Okay, I think I have it down to two companies for the home automation stuff…
AMX, which seems to be more widely deployed (the installers I met with last week have an office here in San Diego). It’s really impressive stuff (although for the price, anything is going to be impressive).
The other company is a German company called visiomatic. I think their hardware looks much better (so does my buddy which made the comment that visiomatic’s hardware looks like art, and AMX looks like computers) and judging from their site, it looks like it has more functionality (will automatically turn off the water main if there is a problem, can detect individual people in the house and automatically adjust music and lighting to their tastes, etc.) But the thing I don’t like about visiomatic (besides the fact they are on the other side of the world) is I can’t get any info from these guys. I’ve put in three different requests for info and/or contact, and I’ve gotten nothing so far. Makes me a little nervous with such a huge investment.
Judging by looks and feel, the Germans have it. Having them be located overseas is a huge downfall. If they do not have a satellite in San Diego, go with the other company.
PS: Congrats on doing things right the first time. Home Automation is the way to go!
I like the Germans for it. The extra features are sweet. The hardware is definitely better looking. Hopefully they’ll shape up and get you some info ASAP.
I talked to someone today (finally). The bad news is the closest installer is in Florida (other side of the country). But after talking to them, I like the system even more (it’s all open standards stuff, unlike the AMX stuff which is all proprietary and you can’t really change anything without them coming out).
I am the authorized visiomatic dealer in the United States. If you have any questions or requests, please do not hesitate to contact me. (I am the gentleman in Florida that Shawn listed).
Don’t forget to look at Crestron
http://www.crestron.com/features/applications/home/
You could look at Homeseer.com. If you like to setup functions yourself. It is alot less money. But by now you probably have picked something. Anyway, Homeseer has a bunch of us that support it though the Vbulletin board, and has a large user base. It is located here in the USA. If you want nice artistic screens look at cinemar.com You can integrate it with Homeseer. . . .