We looked at signing on with the google pro program. But the opening order was stupid and told the rep to come back when they got realistic. It would be insane to inventory that much DIY grade products where the manufacture changes models on a whim.

She doesn't want that Elan doorbell because it's UAF.  Like you said, it's a $5M house.  Put yourself in her shoes for a minute..Would you want that thing hanging  by your front door?

Looks like Ernie made it with some spare parts he had laying around and a unibit.

I assume we're talking about this thing?  It looks like something a prison guard talks into to open a cell door.

Funny...The guys from Doorbird sent me an email after I posted the last post.  Just so you know Doorbird, your unit isn't exactly a homecoming queen either.

The Ring 2 and Ring pro are super easy to install, have a great picture quality and work well. The Elite is nice if you have ethernet wiring and a 1 gang cut out. You can get event based recording, live view any time and 24/7 recording is coming soon. Since Amazon bought them it seems the extra cash has allowed them to start rolling out features much faster.

You can get events such as button press and motion events directly into Control4 and URC. Video is something we can do how ever there are road blocks from C4 and URC on their ability to decode it.

You will also be able to control the LEDs for the flood cams and spot cams on Control4 very very soon.

I think one problem is the pics make the unit look big. Based on the rough in bracket, it’s just a little bigger than a single gang plate. Also, I think the oiled bronze looks better. Truth is, I don’t know I’ve ever seen a door station that was beautiful.

There's not really a whole lot you can do from a design perspective once you accept that you are going to have to have a lens for the camera, a button for the bell, and at least a few perforations for the speaker and microphone. Holovision at least looks the part from a finish quality perspective.

I'm sure Alexander Graham Bell thought the same thing. How could a phone look any different?  Fast forward to Jony Ive & Tony Fadell and things changed.

Edison would be shocked at what LED lights look like now.

Do you think Henry Ford would even recognize a Lamborghini as a car?

The computer than sent men to the moon had 4k of RAM.  An iphone has 250,000 times more.

And you're saying that it's impossible to make a nice looking doorbell? No.  It just needs somebody who gives a sh!t.

In all of these examples the newer products that the original guys wouldn't recognize are all modern, sleek and high-tech looking! Just like the video door intercoms that you hate so much.

Wait! Found one for you!

The Esschert Design DB40 Cast Iron Decorative Doorbell!

You can't even see the camera lens and the App is available for iPhone and Android.

[Link: amazon.com]

Wait a minute. What the hell kind of wire attaches to a DB-40?

I don't hate "high tech" looking...I like high tech looking.. When will your manufacturers start making something "high tech" looking?

There's a big difference between high tech looking and just looking like Sh!t.

So you have these customers looking at these DIY units saying....They look better and their 1/2 the price, made by a company I've heard of.

I'm not saying they're better...I'm not saying they're not.  What I'm saying is that the products that your manufacturers are giving you to sell look like sh!t on a stick.

It's not your fault, it's theirs.  They need to get their act together for your sake.. If your product is twice the cost, shouldn't it look twice as good? Shouldn't it work almost twice as well?

For most things in the world, when you pay more...you get a better quality product that looks better.

This isn't the first time I've went on a rant about the manufacturers half-assing it..They've been doing this since forever.   I've been ranting about this since the last CEDIA I went to...and that was in Indianapolis.

Ok here’s the short list. It only communicates on Wifi, complete integration isn’t an option and you can’t send it to a local nvr, recordings require a subscription

What it can do is announce visitors, display the visitor on a tv using a chrome cast (Sony can do it natively) send push notifications and allow the client to speak to the visitor thru their phone from anywhere in the world (the latensey can be annoying).
Btw the elan door station is fugly.

Forgot -
It's Google, so you've probably sold them your soul, along with your privacy.

Okay, let's unwrap this so I can understand what you're talking about. I've mentioned several manufacturers, they all have several models, and you seem to be saying that they all look like shit.

Can we start with one manufacturer and go from there?

Please have a look at the Siedle web site, look at their product line, and then explain what looks like shit, why it looks like shit, and why you don't think it's high quality.

[Link: siedleusa.com]

This is the first anyone has brought up Siedle.  i've never even heard of them.  We were talking Doorbird, Elan, Ring, Nest, and although nobody brought it up, I'd assume C4's doorbell unit?

But I'll bite.

I suppose they have a place outside at a gate somewhere, I still think this looks like it belongs in the movie SAW, and you're being watched from the lair of a serial killer, more than it says... welcome guests.

They look like they should be used in the landing of a high rise apartment to get "buzzed up" with all the tenants names on it under a plastic tab illegibly written on a piece of paper.

I'm not saying that they're not high quality. They may be, I've never installed one. I've heard guys complain about Doorbird quality though..

All I'm saying is that they're UAF and the reason people are opting for the less expensive versions (Ring, Nest) is because they're less expensive and look better.  Who wants a massive foot long doorbell outside their house? Not me.

So, the customer starts to have misgivings about the size and look of the damn thing and starts googling...Then you have the situation we have here.


These do not look good. They just don't.

You can put all the lipstick you want on a pig.  It's still a pig.