WhyPhy Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 I'm trying to decide if the EA5-V2 has enough different about it that I should get it over a lower-priced EA5-V1. From what I can tell, these are the differences (for all of the V2 controllers): V2 does not have built-in Wi-Fi (optional addition via USB dongle C4-USBWIFI or C4USBWIFI-1). V2 only has the 1 external ZigBee antenna vs. the 3 external antennas on the EA5-V1. V2 has nternal SSD (vs. conventional rotating hard drive) V2 has "Improvements for Control4 Dealers to make maintenance faster" - no idea what this actually means Improvements in the audio circuitry of the EA3-V2 and EA5-V2 for "an even better High Resolution music experience" Rack ears preinstalled on the EA5-V2. Rubber feet are pre-installed on the EA5-V1. The V2 controllers require OS 2.10.2 or higher. The V1 controllers require OS 2.8.1 or higher. The V2 ID button is also an LED (the LED in the button provides the same functionality as the caution LED on the EA5-V1 - mostly useful during factor resets) Is there anything else? Faster CPU??? More RAM??? Larger Hard Drive??? Did I miss anything? Is it worth it going for a V2 over a V1? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 13 hours ago, WhyPhy said: V2 does not have built-in Wi-Fi (optional addition via USB dongle C4-USBWIFI or C4USBWIFI-1). V2 only has the 1 external ZigBee antenna vs. the 3 external antennas on the EA5-V1 Those two antennae were for Wifi, this doesnt' influence ZigBee etc. 13 hours ago, WhyPhy said: V2 has nternal SSD (vs. conventional rotating hard drive) Nah, there was never an HDD in them to begin with, it's just an upgrade from the previous flash drive, not a change from spinning disks 13 hours ago, WhyPhy said: Improvements in the audio circuitry of the EA3-V2 and EA5-V2 for "an even better High Resolution music experience" An updated muting circuit can help prevent popping noises that occur in some setups 13 hours ago, WhyPhy said: V2 has "Improvements for Control4 Dealers to make maintenance faster" - no idea what this actually means This basically means this: 13 hours ago, WhyPhy said: The V2 ID button is also an LED (the LED in the button provides the same functionality as the caution LED on the EA5-V1 - mostly useful during factor resets) One of my pet peeves is that doing any restore with a unit rack mounted means I need to call up Mr Fantastic or Stretch Armstrong to do it for me.... And this: 13 hours ago, WhyPhy said: Rack ears preinstalled on the EA5-V2. Rubber feet are pre-installed on the EA5-V1. Pretty minor but sure. 13 hours ago, WhyPhy said: Is there anything else? Nope 13 hours ago, WhyPhy said: Is it worth it going for a V2 over a V1? While they last, get a V1 if the price difference makes sence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopedogg88 Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 what he said...although I might go with the V2 depending on the price diff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatheed Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 There's no MSRP price difference. If you are adding a controller, there's basically no reason to go with a V1 (integrated WiFi, but realistically, you shouldn't be using that) besides OS requirements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdepaola Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 MSRP vs actual price are often very different. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 35 minutes ago, cdepaola said: MSRP vs actual price are often very different. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Point in the end being, if a V1 is a fair bit cheaper to get, there is little reason for an end-user to get the V2 UNLESS it's specifically to get rid of the popping noise (VERY rare issue). From a dealer perspective, if there's little difference, there's no reason NOT to get the V2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penn65000 Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 We just had our ea-5-v1 replaced w v2 as the installer suspected the V1 had problems (hardware) with its Zigbee networking function (our motions were dropping off zigbee and we had periodic delays on 6 button keypads). Our light switches (zigbee) are now much more responsive that they ever were ok v1. But that could be due to a hardware issue w v1 or faster speed on v2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 12 hours ago, penn65000 said: We just had our ea-5-v1 replaced w v2 as the installer suspected the V1 had problems (hardware) with its Zigbee networking function (our motions were dropping off zigbee and we had periodic delays on 6 button keypads). Our light switches (zigbee) are now much more responsive that they ever were ok v1. But that could be due to a hardware issue w v1 or faster speed on v2. Interesting, my card acesse wireless motion sensors become unresponsive from time to time... I wonder if a V2 would help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penn65000 Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 Wonder if any others with issues Re EA-5-v1 Zigbee coordinator? Perhaps just a one-off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penn65000 Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 1 hour ago, South Africa C4 user said: Interesting, my card acesse wireless motion sensors become unresponsive from time to time... I wonder if a V2 would help... Yes we’ve had issues with C4 motions (made by cardaccess I believe) going offline. Diamond dealer and now C4 tech has actually been out. Monitoring now but a big pain for over a year. Just noticed there are now motions with “external antenna”. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 4 hours ago, penn65000 said: Yes we’ve had issues with C4 motions (made by cardaccess I believe) going offline. Diamond dealer and now C4 tech has actually been out. Monitoring now but a big pain for over a year. Just noticed there are now motions with “external antenna”. Pretty certain nothing changed for ZigBee between V1 and V2 of the EA - sounds more like it was a generic hardware failure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penn65000 Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 On 11/30/2018 at 6:30 PM, Cyknight said: Pretty certain nothing changed for ZigBee between V1 and V2 of the EA - sounds more like it was a generic hardware failure EA-5 v2) installed and motions still dropping offline (one anyway). Really don't understand this -- anyone else having issues with C4 motions dropping offline? We've strong zigbee mesh with over 100 lightswitches and two zigbee extenders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 Anyone's guess when we will likely see new controllers with more RAM and processing power? My EA3 is getting slow and I don't want to spent 3k on an EA5 which will be EOL within a year or so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindedc1 Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 They're still supporting hc-800, ea5 is going to be supported for a while... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 4 hours ago, blub said: Anyone's guess when we will likely see new controllers with more RAM and processing power? My EA3 is getting slow and I don't want to spent 3k on an EA5 which will be EOL within a year or so? The CA10 is a real beast... Neo1738 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 6 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: The CA10 is a real beast... This really - keep the EA3 for it's audio output and ZigBee, put the CA10 overtop. Now if they'd only come out with a dedicated 4 stream audio output only device.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 11 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: The CA10 is a real beast... I guess that would be overkill. I only need a little more processing power and more RAM - the EA% has also only 2GB of RAM, how much does the CA10 have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 25 minutes ago, blub said: I guess that would be overkill. I only need a little more processing power and more RAM - the EA% has also only 2GB of RAM, how much does the CA10 have? Spec simply says 4 times the memory of the EA5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo1738 Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 CA 10 is def the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 2 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: Spec simply says 4 times the memory of the EA5 Ok, that would be 8GB, combined with the processing speed of the CA10 I would good for 10+ years - with my only 360 instances/devices in the project. South Africa C4 user 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 New controllers are AT LEAST 18 months away - likely more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 9 hours ago, blub said: Ok, that would be 8GB, combined with the processing speed of the CA10 I would good for 10+ years - with my only 360 instances/devices in the project. I would be surprised if the CA10 doesn’t give you more than 10 years... but hey, I’m an optimist... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 And, thinking about it... the CA10 has a 5 year warranty... I can’t see them dropping OS support for the CA10 for at least 5 years... again, just an opinion though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 7 hours ago, ILoveC4 said: New controllers are AT LEAST 18 months away - likely more. I hope you are right, as I bought a bunch of HC-800s to go to OS3 and I assume that I am good with them until new controllers are released, and may still be good even after that. Any reason why you say this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 40 minutes ago, zaphod said: I hope you are right, as I bought a bunch of HC-800s to go to OS3 and I assume that I am good with them until new controllers are released, and may still be good even after that. Any reason why you say this? History and known life cycles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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