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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Control your home theater (and almost everything else) like a BOSS!
By Eric Slay
If you're looking at this product, chances are you already know what it does. If not, let me put it in layman terms. This unit will allow you to control your home theater, as well as other things such as opening/closing automatic curtains or shades, lowering projector screens, adjust lighting, set temperature, etc.In other words, this is the first step in turning your boring old home into a Jetson's era home (without Rosie of course).All kidding aside, this is an incredible product and the price point is not that bad when you consider its capabilities. Even if you just use it with your home theater (and not curtains, etc), it's still pretty incredible to flop down on your couch and control everything with your phone. I was able to make a custom "remote" with my iPad (and iPhone) using their mobile designer software without too much hassle. The system has a built-in library with the codes for (amazingly) all my AV electronics. In total, it has IR codes for 300k devices! Now I can sit down and control my tv, amplifier, etc. using my customized remote.Let me finish by saying that this unit is possibly a gateway drug. As I sit and control my TV and Tivo, I started to wish I could dim the lights and that got me thinking... Luckily I had my iPad nearby to start researching all the additional home automation products I can set up with this.If only I could get it to bring me a beer I could become a certified bum.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Intelligent automation simplified
By Bernadette
Home theaters now allow you to control everything from the lighting to the curtains to the screen to the sound system to the projector from the comfort of your chair Please don't tell me you still have to get up to turn down the lights!If you are still controlling some elements in your home theater manually, you need this, along with either a dedicated iPad, your iPhone, or the chic little 5.7 inch HAI Omnitouch touchscreen. Set yourself up with this truly impressive automated system of controllers and never leave your chair to control lights, sound, projection, curtains, and even the room temperature.You may want some additional accessories to go with this:HAI Omnitouch touchscreen.HAI OmniTouch 5.7 & 5.7e Metallic Color Change KitHAI Table Top Stand for OmniTouch 5.7 & 5.7e TouchscreensHAI PoE Injector, 1-PortHAI Home Theater Lighting BundleHAI Distributed Audio BundleHAI Omnistat2 Thermostat with ZigBee, Multistage & Heat Pump with HumidityPlease don't think of this as simply a glorified remote controller for your audio/visual systems, when it can do so much more.There are dozens of home and commercial HAI automation devices, which are often sold and installed by dealers of high-end home theater systems. You can easily control your lighting throughout your home, room temperatures, security systems, glass break window sensors, security cameras, phone systems, sound systems, and do it all over the internet if you are away from home. Everything in your home can be automated, including even your water heater, and controlled from anywhere in the world that you can get an internet connection.I recommend getting serious about it by locating a dealer of automation products with a showroom. From there you can decide how much automation in your home you want, and can arrange for installation from an expert. A complete system that controls everything in your home theater, which this does, will need to be coordinated with some additional accessories for your screen, projector, lights, etc. It helps to experience automation in action and get the help of professionals for installation.Certainly you can start with this, and add onto it later. Turn your iPhone into a remote control for your audio/visual equipment, and gradually add more automation to your home as needed. Once you experience automation in your home theater, you may want your whole house to be automated.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Exceptionally powerful - takes some work to get just right
By ScOObydoo
At first glance, the HTX2 is not much more than a glorified universal remote control extender. The basics do indeed match that - it has a single learning IR sensor, and four IR outputs (included). You program the unit using the included software, building templates for your iOS device. You can then control any IR enabled device. In my setup, all the IR codes for my kit were present - including TiVo Premiere Elite, several TV's, a projector and some AV gear. For an additional fee, you can also design templates to use with the HAI OmniTouch units, but nowadays, you are cheaper off with a dedicated iPad.Of course, IR is available in load of devices - so this is where the HTX2 begins to shine - in addition to IR, it also does advanced controls using GPIO, video sensing, relay controls and more. This means you can do cool things like turn on your equipment, trigger a projection screen relay and sense video signal outputs so you don't trigger something that is already on (or off).FWIW; the HAI HTX2 (like a lot of their gear) is just a rebranded Bitwise Controls BC4X1, but in this case, the HAI brand means better integration support with their other products.The product description on Amazon doesn't really do this product justice - calling it a mere "home theater extender" probably means its price will appear insane, but when you dig into this product and consider its built in web server, ethernet ports, multiple IO options and massive IR database, you realize that the price is quite reasonable. Granted, most people considering this will either have extensive experience in AV systems, or purchase for a third party installer to integrated into their system. I would not recommend this as a mere IR extended - there are other, cheaper products that do that.And finally, the HTX2 has some added bonus features- PoE power and an RS232 port. FWIW; the RS232 is part of the header, so be prepared to invest in some additional cables.
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