Overview-
Both of these products offer the capability of interfacing a Macintosh running Indigo to external hardware devices. Both products offer digital inputs and digital outputs. The EasyDAQ also provides 16 on-board relay outputs which can control up to 240VAC at 10 amps. The Phidgets product provides 8 analog inputs for measuring temperature, humidity, distance, weight, pressure, etc. Phidgets also sells separate relay board products similar to the on-board relays on the EasyDAQ.
Price (USD)-
- Phidgets: $218
- EasyDAQ: $245 (Includes ground shipping)
I/O Capabilities-
- Phidgets: 8 analog (0-5VDC), 8 digital in, 8 digital out
- EasyDAQ: 8 Digital i/o, 16 relays (output). 8 of the relays can be re-configured as digital i/o
Additional hardware features:
- Phidgets: Full Linux system with wired ethernet and built-in 8 port USB hub for adding other Phidgets controllers and stand-alone Phidgets sensors. Wi-Fi adapter available (USB). If relays are required, they must be added separately and controlled by the digital outputs or as stand-alone USB Phidgets.
- EasyDAQ: Wired ethernet.
Documentation & support-
- Phidgets: Extensive documentation, application examples, online forum, phone-support.
- EasyDAQ: Virtually no hardware documentation other than a pointer to the chipset documentation and the LAN interface documentation from those respective vendors. Support is, at present, difficult and essentially nonexistent.
Software-
- Phidgets: Drivers available for Mac, Linux, WIndows and other platforms. Simple GUI management software also available. The SBC runs Linux and supports Linux software compatible with the speed and memory available on the SBC.
- EasyDAQ: Some test programs available for windows.
Expandability-
- Phidgets: many, many analog sensors, relays, servo controllers, etc. for a wide range of applications are available from the vendor.
- EasyDAQ: None.
Indigo Support-
- Phidgets: Plugin available from the 3rd-party developers forum. Beta quality. Supports most sensors and stand-alone Phidgets products. Each sensor, digital input and digital output appears in Indigo as a separate device.
- EasyDAQ: Official Indigo plugin from Perceptive Automation is distributed with Indigo. Solid and reliable. Each EasyDAQ board appears as a device with states for the various inputs and outputs.
Reliability-
- Phidgets: There have been some rough edges with the drivers in the past. But, that seems to be fixed at this point. The hardware is solid.
- EasyDAQ: Once installed the board seems solid. However, setting the board up can be a challenge as some things do not work as expected and there is no useful documentation. Hardware reliability is good.
Overall-
- Phidgets: I think the Phidgets product represents a better value for the money and offers excellent expansion possibilities. The support team and online forum are excellent and very helpful in getting past issues. The plugin is usable, but could still use some work. Having more Indigo/Phidgets users would help. Having a full networked Linux box as part of the package is a big plus. This can be used for a range of HA applications.
- EasyDAQ: If the application is limited to digital i/o and relay control of real-world devices, the EasyDAQ is a sound card. However, the poor support and documentation make it hard to take advantage of the power of the product and the long term future is uncertain (based on conversations with the company).
