Insteon or UPB?

[Steve]

Hmmm, my latest Smarthome 'Gift Guide' lists the Insteon V2 at 49.99 for the 600W and 59.99 for the 1000W. Don't know if the 600W is a typo or not (since it is 39.99 online), but consider this. A 1000W Insteon Switchlinc V2 is 59.99 and if you want the color change kit which I imagine a large percentage of people would, that is another $5. That makes it 64.99 for an Insteon V2 1000W. A 1000W UPB dimmer from SAI can be had for as low as 63.99. That makes UPB actually _less expensive_ (oh ok, call it equal) than an equivalent Insteon switch. So much for the half price argument. Plus SAI is going to introduce some cool stuff like lighted keypadlinc devices, drapery controller, a hardware 'pocket programmer' and other stuff. I think the pros will be sticking with UPB for a long time to come.

 

[kwilcox]

A hardware pocket programmer? Way cool! I won't have to lug around my PIM equipped laptop then!

 

[kwilcox]

I still believe that Insteon's "write down the serial number" and manually place devices into setup mode for every change will be problematic for large installations. Please correct me if this isn't true; I'm only repeating what I've been reading here. This I know for sure though: with UPB, you do this once to add a device to the network. After that, any link or program changes happen without having to be near the device. There's never a serial number to write down either. You simply tap the module's setup switch 5 times and add it. This way, a wire-in module is possible.

Large installers will not be happy unless that have this level of flexibility with Insteon as well.

 

[bfisher]

Another cool UPB feature I learned the hard way... the devices store their programming, so when I lost my program file (damn virus), I wasn't SOL! I reinstalled UPStart, and it went out and recreated my whole network for me. Very simple and sweet!

 

[kwilcox]

That's another cool installer feature too. If the homeowner knows his network and password, an installer can load up the network on site to his local configuration tool and make owner requested mods to any part of the system.