It’s fairly well documented by now that Nintendo’s sensor bar for the Wii is basically a pair of lights with a cord going out the back, connecting to your Wii to draw power from it. The cord is usually long enough for most needs, but if it’s not then you have a problem that can be solved in one of three ways. First, you could buy an extension cord; a few companies do offer such things. Second, you could build your own wireless sensor bar; it takes a few hours and basic technical know-how, but it’s possible. Or finally you could buy a manufactured wireless sensor bar, and that’s what Memorex offers.
$20 MSRP will net you a slightly curved, taller bar than Nintendo’s design. It takes four AA batteries (not included), fed in through a panel on the bottom. Once this is done, just place it above or below your TV as normal, turn the switch to On, then press the Sleep button on the top of the sensor bar. This activates the bar and toggles it between a 1 or 2 hour mode, at which point it will turn off until you press the Sleep button again. It’s possible you’ll then need to adjust the calibration in the Wii’s system menu, but possibly not; I was able to swap between Nintendo’s bar and this Memorex wireless bar with no problems at all, even in the middle of a game.
The larger size suggests larger lights, and while that doesn’t matter much if you’re playing within a distance of (depending on your lighting conditions) about five to ten feet, much further out than that you may see problems with Nintendo’s sensor bar. Minor input skipping can start to occur around twelve or thirteen feet, and you’ll probably lose the ’connection’ if you go much further than that. Memorex’s bar seemed to have nearly double that operational range; it was able to reliably get IR light to the Wiimote at distances of about twenty-five feet (with problems at about twenty-seven, and losing the ’connection’ at thirty). All of these distances will vary based on your lighting conditions, but the Memorex sensor bar nonetheless showed a noticably longer operational range than Nintendo’s bar.
While the batteries will last a while, it should be pointed out that the Memorex sensor bar needs four (4) AAs. If you already have or plan to get a set of good rechargeable batteries, then this is fine; otherwise it’s an ongoing extra cost. This seems like a good time to note that if you’re shopping online for this product, some websites claim it has a USB cable which is used to recharge it. These claims are not correct. The only power source it has is four AA batteries.
Memorex’s Wireless Sensor Bar is a competent product of its kind. It has excellent operation range, and as a wireless bar it is pretty easy to set up; you just drop the batteries in, place it near the TV as usual, turn the switch on and press the Sleep button to tell it how long you want it to be active, then play. On the other hand, it is definitely a niche product; passable sensor bars can be made at home rather easily, and the extra range only matters in certain situations. Thus it seems this bar has three main uses: For rooms where you’re around fifteen to twenty feet away from the TV, perhaps for travel (it’s definitely easier to deal with than a wired bar in this case), and in cases where you don’t have enough cord length for Nintendo’s sensor bar to reach the Wii. If any of these situations describe you then Memorex’s product will take care of your problem, but otherwise it may not address any real need.
