The release dates are never known. It is common practice to showcase items at electronic shows months and ever years before they are ready. Crestron is usually pretty good about getting things to market in a timely manner.

si'

I'm really hoping for some big aesthetic improvements in the Prodigy line. After seeing a Control 4 installation today I was beginning to wonder if I'm really being competitive against its better build quality and slick looking GUI. I have to admit now that Control 4 (at least in terms of looks) makes the current Prodigy look clunky, granular and dated.

I have to agree with mrtristan, C4 looks like a better product right now. Also Crestron is only introducing Prodigy to suck in more dealers. They will do this for a few years and keep track of the the top Avad/Crestron dealers. Then pull out of Avad while bringing those dealers with them. They have done it before,

Don't get me wrong - I have faith in the Prodigy line and think the new stuff looks really promising. I just hope they care enough in the long run to create something that truly competes with similar priced system in all aspects. For a while I was feeling like a Zune dealer trying to compete with iPods. I hope that Prodigy prevails.

What is it about the PRodigy line taht is "clunky, granular and dated"? Are you just referring to the UI? Which of course you can change and customize all you want....you know that right...you just have to knwo what you're doing.


The remotes are nice IMO. I hear the new PLX3 will be a nice addition. The PTX6 looks nice to me and I like the PTL4....the graphics are a little weak, but definitely reasonable and better than Niles Touch Screen panels.

They aren't bad but if you were to see the Control 4 stuff in person priced in the bracket you'd know what I mean by better build quality and graphics. Functionally Control 4 doesn't seem as flexible even with some neat added features.

+1.......The sky is the limit (almost) as far as user interfaces are concerned.

i've seen in last weekend, don't see what's the big deal i'm afraid, it's much better than their previous stuff, no question there, but prodigy is very customizable so I don't see your point really. it's just gonna get better with time, I mean less than a couple years and it already have more innovative devices under its belt..I wasn't impressed with the prodigy gui when I first seen it at the booth but when you see a nice custom work it's pretty cool..like sofa said up there, "you just gotta know ur stuff "

Even without looking at GUI's, the hardware is nice looking to me and I don't have any concerns with the build quality. Do you just prefer the aesthetic design of the C4 hardware better? That's just preference.

Don't count on Prodigy XP being offered through distribution..............

I have no idea what drug you've been smoking but's it must be powerful. There is nothing you can do with C4 that I cannot do better with Prodigy and I'll take my GUI and feature set over C4's any day.

The problem is you guys who cannot code expect Crestron to hold your hand and do the heavy lifting. I know, C4 finally opened up its development tools. Soon Crestron will have flash on most of its panels and you'll be able to do even more--And if you learn to code you'll be able to do even more.

Or get on the Savant or C4 bus. These systems were designed for salespukes or companies who lack the engineering talent. It's NOT Crestron's problem. It's not a fault of Prodigy. The hardware is inexpensive and when you can code it goes in very fast and it permits customization.

If your skill set is such that you lack the requisite skills to do for yourself own up and accept responsiblity. Funny how those whose politics is predicated upon individual responsibility tend to demand others take care of them. Whose the liberal now?

Alan

Do you mean the devices that prodigy can now control?

Alan, go kick rocks! I started out in 02 as a Crestron programmer, leaving to start at control system manufacturer. I am tired of you guys beating up on non Crestron guys.

Control4 came in the door raised a bunch of money and seized an opportunity. Just because your smart doesn't mean you can make money. As this industry matured business minded people got involved.

What Control4 did is nothing new, the strategy is called the Blue Ocean Strategy. Majority of the money spent on the product was based on what customers value most.

Crestron makes sense for large projects and Control 4 makes sense for small residential projects. Yes, Crestron is much more fun!

I think he means, he doens't think the PMC3-XP will be available through your natitional distributor. I'm pretty sure Direct Prodigy Dealers have access. The early number's I've seen show it being more than double the MSRP of a regular PMC3