I'm about to invest heavy $$ in a home theater setup (Pioneer Plasma, Pioneer receiver and DVD, Request music server, with DirecTV HD DVR). My dealer is trying to sell me on investing in a CRESTRON control system. At $6K, it seems awfuly expensive. Am considering a NEVO instead. My dealer says that the Crestron will always work, but the NEVO won't be reliable. Any thoughts or helpful hints?

I am very happy with my Nevo and before I would pay $6000 for a control system - it would only have to work about half the time (It's about 99.9%).

I have never used a Creston and have not used the Nevo on the Wifi yet - but most of the comments I have seen on all of the forums is - Creston is by far superior to most when using RF.

I have all of my A/V gear in a closet and use a Xantec wired IR system. It works flawlessly!

Just my two cents!

Ted

Posted the same thing in the pronto forum Just replace teh Nevo with Pronto and the post is the same.

Comparing Crestron to a Pronto, Nevo or RTI is difficult. Your install company should be able to set up a demo of what the Crestron will be able to do for you. There are many things that a properly programmed and designed Crestron system can do that a Pronto or Nevo can't.

"There are many things that a properly programmed and designed Crestron system can do that a Pronto or Nevo can't"

"many" Like what?

Pioneer Plasma, Pioneer receiver and DVD, Request music server, with DirecTV HD DVR

Well to look at thoose pieces in a HT room with no second zone or whole house or lighting control...

Pronto / Nevo / RTI should handel that stuff adn the only thing that has 2 way is the request. But the onscreen for that should be good enough.

You could get the Crestron setup.. but this system seems kind of "lame" for that much processing power.

Now if the Crestron is tied into the rest of the house then I can tottally see and reccomend going with it.

But Macros like. Turn on these piece that almost all have descret codes. Select inputs... once again pretty much money. HdTivo is slow but very controlable. Easy to make macros for channels one any of thoose platforms. But Like I said the only one that would really get something above and beyond would be the Request.

Between you and me if it were all one room... and thats it.

Give me a RTI or a Pronto or a Nevo (Well I would prefer not have the nevo :) ) And a Sonos System. The request can do some really cool stuff. but if it's just single zone...

Well I am just saying... if it was my money or my clients money. But if they want that end all be all.. Its CRESTRON BABY. Well unless the T4 comes out.

dude the crestron costs more than most of your equipment. the nevo will be fine

ed

I would reccommend using a ELAN VIA!2 wireless panel or a RTI T3 utilizing RS232 as much as possible if you want bullet proof reliability. The nevo works great in IR alone, but with anything else there is no guarantee that anything else will
futurehouse
CEDIA Certified Professional
CEDIA Member

Your dealer is mostly right. The Crestron will last a long time. The real thing your dealer is trying to get out of is time. I can program the same thing in a Crestron as in a Nevo is a tenth of the time. The other part of that is replacing components. If you decided to upragrade the Crestron can be changed within a couple of key strokes. So if you are feeling adventourous get the nevo and program it yourself. It will teach you alot and save you a fair chunk of change (Crestron progamers are expensive, easily in excess of a grand for a 6 hour working day). Plus when something goes wrong you can fix it your self and saved the time loss.

Coming from a consumer rather than an expert... I set up all the nevo stuff myself (with the help of ddarche's white papers) I'm not a geek but then again I'm not a technophobe either, i.e. not afraid of looking at some visual basic in excel if the need requires.

Programming a Nevo is SUPER SUPER easy, if you don't like the setup that the installer gives you then reprogram it. The only hard thing about it is choosing what style of button or what colour backdrop to go with.

For me if I could choose 1 grand for the nevo and 5 grand cash or 6 for the crestron, I'd go and buy myself a week in vegas and take the nevo. (stick it all on black)
(never touched a crestron but it would have to be pretty special to warrant it)

as for reliability - I'm running off Wifi, and as long as you remember to put the remote back on the cradle in the evening then it works about 95% of the time. So far I've had it 9 months and it's needed a few soft resets when the wifi drops and only 1 hard reset.

kaz

I'd look into another installer, I'm willing to bet if they are pushing the Crestron on you it's because 1) They make more money. 2) They don't do that many Nevo installs. As with anything in this business different installer can make a totally different system using the same equipment or the same budget. I've done Nevo installs in systems worth 10x your prospective equipment, and haven't had a problem from day one. I can tell you that one of the main problems with the Nevo and WiFi are the people setting up the network. Most have no clue on how to setup a network properly, using a decent wifi access point would solve 95% of the problems. Sometimes a house just doesn't lend itself well to WiFi, and an installer should know this.

I have worked on both Nevo and Crestron in both Sydney and Brisbane Australia. Yes Crestron will make the installer a whole lot more money. But by far the Nevo has a lot more going for it. I have set my entire house up using Nevo, and my kids use it without any dramas. Here in Australia a Nevo with Nevo link will cost about $2100.00, I charge about $500.00 to programe and educate the customer. Nevo is moving in leaps and bounds. Soon to be a two way remote plus alot more.

Dunny how do you know the Nevo will be 2-way?