Oh yeah, that is a cool remote. My observation about the awkwardness of a laptop in the living room is more about furniture and the layout of most media rooms. A second screen or a place for the laptop usually isn’t quite right, or downright bothersome. Even a desktop can be a problem.

My media server is hiding in the tv stand because it is NUC sized, an old mac mini. It could directly play to the tv, but for various reasons I wind up with apple castoffs, so an apple tv running Infuse is the front end. If I didn’t have that gear I would be running a modified android player.

I wind up in a lot of living rooms mucking around in their media systems and the furniture aspect matters to a lot of people. Also convenience is paramount, they want a media appliance in front of the couch, computers are for desks.

I know my family is grateful that I no longer force them to mess with a computer to watch something Right Now.