usurp Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 Hey guys, I just found out about Control4 today and I've been trying my best to learn as much about it as I can. I had my eyes set on X10 (which I found out about a few days ago) but now it seems Control4 is the better way to go except I am not sure it does everything I need.I need to be able to do the following:- control lights (i know it does this but can I have certain lights come on at certain times?)- control AC (it does this)- control my electric shutters. I want to be able to lower all my house shutters with 1 click. - connect multiple web cam which i can monitor from around the house and even online- connect motion detectors to turn on lights when it detects movement- have coffee pots or various electronic items come on at certain timeI know X10 can do all the above but is it also doable with Control4?I will be using my ipad mostly to control everything. I noticed there is a Mac software for Control4 which sucks and no web interface which sucks even more :S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usurp Posted June 12, 2010 Author Share Posted June 12, 2010 Also another quick question, whats the boot time on the main controller and light switches? we get a lot of power cuts here and there is always a few seconds till the backup generator comes on. How soon after the power comes up do the light switches work and control4 work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 Dimmers are standalone devices, so they'll turn on as soon as power is restored, and will be able to be manually controlled immediately.It's recommended the controller be on a UPS (especially if you have dirty power that goes off for short periods regularly), but the controller does take some time to boot, as do touchscreens, etc.Control4 can control anything that can be controlled via IR, Serial, and/or IP. Whether there's a driver for something, or a dealer will have to create one, is a different question.RyanE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannyboy Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 Other factors, I suspect x10 will be less expensive and can be diy, but control 4 is more reliable.On the subject of motion sensors, there is out of the box integration to a number of security systems for hardwired or wireless sensors or control4' s partner cardaccess makes zigbee wireless sensors for control4There is web access via a subscription, or some users have created VPN access to their system for remote access via iPhone. I've just got my iPad, so have not tried this yet.I like the AV and multi room audio aspects of control4, I notice you have not specified this, but in my mind is one of the fundamentals of automation that control4 excels at.Good luck with your decision making. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usurp Posted June 13, 2010 Author Share Posted June 13, 2010 Well audio i don't listen much to at home and video I use xbmc with its own dedicated remote and not really interested in using it with the control4 panel. I saw a demo online of xbmc with control4 but seems too gimmicky. I just read about mycontrol4 and it seems kinda messed up that I need to pay to access my home network :S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Sounds like you better get X10...even though it sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTJ Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Control4 SUCKS! Don't ever get it..trust me I'm a 25 year professional installer (and owner of my own install/consulting business) for commercial buildings, hybrid restaurant/club's, high-end club's, bars...basically everything but homes (no homes cause I don't want to deal with phone calls every minute with dumb questions...personal choose) anyways, you want automation with reliability and here's the best part.....actual costumer service that will actually help you if your not a tech, then go with QSC core processors and network amps....WAAAAAAY better than any other system not to mention robust AF! I have systems that have been up for 15+ years. So I called control4 once to take over a building that had it pre-installed and needed to change a lot of it on the sound side and they gave me the whole you need to be a cert installer for their equipment..I even had proof that I'm not just a shmo off the streets tweaking with their stuff. Long story short...I basically took all their crap out, threw it on the floor which looked like a large pile of garbage anyways due to the excessive wiring needed to make it all work and replaced with QSC audio and JUST ADD POWER for video matrix control...let's just say you can't get any better than that..no joke. Anyways good luck LTJ SYSTEMS....come at me control4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanDad Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Just as well he's been holding off making a decision for the last 10 years. You got here just in time. Crustyloafer, msgreenf, mujtaba.khokhar and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 1 hour ago, LTJ said: Control4 SUCKS! Don't ever get it..trust me I'm a 25 year professional installer (and owner of my own install/consulting business) for commercial buildings, hybrid restaurant/club's, high-end club's, bars...basically everything but homes (no homes cause I don't want to deal with phone calls every minute with dumb questions...personal choose) anyways, you want automation with reliability and here's the best part.....actual costumer service that will actually help you if your not a tech, then go with QSC core processors and network amps....WAAAAAAY better than any other system not to mention robust AF! I have systems that have been up for 15+ years. So I called control4 once to take over a building that had it pre-installed and needed to change a lot of it on the sound side and they gave me the whole you need to be a cert installer for their equipment..I even had proof that I'm not just a shmo off the streets tweaking with their stuff. Long story short...I basically took all their crap out, threw it on the floor which looked like a large pile of garbage anyways due to the excessive wiring needed to make it all work and replaced with QSC audio and JUST ADD POWER for video matrix control...let's just say you can't get any better than that..no joke. Anyways good luck LTJ SYSTEMS....come at me control4 Do you feel better now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 3 hours ago, LTJ said: Control4 SUCKS! Don't ever get it..trust me I'm a 25 year professional installer (and owner of my own install/consulting business) for commercial buildings, hybrid restaurant/club's, high-end club's, bars...basically everything but homes (no homes cause I don't want to deal with phone calls every minute with dumb questions...personal choose) anyways, you want automation with reliability and here's the best part.....actual costumer service that will actually help you if your not a tech, then go with QSC core processors and network amps....WAAAAAAY better than any other system not to mention robust AF! I have systems that have been up for 15+ years. So I called control4 once to take over a building that had it pre-installed and needed to change a lot of it on the sound side and they gave me the whole you need to be a cert installer for their equipment..I even had proof that I'm not just a shmo off the streets tweaking with their stuff. Long story short...I basically took all their crap out, threw it on the floor which looked like a large pile of garbage anyways due to the excessive wiring needed to make it all work and replaced with QSC audio and JUST ADD POWER for video matrix control...let's just say you can't get any better than that..no joke. Anyways good luck LTJ SYSTEMS....come at me control4 LOL. I needed a laugh. You're bitching about Home systems and calling the end-users people asking dumb questions...on a forum primarily aimed at helping end-users. Then you go on about how long you've been doing things ... I just LOVE those type of justifications. Then you complain about the fact that Control4 sets requirements that you didn't feel like meeting - poor baby. Oh and then you go on about how you ripped out thousands of dollars worth of equipment (possibly 10's) and made your customer pay for a new system. Wonderful. Oh and you decided to do it on a TEN YEAR OLD THREAD So much to laugh about! I've got NOTHING against QSC - it's a perfectly fine product for it's target clientele. But you're comparing ... not apples with oranges, but apples with sausages... PS I've made some damn fine apple sausages on occasion msgreenf and mujtaba.khokhar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 7 hours ago, LTJ said: LTJ SYSTEMS....come at me control4 Sounds to me like Control4 doesn't need to come at you. You do you. If you want to do something else, that's fine. What's not as fine is denigrating Control4 on a forum that most people on the forum already have Control4, and are making it work for themselves, and posting incorrect information about Control4 just because you were unable to service a Control4 system because you were not a dealer. Let it go, man. I think we're both better off doing what we do best... You don't have to do Control4 to be a good dealer, or a good person, but being an ass about it on here isn't a good look. RyanE mujtaba.khokhar and jfh 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanchow Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Control4 actually has alot more drivers than QSC Q-SYS (they call it plugins). Over 10,000 vs under 100. Ironically enough we're one of the only ones who write Q-SYS plugins and wrote the Just Add Power plugin for Q-SYS. So yay us for the reliability Anyway probably shouldn't feed the troll since nobody wins so i'll going to end it here. RyanE, msgreenf, mujtaba.khokhar and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 AND....Q-Sys has only been around for 4 years at most. So how he's been installing it for 15 years and it's been rock solid is questionable. msgreenf, eggzlot, mujtaba.khokhar and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekki70 Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 c4 just like any other automation system is only as good as its designer, programmer, and installer. having said that, we have systems that are extremely stable and never hear from clients until we send them info on new items or updates. but then we do have some hiccup jobsites, which are very few. its electronics, things go bad. some cheap parts are great and last forever and some dont. be prepared to set up the system properly, if you live in an area that has lots of power outages, put your rack on a ups. if you have lots of quick brownouts put all your cable boxes on small ups. design is important. c4 has been solid, mujtaba.khokhar, msgreenf and RyanE 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 Holy necropost Batman! I actually think that Control4 has very good costumer services! They will get you a costume to wear wherever your(SIC) going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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