seem to be made by a company called Rii. It's pretty common to see them in a form where they are built into a mini thumb keyboard so you can theoretically do anything with them. That being said, after about 2 years of use the one I bought got a pretty bad drift issue, so I'm not sure I would recommend them either.
Not quite the same thing, but when I'm using a laptop on a bed or couch, I just use a wireless trackball with it. (Although come to think of it, I did also use this same solution when I used to have a home theater PC connected to my TV, along with a wireless keyboard.) You don't need a a surface that's hard or flat, you can just plop it down anywhere. I find it's pretty comfortable to just have it on the cushion/mattress next to me. This is the one I use (but they do have another for half the price): https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/mice/mx-ergo-wireless-trackball-mouse.html
I've got two of those and I do love them for travel but for the couch keyboard I've got a Logitech K400. It's got an track pad keyboard like a laptop and just kind of lends itself to the sort of lazy scrolling you might do. The trackball mice feel to me like they need to be on the arm of the couch or my wrist is at a weird angle.
I find it's a good angle for me to just have one right next to my thigh, but then I do tend to sit a bit more reclined than upright. My wrist tends to complain pretty severely if I don't get mouse ergonomics right, but like I said, that's just how it works for me.
I use this and it works quite well. You can control the mouse with the touch Ad and there is a scroll wheel.
https://a.co/d/4cYZg57
But I mainly use it for setting up zoom meetings and thing, not for web browsing. If you want something larger, logitech has things like this:
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/keyboards/k830-illuminated-tv-wireless.html
Although I have no personal experience with it.
I've had Logitech MX Air Mouse since it was released. It's still magical.
https://www.wired.com/2007/08/logitech-air-mouse/
It's odd that the tale of it ended on the first product. Might have been too expensive for a mouse at the time.
I'm pretty happy with this (a Rii as mentioned by @Akir, which is my couch surfing solution for light use. Works well for selecting video files or youtube, some light browsing.
It's light enough to be able to throw it about a bit if there are a few folks vying for control of what's on. Battery goes for ages and it just plugs into micro usb for a recharge. backlight is nice, and everything basically just works nicely enough. Scroll wheel is good, and track pad is fine.
It's initially a bit odd using the wing buttons ("R1" and "L1" if you will) as left and right click cause they're sort of reversed from what feels natural on a mouse: right click (secondary) corresponds to "R1" (typically primary) and vice-versa.
If I'm on m'lonesome, I like to use Mouse Without Borders from my laptop so I can use the laptop on my, well, lap, and effortlessly transfer to the media center behind the TV when necessary. It's part of PowerToys (also from Microsoft) these days too, so you can get it alongside all the other handy bits in there - assuming you're rocking windows.
I think I bought that exact same one for use with my MiSTer. But I never actually use it.
Ignore all other keyboard-mouse combo suggestions. This is the GOA(Bluetooth Keyboards):
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/pd026744-thinkpad-compact-bluetooth-keyboard-with-trackpoint-overview-and-service-parts
I recommend trying a DualShock4 (PS4 controller) or DualSense 5 (PS5 controller) with DS4Windows. You can map the mouse to the sixaxis gyro sensor and it's surprisingly accurate and precise. Additionally, you can use the touchpad in the center for fine control (or map the analog sticks for mouse movement/scrolling).
As an alternative, you can download unified remote. This turns your phone into a trackpad+keyboard by connecting via wifi between an app on your phone + pc. I keep it installed on my phone because sometimes I'm just too lazy to go find the mouse. 😐
I have used a Wiimote for this in the past. I sadly forgot the name of the software I used for this but there's several and it should be easy to find.
Would a trackball work? I use them exclusively and they'd seem to fit your bill.