CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[janzy]

I have been offered a Crestron AV2 and a 1550C for the price of $1000.
I am waiting to hear if the AV2 has any cards installed.
I know nothing about installation or programming these, is there any online help to learn how to do this? Is this a good price? And, would I need any other Crestron stuff?
I have a dedicated room that I would like to control the lights and my equipment that follows:
Panasonic AE4000
Oppo BP93
Onkyo 3007 reciever
Emotiva Amp
PS3
AppleTv
APC S20
Fios Cable Box
If I bought this Crestron stuff would I have to hire a programmer?
Thanks

[ecrabb]

First of all, I'd guess that system is worth maybe half that, but even that is more than I'd pay. Second, there are a couple of people here that have and use Crestron that could help, but unless you already have some experience with the tools, or unless you wanted to make a serious long-term hobby of it, you're going to need some help programming it, whether that be asking serious favors or paying somebody. That's why the prices are low. Chip (stefuel) is the resident Crestron expert, and I believe there was one other guy that was around occasionally.

I hate to be a shill here... And I work with the company, so I'm admittedly biased... But, if you have already have an iOS or Android device, have you considered something like iRule? I switched from an AMX system a couple of years ago, and I couldn't be happier. In fact, I liked it so much, I started working with the team.

The software license is $100, and then you'd need approx $100-300 worth of Global Cache hardware, depending on how you wanted to control everything (and if you wanted to be able to connect multiple control clients or not).

With iRule, there is no "programming" per se... It's almost all drag and drop, the devices you want to control all are all already loaded, and the UI is completely customizable how YOU want it to look. The Onkyo can be controlled via IP with no hardware necessary (including feedback). I'd control the Panny, Oppo, PS3, AppleTV, and Fios box via IR. You could also control the Oppo via RS-232 and get feedback.

Oh, you'll also need an IR-to-Bluetooth adapter to control the PS3 regardless of what control solution you settle on.

If you already have an iOS or Android device, you can try it free for 14 days and control the Onkyo without any additional hardware.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,
SC

[janzy]

SC,
Thanks for the info.
I think I will look into iRule, I have both an iPad and iPhone so that's half the battle.
I was also looking into Roomie.
Thanks, Jan

[ecrabb]

Jan, Roomie is a great solution if you like "plug-and-play"... If you want something akin to a Harmony remote, but that runs on an iPad or iPhone, controls IP devices, and requires very little setup while offering very, very little customization, Roomie is nice.

On the other hand, if you want something more akin to Crestron or AMX, with lots of customization - from graphics to layout to operation style, that's where iRule really excels, and is what drew me to the product originally. You can start with the templates and build up something workable relatively quickly, then later if you want to invest more time, you can go nuts with customization.

From my admittedly biased perspective, both are totally legitimate options; it just depends on where your priorities lie.

SC

[Speakerguru]