Due to pitiful reply to last related post, here's a letter that just went out to CE Pro readers. Even if you don't want to be quoted, I would appreciate your insights. If I want to quote you, I'll ask for permission first. Feel free to reply privately.
thanks.
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Best Products of the Year? You Decide.

We're producing the third annual CE Pro High-Impact Product (CHiP) of the Year Awards, to be published in the December issue of the magazine. This list features real products that have had the biggest impact on YOUR home systems business THIS YEAR.

We want to recognize manufacturers who have created products and technologies that enhance an integrator’s business. We’re looking for real products that dealers have sucessfully sold and installed over the year, not just neat technologies that we’ve seen at trade shows.

The deciding factors can be anything from special features to competitive pricing to reliability to ease of programming/installation. The winning products will be ones that have helped you sell more systems, install them more quickly, saved you money, or otherwise created benefits not otherwise available.

To be eligible, products should have begun shipping after August 2003. They must be products that your company has already installed.

Please take a moment to recognize your favorite products and vendors by submitting nominations to the Awards editor Julie Jacobson at [email protected].

Please include manufacturer, model, and your reasons for nominating the product(s). Also, include your contact information and some details about your company.

For a list of last year’s winners, visit [Link: ce-pro.com]

Deadline for submissions is October 15.

Thank you for your time.

-julie

Julie,

whatever do you mean? The last try was bad...or just got SO skewed into left field it was scary?

Either way, here are several of mine, and if you'd like more info, e-mail me (addy in profile) and I'll be happay to expand...

Lutron/QED/Sivoia Shades...I'm not sure exactly when these came into Lutron's rhelm, but since they have, we get LOT's of interest in them. The truly are silent, total blackout if needed, and highly sought after right now. Think of a motorized shade, that you can't hear...it's just suddenly dark in the room! Awesome!

Lutron RadioRA Chronos System Bridge Controller...

Universal Remote's MX-700/800/3000 gets my vote. The price point allows every system that I install the luxury of actually being usable to the end consumer.

More reliable then the Prontos too (IMO)

I agree with AHEM on the URC Home Theater Master remotes. I would like to add the extremely simple MX600RF. As cool as the laptop editing that can be used with the MX800 and the MX3000 is, the MX600RF has the most important cool feature of all: it is easy to program on the fly, changing out whatever the client wants to add at the last minute, and tops it off by providing reliable RF transmission. No more pointing at a target! Every client gets one of these models.

The single most significant product I've used over the last year has been the AMX Modero Viewpoint Touchpanels. AMX has not only hit a Home run with these guys, they've hit the perverbial Grand Slam.... Awesome Looks, Excellent stability, Great docking options, and unprecidented flexiblity. It has quickly become my goto panel for jobs that require a wireless interface. Until the MVP, we were stuck with standard viewpoints that certainly got the job done, but 2-way communication was not stable and was very expensive. The 7500 has given me a 2-way panel that that outperforms the veiwpoint for considerably less money. The 8400 takes it a step furthur with incredible resolution, and excellent battery life.

No one else in the industry has as potent a one-two punch as these offerings from AMX.

Now you're talkin'! Thanks for the replies. How about some of the less-glamorous stuff like structured wiring, security, mass-market automation, little job-savers, etc.
Keep 'em coming.
Thanks

I will concur on the MX700...although I don't think it came out in 2004. We sold them in 2003. I would STRONGLY urge you to NOT include the MX800 in this list! Although it first appeared to be a blessing, the technology proved to be old, unreliable and ultimately a nightmare in that it didn't work very well. We ended up with version 1, 2 and 3 RF receivers and none worked even 80% of the time forcing us to discontinue the MX800's. We do continue to sell MX700's on nearly every job since it's a great product.

I would give a nod to the MX3000, the B&K CT Whole House Music systems; HomeLogic Home Automation system; the new MartinLogan Voyage & Passage in wall speakers.

Hey Julie,

Did you go to the Polk Audio demo at the Marriot?

That demo still blows my mind! I love it!

I have now become a Polk dealer because of that. The first speaker to really give my Triad's a run for the money!


:)

I know I am pobably going against the grain, but will add the ProntoPro

Also the Gefen DVI extender is a great problem solver. It allows us to run a couple of Cat 5 wires to a projector and, pretty much, "future proof" the projector location for "a while". It's not cheap, but not too much more than an expensive Hi Grade 50' DVI cable.

Although it is not shipping yet ( but very soon ) I would vote for the Netstreams Digilinx sysetm. The first real high end IP solution for music and eventually video. I love powered speakers as you can turn the amp into an EQ to deal with driver defficiences and the DSP power of the Digilinx system makes this possible so long as speaker manufactuerers make the information available to Netsreams. As this is known information to the speaker manufacturerer it should not prove difficult to get this info to Netsteams as there is not downside to the speaker company.


I would add a second place to SONY, Sharp, and Samsung for adding wireless connectivity to their displays. Would that a third party device other than Geffin existed. It would seem to be a natural solution for display manufacturers.

Alan

I put my vote in for the Speakercraft EZC10. It can be paired with any learning remote control and become a somewhat powerful automation system for a home theatre system, using IR, RS232, voltage syncing as well as video syncing. It can be used as the brain for a multiroom, multi zone system. as well. The software is pretty solid. The supplied library is jam packed, but you definitely have to go thru and test the code sets for your particular device, as they are not model specific. We are currently pairing it with an MX800 and an Onkyo CHAD in our showroom and it works well. 2 thumbs up.

Most interesting thread....If not too troublesome, would like the retail prices and programming charges if appropriate.

Thanx to all!

Julie, with all due respect, I would like to suggest that in the future you canvas people before the event for slightly more object responses. Some of us went to CEDIA with specific agendas (i.e. products to look at) and are not able to provide you with an analysis of products that cover the entire depth and breadth of the products displayed at the show.

Therefore, with my narrow perspective on the products at the show the products that catch my interest were the ISF calibrated displays (even though they start to turn my calibration equipment into expensive paper weights), Apriliare's new wall sensors (disk shaped sensors that fit flush with the wall versus the wall warts, I've started doing alot of HVAC integration and as small as it seems it's and easy sell to the interior decorator and others in the houshold so inclined), Richard Gray's new product offering (I personally like power filters that aren't parasitic) and finally Test-um's new network cabling verification tool Validator (lower price point than most similar pieces of test gear).

Other products to watch, Control 4 (big marketing budget, but need to wait a year to see what reality looks like, not shipping until October/November)