snesgenesis
Member
I'm recently been seen Cortexa online, has one had any experience with it?
Cortexa?
- Thread starter snesgenesis
- Start date
Frunple
Active Member
I used them before they "went out of business/re-bought" or however you want to say it.
It used to be a great system, all in one router/firewall/HA server. Then the lead dev got a job doing commercial building automation and the Cortexa just faded away. One of the users liked it so much he bought the system from the lead dev but they brought on a new dev who had little to no HA experience and, as would be expected, the system suffered. It never has reached a state where it can be competitive again. Now they keep trying to cut expenses more and more, can't blame them, but again, the system is suffering from this. They seem to have gone "Apple" crazy for some reason so I guess if you like Apple products it might be for you. I was given a login to a test system they had set up a while back and they still had a LOT of work to do just to bring it up to a "production" type of system, not sure if they ever got any further with it or not but I would ask to play with this test system before spending any money on it. They really should have kept the older system and did the needed upgrades to it instead of trying to revamp it. It was all drop down based, point and click type of programming, couldn't be any easier and user friendly! If you added a UPB driver, the automation programming section would then populate with all available UPB functions. The test system I used was trying to mimic this feature but it was sloppy and confusing and the navigation was just all over the place, kinda weird.
It's just not what it used to be and this can be taken as a good and bad cuz the real Cortexa did need a lot of updating but they didn't do the updating needed unfortunately.
As always, this is just my opinion from using the old and new system, as I said, ask for access to the test system and play with it or check on their return policy and get one for yourself. Just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you won't.
Also, I know they did bring on another dev who was much more knowledgeable in the HA field.
It used to be a great system, all in one router/firewall/HA server. Then the lead dev got a job doing commercial building automation and the Cortexa just faded away. One of the users liked it so much he bought the system from the lead dev but they brought on a new dev who had little to no HA experience and, as would be expected, the system suffered. It never has reached a state where it can be competitive again. Now they keep trying to cut expenses more and more, can't blame them, but again, the system is suffering from this. They seem to have gone "Apple" crazy for some reason so I guess if you like Apple products it might be for you. I was given a login to a test system they had set up a while back and they still had a LOT of work to do just to bring it up to a "production" type of system, not sure if they ever got any further with it or not but I would ask to play with this test system before spending any money on it. They really should have kept the older system and did the needed upgrades to it instead of trying to revamp it. It was all drop down based, point and click type of programming, couldn't be any easier and user friendly! If you added a UPB driver, the automation programming section would then populate with all available UPB functions. The test system I used was trying to mimic this feature but it was sloppy and confusing and the navigation was just all over the place, kinda weird.
It's just not what it used to be and this can be taken as a good and bad cuz the real Cortexa did need a lot of updating but they didn't do the updating needed unfortunately.
As always, this is just my opinion from using the old and new system, as I said, ask for access to the test system and play with it or check on their return policy and get one for yourself. Just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you won't.
Also, I know they did bring on another dev who was much more knowledgeable in the HA field.
The documentation on their site is so poor, it makes you wonder if they are serious about selling it. The interface looks nice, but there are no details on whether one can develop new drivers for it, what scripting language you can use for more advanced tasks, etc...
If you follow the links in my signature, there's a free HA program to try that's very powerful.
If you follow the links in my signature, there's a free HA program to try that's very powerful.
snesgenesis
Member
Thanks guys I'll be sticking to my reliable ISY 99i
bazaarsoft
New Member
They have an iOS app (as does everyone else in this space) and an in-wall iPad mounting bracket (by far the most popular touch-screen tablet). Can't seem to find any other references to Apple on their website. Is that all it takes someone to become "Apple" crazy or am I missing something?
Frunple
Active Member
If you say so
jlind793111
New Member
For full disclosure, I work for Cortexa but I wanted to chime in on this thread. What Frunple seems to be referring to was about a year ago when we showed him the system at a very early stage of our redesign and rewrite of our software. Since then, the system has come a very very long way and we are very proud of the system we have now. Our systems now allows us to easily add new drivers and support the product like never before. We will have an API available in the future which you can email our support team to find out more info. Also, there is a new Support Website available where the support documentation resides, you can also submit support tickets if need be or contact support and speak with someone directly.
The original system was strictly based on working with Microsoft products. Our new system has moved away from this model and our goal is to work on multiple devices, not just Windows systems and not just Apple products. If you are interested, we do offer online demos of the system so you can take a closer look at how it functions and the ease of use. You can PM me directly if you're interested.
The original system was strictly based on working with Microsoft products. Our new system has moved away from this model and our goal is to work on multiple devices, not just Windows systems and not just Apple products. If you are interested, we do offer online demos of the system so you can take a closer look at how it functions and the ease of use. You can PM me directly if you're interested.
