Re: Smarthome Lamplinc and local control

["BruceR" <br@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Dave Houston <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> It is disappointing that they did not design it to disconnect the
>> transmitter section, when idle, to eliminate its loading of the
>> powerline.
>
> It doesn't make much sense to me either, given that many of us
> rely on X10 for motion detection, RF interface, thermostat
> control, computer control, and many other things that Insteon
> doesn't do yet, and you are just expected to start migrating to
> Insteon when they don't have replacements for anything except the
> lighting control (and even that's not complete yet).  Then as you
> start doing this you may see your X10 components start to behave
> marginally due to signal attenuation.
>
> I'll be the first to admit that X10 is not perfect but it's a
> well-understood technology and it still has the most hardware
> available for it.  My humble opinion is that the choice between
> X10 and Insteon is just a choice between one can of worms and
> another.

True, the product is still new and doesn't have all the bells & whistles
yet which can be said for UPB, Z-wave, & Zigbee too.  If X10 is doing a
decent job of meeting your needs I think there's no reason to convert
right away.  Clearly, pioneers have a tendency to find arrows in their
backs and there's a risk with any choice.  I decided to convert to
Insteon for several reasons; they had an X10 translator (arrow #1)
available (with its own problems that I look for RoZetta to solve), they
have their own successful sales channels with which to bring product to
market,  they have a track record of developing new and innovative
products and they encourage others to do so, the backward compatibility
with X10, limited as that may be, and, of course, their pricing is the
most "friendly" of all the other new options out there right now.
 In my case, I was finding my X10 installation to be suffering as time
went on and after 22 years of dealing with X10 problems I was ready to
try something new. Fortunately, my t-stats are tied to my Stargate via
RS-485 and I don't use any of the X10 motion detectors or other
peripherals so lighting and some fountain pumps are all I need to be
concerned with.
 Bottom line: If X10 is working acceptably for you right now there's
certainly no rush to jump into any of the new choices; however, for a
new installation, there's no reason to stick with X10.