Control4
Control4 had a very big (two story) booth, with a fancy rotating stage. The demonstration was pretty good, but then they would be in pretty bad shape if they couldn't come up with a demo that looked like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I wanted to attend the Control4 software and hardware classes, but my flight down Tuesday got cancelled, and by the time I got in, there was no way I was going to make it over to the convention center for 9 AM Wednesday. After missing the hardware class, I said the heck with the software class and went out with the HS crowd instead.
I have mixed feelings about C4. The price points and functionality appear good. However, from what I have read they are very big on marketing and press releases, but a big question mark for the quality of the hardware. The fact that it is a retrofit technology is a big plus. Another problem with C4 is that the backers have a VERY bad rep with many integrators. This was before my time, but evidently the backers tend to promise the stars to get everyone hooked up, then they would sell the company and the people who signed up get left with poor service and half filled promises. I'm going to look into C4 further, but I'm not about to hock my car so I can sign up with them.
UPB
I talked to several manufacturers about UPB. The protocol seems to be very robust, and getting a lot of manufacturer support. HAI is already supporting it in their panels, and will be coming out with their own brand of UPB switches. Supposedly, the only changes will be additional software to make tighter integration with the companies panels (On a separate note about HAI, Worthington was demonstrating the HAI OmniPad emulating a Russound keypad for Russound emulation. Very sweet).
I was extremely impressed with the Simply Automated UPB line. They have dropped the lower wattage dimmers, and only sell 1000-watt units now. Snap a different faceplate on, and you have two switches in the same footprint (the rep mentioned that they hope to have a unit that will support 2 loads in the same single-gang footprint). Snap another faceplate on and you have a four-button control. Snap a different plate on and you have a keypad. Don’t like the color? Just snap on a different colored plate. This has been one of my major peeves with the PCS/Smarthome/Lightolier products. If after the installation the homeowner decides that she wants a different color switch (and this is almost a 100% probability. Just ask any integrator), you are SOL short of swapping out the entire switch. Very time consuming and costly from the inventory standpoint. SA has solved this problem. They also were showing three phase couplers. One was sandwiched between the plug and receptacle on the electric dryer, while the second was a traditional unit wired in at the electric panel. The third (and neatest) was made to be placed inside the electric panel, plugging in like a 220v breaker.
On the downside, I heard several comments (and not all were from competitors) that UPB can be very difficult to program. Also, UPB is a communications protocol, and thus does not define the functionality that a switch includes. From what I’ve seen, all manufacturers are providing the same functionality, but that might mean that I haven’t looked deep enough.
Insteon
JohnWPB and WayneW have covered this extensively, so I will only provide a few comments. As I mentioned elsewhere, Smarthome has redesigned the KeypadLinc to provide more even lighting across the buttons. They have also made the LEDs so you can snap on various color plates as needed. No more green LEDs next to a blue alarm console. A very good idea.
Control4 had a very big (two story) booth, with a fancy rotating stage. The demonstration was pretty good, but then they would be in pretty bad shape if they couldn't come up with a demo that looked like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I wanted to attend the Control4 software and hardware classes, but my flight down Tuesday got cancelled, and by the time I got in, there was no way I was going to make it over to the convention center for 9 AM Wednesday. After missing the hardware class, I said the heck with the software class and went out with the HS crowd instead.
I have mixed feelings about C4. The price points and functionality appear good. However, from what I have read they are very big on marketing and press releases, but a big question mark for the quality of the hardware. The fact that it is a retrofit technology is a big plus. Another problem with C4 is that the backers have a VERY bad rep with many integrators. This was before my time, but evidently the backers tend to promise the stars to get everyone hooked up, then they would sell the company and the people who signed up get left with poor service and half filled promises. I'm going to look into C4 further, but I'm not about to hock my car so I can sign up with them.
UPB
I talked to several manufacturers about UPB. The protocol seems to be very robust, and getting a lot of manufacturer support. HAI is already supporting it in their panels, and will be coming out with their own brand of UPB switches. Supposedly, the only changes will be additional software to make tighter integration with the companies panels (On a separate note about HAI, Worthington was demonstrating the HAI OmniPad emulating a Russound keypad for Russound emulation. Very sweet).
I was extremely impressed with the Simply Automated UPB line. They have dropped the lower wattage dimmers, and only sell 1000-watt units now. Snap a different faceplate on, and you have two switches in the same footprint (the rep mentioned that they hope to have a unit that will support 2 loads in the same single-gang footprint). Snap another faceplate on and you have a four-button control. Snap a different plate on and you have a keypad. Don’t like the color? Just snap on a different colored plate. This has been one of my major peeves with the PCS/Smarthome/Lightolier products. If after the installation the homeowner decides that she wants a different color switch (and this is almost a 100% probability. Just ask any integrator), you are SOL short of swapping out the entire switch. Very time consuming and costly from the inventory standpoint. SA has solved this problem. They also were showing three phase couplers. One was sandwiched between the plug and receptacle on the electric dryer, while the second was a traditional unit wired in at the electric panel. The third (and neatest) was made to be placed inside the electric panel, plugging in like a 220v breaker.
On the downside, I heard several comments (and not all were from competitors) that UPB can be very difficult to program. Also, UPB is a communications protocol, and thus does not define the functionality that a switch includes. From what I’ve seen, all manufacturers are providing the same functionality, but that might mean that I haven’t looked deep enough.
Insteon
JohnWPB and WayneW have covered this extensively, so I will only provide a few comments. As I mentioned elsewhere, Smarthome has redesigned the KeypadLinc to provide more even lighting across the buttons. They have also made the LEDs so you can snap on various color plates as needed. No more green LEDs next to a blue alarm console. A very good idea.