As the other poster mentioned, UPB is worlds better than X10 (and nearly everything is). I did have a moderately successful X10 installation for a few years, but some neighbor added something and it destabilized the entire network. The power company wouldn't help out and all the filters/blockers couldn't stop it.
Queue UPB. It's much more advanced (more powerful signals, error correction/detection, much, much faster , etc), 2-way, gets the signal through virtually anything and available from a number of vendors. The protocol is open and there are a number of open source and free interfaces to control it (for those liking the xPL automation protocol, there is a UPB to xPL gateway that makes control/tracking/using UPB rediculously simple).
UPB devices also are insanely configurable. From simple things like device names and such to how fast the device should turn on, how fast it should turn off, what the default on level is, multiple scenes support (most devices support being part of 16 of the 250 possible scenes), how device reporting should be done, even what color the LED pilot light on the switch should be in various states (and off is a valid color for those who do not like LED pilot lights). Each device can also be a controller. So you can set things up like "tap the top part of the rocker once to turn on the hall light, twice to turn on all the lights on the first floor" or similar things -- without any computer support. Configuration is done from a PC using free software -- no need to program the switch via obtuse button pressing sequences and such. The PC is used only for configuration -- once configured, the switch storesd all it's own settings.
UPB has switches, computer interfaces and even sharp/powerful control boxes that can be installed in a single gang box.
UPB, like nearly any modern powerline protocol (and most of the more advanced X10 switches) does require a neutral and hot line to work, so for old stuff where the switch just has two wires (hot in/out), UPB, Insteon, ZWave, etc will not work.
Finally, on pricing, UPB is a little more than Insteon, but not a hell of a lot. The difference is, in part, the quality of the devices -- they are solid and designed to be reliable. When buying them in quantity, the price is pretty darn reasonable.
Or, instead of reading a hundreds of pages book, just buy a ReplayTV and download DVArchive. Viola - downloads shows without any hacking, turn a PC into a big video server to stream shows back to ReplayTV, etc. It's literally that easy.
Now that Replay has been picked and reinvigorated by one of the larger consumers electronics company (DNNA - Denon and Marantz), you're good to go.
And if you get a used/refurbed 5000 series (not a 5500 series), you'll still have the "infamous" automatic commercial advance feature.
Well, first, the TiVO hack to enable the skip is not quite the same as the comercial skip on the ReplayTVs. The ReplayTVs automatically detecte the commercial and skip over it. It works about 80-90% of the time for me. The Tivo Hack gives the same abilities as the ReplayTV 2000/3000 (and 4000) to jump quickly 30 seoncds ahead (which is still great).
But, the ReplayTV 4000/4500 series have a ethernet plug AND have DVArchive that allows you to turn a PC into a virtual ReplayTV - downloading and storaing shows and serving them back up to your replay TV. You can keep adding disks and space and never violate the warranty. It even has an automated scheduler so it can sweep good stuff off your ReplayTV while you are away (keeping things from rolling over and losing good shows from lack of space).
Actually, we have just removed the gnutella support for the upcoming SwapDV release. As much as it shouldn't matter, SonicBlue was pretty unhappy and the threat of what may happen just wasn't worth it. Too close to "video goes napster" for the suits.
SwapDV is designed to archive programs on a PC and allows you to treat that PC as just another Replay unit. For example, on your ReplayTV box, you can view your SwapDV archive(s) and play programs from it. If you have a modern OS, you can also play shows you've archived with SwapDV right on the computer (it's written in Java, so the platofrm really doesn't matter).
In reality, even with gnutella, it is't too practical for sharing. Uploading a 30 minute program on most broadband environments takes 8 hours or so (assuming upstream capped at 128kbs)
Someday, upload bandwidth will become as plentiful as download, but 8 and 16 hour transfers right now make P2P via SwapDV (or likely anything else) a bit impractical right now for most folks.
That said, SwapDV as it stands really does transform the experience of having a PVR (which itself really transforms how you watch TV). It's pretty cool - enough to warrant getting a 4000/4500 unit over something else:-)
You can check out the SwapDV project at http://sourceforge.net/projects/swapdv/
(note - a new version with a ton of new features is due out in the next 24-72 hours)
I was surveyed by Replay a while back (I've had a few of their units) and what they are starting to build here is the idea of a whole house multi-media server. The fact that it happens to be targeted at the moment to TV recording is probably just marketing. Their getting folks interested in the concept (it's pretty new/foreign to many) and will probably "spin" it more toward that once people are familiar/comfortable with it.
The idea is you can keep video, audio (not yet discussed, but I'm sure is in there), pictures, etc in this unit, share it with your desktop, TV and other units, download video/audio/movies from the internet/etc/etc. Just like a file server, but geared toward multimedia (with the requisite MM oriented management tools).
It's really a powerful idea (IMHO) and while you can do this with a PC, they have a very nice interface and management tools and a nice "black box" approach. I think the $2000 for the extra space is silly, but...
I've already updated my ReplayTV 3030 to 80 Hours and will go to 160 soon. Once you start using these things with expanded capacity, you do start to "cache" programs/movies more and more. In fact, once you get over 60 hours or so, you start thinking of the device as some sort of server/respository (unlike with the 30 hour models where you are frequently deleting things when done, making it feel much more like just a time shifter). I really hope the "folders" stuff they mention will be in the next firmware update for all ReplayTV units though. I could really use it about now...
Unfortunatly, I think their likely to get sued to oblivion, but I have to beleive they expected this and have been preparing for it. I'd love to see them get through such a case unscathed as it would put a nice hole in the RIAA's dike.
I don't work for Replay, just been a pretty satisfied user for 1.5 years:-)
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Queue UPB. It's much more advanced (more powerful signals, error correction/detection, much, much faster , etc), 2-way, gets the signal through virtually anything and available from a number of vendors. The protocol is open and there are a number of open source and free interfaces to control it (for those liking the xPL automation protocol, there is a UPB to xPL gateway that makes control/tracking/using UPB rediculously simple).
UPB devices also are insanely configurable. From simple things like device names and such to how fast the device should turn on, how fast it should turn off, what the default on level is, multiple scenes support (most devices support being part of 16 of the 250 possible scenes), how device reporting should be done, even what color the LED pilot light on the switch should be in various states (and off is a valid color for those who do not like LED pilot lights). Each device can also be a controller. So you can set things up like "tap the top part of the rocker once to turn on the hall light, twice to turn on all the lights on the first floor" or similar things -- without any computer support. Configuration is done from a PC using free software -- no need to program the switch via obtuse button pressing sequences and such. The PC is used only for configuration -- once configured, the switch storesd all it's own settings.
UPB has switches, computer interfaces and even sharp/powerful control boxes that can be installed in a single gang box.
UPB, like nearly any modern powerline protocol (and most of the more advanced X10 switches) does require a neutral and hot line to work, so for old stuff where the switch just has two wires (hot in/out), UPB, Insteon, ZWave, etc will not work.
Finally, on pricing, UPB is a little more than Insteon, but not a hell of a lot. The difference is, in part, the quality of the devices -- they are solid and designed to be reliable. When buying them in quantity, the price is pretty darn reasonable.
Or, instead of reading a hundreds of pages book, just buy a ReplayTV and download DVArchive. Viola - downloads shows without any hacking, turn a PC into a big video server to stream shows back to ReplayTV, etc. It's literally that easy.
Now that Replay has been picked and reinvigorated by one of the larger consumers electronics company (DNNA - Denon and Marantz), you're good to go.
And if you get a used/refurbed 5000 series (not a 5500 series), you'll still have the "infamous" automatic commercial advance feature.
Well, first, the TiVO hack to enable the skip is not quite the same as the comercial skip on the ReplayTVs. The ReplayTVs automatically detecte the commercial and skip over it. It works about 80-90% of the time for me. The Tivo Hack gives the same abilities as the ReplayTV 2000/3000 (and 4000) to jump quickly 30 seoncds ahead (which is still great).
But, the ReplayTV 4000/4500 series have a ethernet plug AND have DVArchive that allows you to turn a PC into a virtual ReplayTV - downloading and storaing shows and serving them back up to your replay TV. You can keep adding disks and space and never violate the warranty. It even has an automated scheduler so it can sweep good stuff off your ReplayTV while you are away (keeping things from rolling over and losing good shows from lack of space).
Actually, we have just removed the gnutella support for the upcoming SwapDV release. As much as it shouldn't matter, SonicBlue was pretty unhappy and the threat of what may happen just wasn't worth it. Too close to "video goes napster" for the suits.
:-)
SwapDV is designed to archive programs on a PC and allows you to treat that PC as just another Replay unit. For example, on your ReplayTV box, you can view your SwapDV archive(s) and play programs from it. If you have a modern OS, you can also play shows you've archived with SwapDV right on the computer (it's written in Java, so the platofrm really doesn't matter).
In reality, even with gnutella, it is't too practical for sharing. Uploading a 30 minute program on most broadband environments takes 8 hours or so (assuming upstream capped at 128kbs)
Someday, upload bandwidth will become as plentiful as download, but 8 and 16 hour transfers right now make P2P via SwapDV (or likely anything else) a bit impractical right now for most folks.
That said, SwapDV as it stands really does transform the experience of having a PVR (which itself really transforms how you watch TV). It's pretty cool - enough to warrant getting a 4000/4500 unit over something else
You can check out the SwapDV project at http://sourceforge.net/projects/swapdv/
(note - a new version with a ton of new features is due out in the next 24-72 hours)
Gerry
The idea is you can keep video, audio (not yet discussed, but I'm sure is in there), pictures, etc in this unit, share it with your desktop, TV and other units, download video/audio/movies from the internet/etc/etc. Just like a file server, but geared toward multimedia (with the requisite MM oriented management tools).
It's really a powerful idea (IMHO) and while you can do this with a PC, they have a very nice interface and management tools and a nice "black box" approach. I think the $2000 for the extra space is silly, but...
I've already updated my ReplayTV 3030 to 80 Hours and will go to 160 soon. Once you start using these things with expanded capacity, you do start to "cache" programs/movies more and more. In fact, once you get over 60 hours or so, you start thinking of the device as some sort of server/respository (unlike with the 30 hour models where you are frequently deleting things when done, making it feel much more like just a time shifter). I really hope the "folders" stuff they mention will be in the next firmware update for all ReplayTV units though. I could really use it about now...
Unfortunatly, I think their likely to get sued to oblivion, but I have to beleive they expected this and have been preparing for it. I'd love to see them get through such a case unscathed as it would put a nice hole in the RIAA's dike.
I don't work for Replay, just been a pretty satisfied user for 1.5 years :-)
Gerry