Remote controls drive me crazy. Pounding on the buttons while trying to line up the infrared port with the one on a stereo or TV across the room can be an exercise in frustration. The Leapfrog wireless remote has come to my rescue: it allows me to control electronic devices via radio remote even when they're out of sight.
It works using two components: a small, three-quarter ounce radio transmitter that attaches to the remote-control device and the radio receiver that stays in the room with the electronic equipment. The Leapfrog transmitter reads infrared pulses entered into the remote and sends them out as radio signals. The Leap-frog receiver, located near the equipment, conveniently converts the signals back to infrared.
Since radio can go through walls, you can control electronic devices from other rooms as well. Radio operating range is rated as 150 feet; Leapfrog works from every room in my house (distances up to about 30 feet). It stops working about 20 feet outside my house, but this is probably because of my aluminized insulation.
Buy more than one Leapfrog device, and dazzle the neighbors by turning your appliances on and off from the front lawn.
IR-45 Leapfrog Wireless Remote Control Extender: US$69.95. Terk Technologies: (800) 942 8375, +1 (516) 756 6000.
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