Sorry about that. I bought a Satechi SP400 smart-pointer. Every button does actually function properly, but not always on the first press. I don't know if it's because the thing sleeps or that the signal is not so great or what, but whatever is going on it's not OK for my use case. It tested ok to about 50 feet with no one in the room, but when it counted, I was only about 25-30 feet away, and it just wasn't getting it done. I did try it with new batteries, but that didn't help either. If I had a use for a remote where timing was not critical I might keep it, but presenting lyrics to singing people is kinda time sensitive. Another negative thing about it (that didn't actually affect me) was that you could not click with a mouse button while moving the mouse pointer, so no dragging files into folders, etc. I will say that it had a nice feel, and it seemed like a solid build. But at almost $50 I have no use for it, so it's going back.

I'm open to suggestions again if anybody has 'em. I think I'll give bluemaemo a try, at least until I find a permanent solution.

LinuxEventually: Hey, thanks! I've been looking for something like that! BTW, does that fit into a PCMCIA slot, ExpressCard, or both kinds of slots? Or does it take a special slot?

EDIT: Nevermind. It's called RTFP. *groan*

I have a presenter thingy from Targus. I tried it with Open Office on Ubuntu and it worked fine without installing anything.

Targus wireless presenter

It may not have the range that you're looking for though. I don't really have a good way to test that.

This is a bit late of a response since I forgot about this thread, but how big was the church? I believe Bluetooth works by bouncing the signal around if the devices aren't in the immediate vicinity. I know that because my bluetooth headphones when I used it outside would sometimes futz out when the n800 + bluetooth receiver were in my pocket or backpack.

It's not late at all, I still haven't found a good remote. I contacted the Satechi people, and they sent me another one. It was worse. I'm sending them both back, and starting over. It's a slow process, as I only get to do one test a week. :S

I don't know the dimensions of the church off the top of my head. I'll check this weekend.