hamw wrote:Most importantly, what about the fact that you have to have your Mac on all the time? I've been a devoted Apple fan for >20 years, and although they are way better than PCs IMHO, they frequently need to be rebooted for one reason or another.
Two things here:
1) Indigo doesn't have to be running and thus your Mac doesn't either. A lot of users run with this exact this scenario. Some advanced functionality (integration with other apps, very complex scenes, etc) may not work, but basic lighting and timers work just fine when downloaded to the PowerLinc 2414.
2) I have been using Macs practically every day since 1988. In the Pre-OS X days and perhaps even in 10.0 and 10.1, I would agree (to a certain extent) with your assessment about reboots. However, since that time I find I rarely ever need to reboot. The PowerMac G5 server I have running in my house now hasn't been rebooted since the last security update. In fact, that's the ONLY time I ever reboot it; I go months between reboots with no problems.
hamw wrote:Doesn't this affect the performance of the Indigo software?
In what way? I think I'm missing your point...
hamw wrote:Overall how much downtime do you experience, or how often do you experience downtime, in your system? Does it frequently need a tweak to keep it going? I know the PowerLinc stores much of the system logic, but is the system dead on reliable, with or without the mac?
No powerline signal-based technology is dead on reliable: electrical devices vary too greatly in the amount of signal interference they generate on the powerline. So, something as innocuous as getting a new cell phone may cause some interferrence because it's transformer is noisy.
Insteon is leaps ahead of X10 in this regard, but nothing other than a hard-wired system (and really not even then) is gonna be 100% reliable. For instance, in my house, I maybe miss 2-3 signals a month (where a light doesn't go on or off via a remote command when it's supposed to), and I have 20+ Insteon devices.
hamw wrote:What is the real-world status of any kind of iPod integration? I would like two way communication, although it is not mandatory.
iPod integration? If you mean iPod Touch/iPhone native client, it's very high on our priority list. Several users have made some nice control pages that work pretty well on the iPhone as well.
hamw wrote:I've read about the IR linc and EZUIRT. How much of a hassle are these to program and control? Without an iPod, I'll be using Crestron touchpanels to send IR to Indigo. Any problems with signal reception, transmission, etc?
Others with more experience can chime in here, but I find the IRLinc to work pretty well. Programming it was not super-intuitive, but it works for my needs. I haven't actually used an EZUIRT so I can't comment.
hamw wrote:Overall it looks like a great system, and Matt seems to do a bang-up job with support. Just would some real world input.
I was a longtime Indigo user before joining Matt to work on Indigo. Still, maybe I'm a little less objective...
jay