So I have 2 different versions of the media center remote. My first one is the Remote Control for Media Center PC which I got from the company store. The 2nd one appears to be from the Windows Media Center Extender for Xbox (Amazon.com) package. They were giving these out for free awhile back. You can see more pictures of the 2nd remote here: Media Center Extender for Xbox Review.
Anyway, I recently swapped to the Xbox remote because it had the “My Videos” button that I really liked, since I use that button everytime I enter media center. However, the downside of that was that I lost the ability to program its buttons, since this remote doesn’t have a learning feature.
The learning feature wasn’t that useful before as the only buttons you can teach are the volume buttons and the TV power button. I didn’t really need to control my TV’s volume as the volume control on the PC itself was sufficient. The TV power button I really only use twice every time I wanna watch TV, while on the other hand, I could easily use the “My Videos” buttons 5 or 6x during 1 sitting.
Anyway, this changed after I got my receiver. Using multiple remote controls while riding my exercise bike is a difficult acrobatic task as I only have enough space to hold one remote on the display. So when I need to control the volume, and I have to bend backwards, stretch out my hand and reach for the receiver remote on the couch.
Then one day, I thought to myself, why can’t I just program one of the buttons to be “My Videos” and be able to use the media center remote control with the learning feature. I programmed my TV power button as “My Videos” button and the volume up/down buttons with the receiver’s volume up/down signals and it’s been working great so far.