Need help looking for a particular device.

[killem2]

I am going to make the jump and get a G27 series racing wheel. So I can use it with my laptop that will be hooked to my living room tv, sort of a portable gaming device

Problem is, I need to be away from the tv a ways, and I don't want a cord hanging from my laptop which will be on a shelf when in use.

I would like to know if there is any wireless usb devices. I'm imaging something that would have a dongle that would hook into my laptop, then I would have some sort of battery powered or ac powered hub that I could plug the racing wheel into and it would work exactly as though it were hard connected.

 

[marfig]

I can't answer to your question directly because I honestly don't know much about these type of controllers. Racing games isn't just my thing

However I'd want to point out to you that wireless controllers (mice and keyboard included) do come with a lag factor in the form mostly of latency issues mostly caused by the need to do A/D processing which is non existing in wired devices and that may also require further use of the processor. If this can affect your gaming experience, I'm not sure. I'd think racing games are big on latency concerns. So you may want to give this due consideration. Also you will definitely condition yourself further by going with a wireless controller because you now have to concern yourself with it being or not being a well made one with the least amount of latency.

Input latency also has implications if you want to play in multiplayer environments. Not because it's worse, but because it affects how game servers calculate all players positions as they send this information back to your computer. I'm not entirely sure, but I think multiplayer games based on Lag Compensation (Point 8 on that link and which is what most do these days) can skip several frames of input commands if it input latency is high enough, simply because input latency can't be used to calculate the client machine overall latency (the server has no way of knowing this), and which means that in practice your input latency in multiplayer games increases(!).

Meanwhile here's also a 2 year old article on Input latency. I'm not sure how much of this does indeed matter. Maybe it's all an exaggeration and you'll be fine and happy. But if you are serious about your driving... give it a thought.

 

[killem2]

Thanks I didn't even think about lag.

What about just a really long usb cable?

 

[Rob Williams]

Lag might not be a major issue if interference is minimal, but the product you describe... I'm not sure it exists. It sounds simple in theory, but I have just never -seen- anything like that, or have even heard about it. It'd be useful though, for obvious reasons.

A super long USB cord would work fine, as long as the USB cord in the wheel is replaceable. It's unfortunate Logitech hasn't released a wireless version of the wheel, given I am sure many people are in a similar situation.

 

[killem2]

Lag might not be a major issue if interference is minimal, but the product you describe... I'm not sure it exists. It sounds simple in theory, but I have just never -seen- anything like that, or have even heard about it. It'd be useful though, for obvious reasons.

A super long USB cord would work fine, as long as the USB cord in the wheel is replaceable. It's unfortunate Logitech hasn't released a wireless version of the wheel, given I am sure many people are in a similar situation.

Sorry I meant just a long usb extender cord.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812120087

 

[DarkStarr]

I would say, the best thing to do, would be to grab a usb hub and run it to the pc and have it "hidden" in something that you can plug the controller into.

 

[Kougar]

Problem is, I need to be away from the tv a ways, and I don't want a cord hanging from my laptop which will be on a shelf when in use.

I would like to know if there is any wireless usb devices. I'm imaging something that would have a dongle that would hook into my laptop, then I would have some sort of battery powered or ac powered hub that I could plug the racing wheel into and it would work exactly as though it were hard connected.

If you google "USB wireless hub" or "USB wireless station" you will find quite a few devices that will wirelessly connect USB devices around a room. Some will make the devices available to WiFi or ethernet networks, but others will simply be wireless USB hubs. The spec has never been that popular so I cannot recommend any products in particular, but they do exist and are easy to find with the right keywords.

Here's one idea ya might be looking for http://www.iogear.com/product/GUWH104KIT/ I'd suggest focusing on recently released products, as the Wireless USB specification wasn't actually official until sometime recently... I remember 2-4 years back some of the devices were pretty bad or had spotty reception. Newer ones should be better.

 

[killem2]

I would say, the best thing to do, would be to grab a usb hub and run it to the pc and have it "hidden" in something that you can plug the controller into.

Are you talking like a wired hub?

 

[killem2]

After researching for a bout a week, I have decided the best course of action is to get a usb extender code, probably a powered one.

 

[Rob Williams]

Yes, a powered one might sound like a good idea. I've had extender cords not work for simple things like keyboards, so I don't trust them totally myself. Please let us know how you make out.

 

[Tharic-Nar]

The alternative would be a wireless HDMI reciever, to which there are several, but they ain't cheap at over $100, plus there is the latency issue with motion pictures. This way you can keep the laptop and wheel close to you and even hook up any other device to it for streaming.

Trying to find WUSB based extenders is a little tricky here, it does seem to be a rather unpopular format thus far - probably bandwidth problems, i don't know. Ideally, it sounds like cool tech, but why so few devices does seem strange...