I know it's been discussed 1000 times, Omni or Elk

[charliebarns]

I certainly appreciate all of the replies as it has provided much food for thought. I was so close to switching to ELK after reading countless threads regarding the lack of support from HAI, and then they pop in and make my decision even more confusing. I made a list of all the things I can think of (for now) that I would like to implement in HA. While I may be able to determine which systems will meet the requirement, I get the feeling in the end they will both do it (ELK and HAI) which again leaves me undecided. I have a feeling it's going to boil down to 'jumping in with both feet' and not looking back. Here's my brief list:

Security
HA Control of: Lights, HVASC, Irrigation, Audio (Nuvo GC), Appliances
Internet Access
Remote Management
View CCTV/IP cameras on touchscreen (my avermedia will handle web enablement) - although I can't seem to find out if the IP cameras are viewable from the HAI (I know cctvs are)
Scripting: ie: turn on foyer light when door is opened
Intercom functions
custom UIs
Home theatre control of equipment
Various temp readings throughout house (eqiuip room, furnace room etc)

I would say these are the main functions I would use the system for. I had a look at the touchscreens posted by icellama21 and they are quite nice, especially the CUwin 3200. I also compared the other touchscreen offerings (what I could fine) through HAI's connectivity partners and while there are a couple of nicer units I could not find any pricing on them. I wonder if anyone knows the release dates of the new ELKRMS with its new features or the upcoming release of the new PCAccess V3 with the ability to customize the UI? Brian mentioned V3 of their controller software with a post to come shortly of it's benefits. I'm interested to see where they are taking it.

I'm usually pretty quick to make technical decisions as there is usually a clear winner. This is not the case with this one.... sigh.

CB

 

[briankelly63]

I'm suffer from what many must suffer from when they start to do hours upon hours or reading on HA and security, information overload. I had initially decided on HAI Omni Pro II, but almost every post I read on here people end up choosing the M1. I'm not opposed to the M1 so I've been researching this for hours. I've come up with some differences (I think) but need some clarification from the pros. First, some clarification of what I will do with the system. Initially, security will be the primary focus. However, this new build house will also have 12 CCTV cameras so I'm going to want to view them on the touchscreens. Eventually, lighting automation, sprinkler, HVAC etc. Out of the box the Omni seems to do most of this, the M1 has add-ons I can buy. Here's a couple of concerns though:

Touchscreens for HAI: run about $600 each
Touchscreen for M1: WOW $1200 each, why so much?

Lighting control: I had already decided to use UPB for lighting, but I'm reading that the M1 is a bit flaky in this area, I haven't found any negative posts regarding HAI lighting control.

Programming Language of HAI: probably not too bad to get a grip of, M1 looks like my 4yr old could do it.

UI: I'm not crazy about the look of the interface on the M1 touchscreen, mind you it's only one pic I've seen, maybe it can be improved. The UI of the Omni looks nice and clean, however.

Question: Can you use any touchscreen with any system? That is, can I buy a Symphony from Ademco and use it on the HAI or the M1? Or... could I pickup a few HAI touchscreens and use them on the M1?

Sorry I'm sure you guys are tired of seeing this debate over and over again. But if you have any comments/advice it will not fall on deaf ears.

Thx

I think I went through the same thought process a few months ago... I chose M1 because I felt it delivered quite a bit for the price. Another factor was that it WAS somewhat modular. I don't really like the idea that everything is on the same board. Its just too easy for the phone line or internet connection to take a hit that destroys some little input and bang you have a whole board that needs repair or is destroyed. The data bus structure of the M1 is also very handy for remote and distant location of many devices besides keypads. I also had to limit my comparision to what I actually intended to use. In my case I wanted a great remotely controllable (phone & network) security system that did a certain amount of home automation. Its seems like with any hobby you can get to carried away with the details (try to buy an SLR camera these days!). Most prices on M1 gear are very fair... the touchscreen is an exception that they need to work on. I'm not a big fan of running everything through one device. For example.. sprinkler controllers are very good at what they do, sometimes you just want the M1 to decide if today is a day that we allow the sprinkler controller to run its cycle. I like to be able to change the design of a system and disassociate items from the mix and still have them function but thats just me. So I ended up with a great security system that I can control in multiple ways, wrote some rules to give the home a feeling of intelligence, tied in my email server to send M1 commands, tied in my X10 and have a system that I feel is very solid... Others on this forum have taken it much further. I don't think you will make a big mistake in either case but when all is said and done I think the M1 is a more economical system with more direct access to engineering support when needed.


Update (3/21/09)

"I don't think you will make a big mistake in either case" is still true but I would say that if you need a small system at the lowest cost I'd go with Elk but for larger client owned systems that require a high degree of integration and programming then I go with the HAI. It seems the depth, breath and popularity of the Omni systems are hard to beat. If I had to do it over again I would go with the Omni system for my own home.

 

[tmbrown97]

I apologize in advance - I'm not reading the whole thread to see if this was mentioned - but...

Spanky has dropped enough hints over the last few months about a new version of ElkRMS to hopefully debut at least in beta in the next 2 weeks (been hearing that for 2 months tho).

This new version sounds to be much more configurable and have many more configuration options per screen - ideally making it pretty customizable. I'm hoping it'll let me do what I want to make a kick-a$$ interface. Just to take in consideration... Search ElkRMS for more details.

 

[ano]

The HAI V3 upgrade, along with the upgrade to PC Access is expected in January, but HAI has slipped the date back before. HAI has a blog here:
http://blog.homeauto.com/

It talks a bit about the new V3.0 features.

 

[programmergeek]

I would make a list.

I had a elk installed in our demo room and removed it to replace it with a HAI system. Both are good the HAI is more powerful in the automation area and interfaces but for just an alarm with some functionality the Elk can't be beat it is simpler. Both have there plus and minuses.

 

[jwilson56]

I would make a list.

I had a elk installed in our demo room and removed it to replace it with a HAI system. Both are good the HAI is more powerful in the automation area and interfaces but for just an alarm with some functionality the Elk can't be beat it is simpler. Both have there plus and minuses.

That is of coarse if you don't try using a W800 RF receiver which is not supported by HAI. So please don't make blanket statements like this.