Remote Touchscreen for PC?

[bpape]

I'm in the process of putting together a jukebox PC. The software for the jukebox is designed for touchscreen control. You can use a keyboard or mouse but I'd prefer to stay with touch.

I initially thought about building in a 7-8" touchscreen into the case and building it into my rack as visible. This presented some issues for case size and appearance to get something that would fit a screen that big and still leave room for a DVD/CD drive. I did some research and found some that would work for around $700 for the screen, PCI card, software, etc. Also, to get a case that would work, I was looking at around $350+ and then doing some serious mods to it. More than I wanted to spend so I started thinking about a larger one (they are cheaper - presumably due to quantity mfg'd) that I could just mount into a wall as the interface.

After seeing some of the new portable PCs - more large handhelds than anything else, I've been thinking again. Is there anything out there, prefereably wireless, that I could use like a remote touchscreen that would simply act as the screen/input device for a standard PC? I guess something like a VGA over WiFi setup is really what I need but only want the adapters so I can use a screen of my choice. Obviously, since the communication needs to be 2 way (touchscreen controls for the app) a standard VGA wireless adapter won't work. Also, something small enough that I could fit into a decent sized enclosure and run from batteries would be a definite bonus. The idea is to have a 'tablet' type device that I can take with me anywhere in the house and have access to my jukebox.

I can't believe I'm the only one to try to do something like this. Unfortunately, the software I want to use is NOT browser friendly. It is strictly a desktop application. Can I just get something like the Viewsonic Tablet and use MS RDP?

Any pointers or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[CJO]

Using a tablet PC is exactly what I was thinking about. You can get a used 1GHz one for around $700 and load Windows XP on it (if it isn't already loaded) and then use the remote desktop to control your main computer.

CJ

[Tremelle]

The Viewsonic Airpanel (http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3670264) would do the trick for you.

[roffutt]

I have not looked into it.. So, this is just a thought. Maybe you can use a wifi pda.. that can remote into your PC. I know there are several flavors of VNC.. which is a remote desktop/PcAnywhere type application. Not sure if there are any that run on a PDA? But it's open source freeware. So, it might be a cheap solution? Plus you get a PDA for other things.

Hope that helps..
--robbie

[GRBoomer]

PDA.

NetRemote and Girder get a lot of posts on the HTPC forum. I have also been reading about Shoutcast as a streaming system and their are many programs to play audio and in various formats MP3/OGG/Ape...

I am about to buy a Dell X30 PDA through work and it has built in WiFi (802.11b) and Bluetooth. The Mid range X30 is going to cost less than $300 and have more power than you will need. Other brands will work as well.

You can play MP3 on the PDA (like an iPod - maybe not as good of quality), or use the PDA to remote an audio/video system via infrared remote, or control the audio on a server (Shoutcast) with WiFi, or client computers connected to stereo equipment via Bluetooth.

[bpape]

Thanks for all the responses. Some good suggestions there.

My limitation has been that I already know what software I want to use (PC Jukebox when they add WMA) This is a desktop only application so some sort of remote desktop is going to be required.

[Julie Jacobson]

Why not use Smart Display? Those silly Msoft-enabled wireless monitors that no one ever sold. Basically a dumb touchscreen monitor with remote desktop. They have no apparent use except for applications like the one you describe. Great deals all over the place.
They won't let me post URLs here, so go to the msoft website and add /windows/smartdisplay/

[ndabunka]

You can buy one of the Fujitsu Tablet PC's for about $300 on eBay. They have 400MHz or 500MHz processors in them and are complete PC's (therefore none of the hasels like you run into with the Airpanels).

[bpape]

Thanks Julie. I'll have to check those out.

ndabunka:

Not sure I really need a full PC. I want something that can act basically as an overblown remote control able to control a PC and able to show the windows applications it is controlling.

Specifically, what hassles are you talking about with the airpanels?

[bpape]

Just one more thing. I'd like to also be able to use the PC/tablet as my remote if possible. I already have an IR repeater in the room to control everything. Most of the products I've seen have some significant drawbacks. Is this just a non-starter?

[Dean Roddey]

My limitation has been that I already know what software I want to use (PC Jukebox when they add WMA) This is a desktop only application so some sort of remote desktop is going to be required.


Not necessarily, though it's still non-optimal. But a product like CQC (www.charmedquark.com) can control applications running on other machines, since it is network distributed. But you'd still need to have logged onto that machine so that CQC could invoke the app on it for you. But you can then control it from other machines running CQC's client interfaces without any kind of remote desktop stuff.

But, given the fact that it's an app, you may still be better off just using RDP to control it via some sort of tablet.

[ndabunka]

Originally posted by bpape
Thanks Julie. I'll have to check those out.

ndabunka:

Not sure I really need a full PC. I want something that can act basically as an overblown remote control able to control a PC and able to show the windows applications it is controlling.

Specifically, what hassles are you talking about with the airpanels?

The Remote Desktop application that MS developed is fully of bugs and incompatibilities with many of these applications. It can be done but is often slower and more cumbersome and more expensive than the Tablet PC's. The CQC stuff is good but does take a little more effort than one of it's direct competitor's, Main Lobby. The CQC software costs around $200 to get started. ML starts around $50. I believe both offer 30-day free trials.

[Dean Roddey]

CQC stuff is good but does take a little more effort than one of it's direct competitor's, Main Lobby. The CQC software costs around $200 to get started. ML starts around $50. I believe both offer 30-day free trials.


I don't believe that's true on either count. I think that ML (in a configuration you can do much with) costs about the same as CQC's base package, and they are both a bit complex to learn, just in different ways. And if you want to do serious full home automation, you may have to also purchase HomeSeer to use as a backend with ML, though for lighter stuff you wouldn't need to. CQC includes the hard core back end.

[bpape]

OK. So what would you recommend if I want to:

Control a jukebox program - designed for touchscreen
and
Have the unit act as my universal remote. I already have a Xantech system with a single 'eye' in the front of the room. Connecting block is in my equip cabinet and controls all AV equipment and my Grafik Eye.

Another question, am I making this too tough? Can I maybe run the application on the panel itself and just point to a database and files on the PC?

[ndabunka]

Dean - I don't recall him stating anything about Home automation. I think he's looking for simple audio/video control rather than lighting, garage door, HVAC and sprinkler system control so all the stuff that controls all of that would not be needed in this application. As far as the individual components he would need for controlling a PC..... He could really do that with a simple Pronto remote. If he wants to get into using the PC'style touchscreens, he could do so with either vendors platform. The debate about full PC vs. Airpanel and using Remote Desktop can be debated forever but my recommendations is to use one of the $300 Toshiba Tablet PC's (A 10.4" touch screen "full" tablet that weighs about 2lbs and runs silently) and using it as a control device for his equipment. The additional equipment (i.e. a Master PC which has the Xantech stuff connected to it's serial port), software (either one), programming time, a wireless connection between the touchscreen and the devices (could be IR but 802.11 really works better), programming time). You may think this is "too tough", but this is what's needed in order to "use the touchscreen and simply 'Point' to a database on a PC".

[bpape]

Several things...

My statement about pointing to a remote DB was more for the jukebox application. I was just thinking about running the desktop app on the airboard and telling it that the underlying database was on a different machine. I need to verify that this is even possible.

The universal remote was a secondary thought but something that sounds very feasible.

I WOULD like to run my Grafik Eye via this remote but think that's no biggie as it is already tied into my Xantech system.

One question. Several have said that the MS product is kind of flaky. Is the Citrix product 'ready for prime time?' I have used their product in a business networked envrionment and it seems to work pretty well. I'm sure what comes with the Viewsonic board is not the exact same product - just wondering about anyone's expereinces.

[AJF]

Originally posted by ndabunka
Dean - I don't recall him stating anything about Home automation. I think he's looking for simple audio/video control rather than lighting, garage door, HVAC and sprinkler system control so all the stuff that controls all of that would not be needed in this application.<Snip>

I once saw Dean recommend HIS CQC software to a guy who simply wanted to pass IR signals to his equipment inside a cabinet .

And he always mentions it as though it's an unbiased recommendation rather than his own software .

[Dean Roddey]

:rolleyes:

I assume people can read, and that the fact that my sig says I'm the chairman of the company, that it's my product.

[bpape]

Yeah. I can read. Nothing wrong with with suggesting your own product if it will work.

[AJF]

Recommending is one thing, using the forum as a salesroom by constantly hawking is another .

[Dean Roddey]

I'm hardly constantly hawking.

I just did a search for 'CQC' for the last 6 months. Out of the 72 results, about 50'something I actually posted to (as apposed to someone else mentioning it), and of those probably another 20 or more were just general discussion of automation and CQC was mentioned only within the context of automation in general (an in which other products were also mentioned by their vendors), or software architecture and I used CQC's architecture as an example, or someone else mentioned it first and I corrected or added to the information given, or where just me asking questions about some piece of hardware and or protocol and indicating that I wanted to know so that I could support in it CQC, so it was only mentioned in the most tangential way.

So maybe 25 or so times over the last 6 months I've suggested CQC to someone who posted a question specifically looking for an automation solution of some sort. I don't think that is excessive.

[AJF]

That's only after being reprimanded . But you seem to be inching up again . I really just want to know why you never use the phrase "my CQC software " when you recommend it ?

[Dean Roddey]

Well, for one it's not my software anymore. It belongs to the corporation. But mostly I don't even think about it and just assume that everyone knows I'm part of that company. And, even more importantly, that they are not stupid enough to use it just because I recommend it and that they'll evaluate it for themselves, along with any other alternatives. This isn't an impulse buy type of product.

[frikerts]

Getting back on topic, what software would you use to create a universal remote using a Tablet PC? Lets say I just wanted this for the living room to replace the 6 or 7 remotes lying around. No whole house audio or video involved.

[ndabunka]

I personally think Dean does a good (read as not overbearing) job of presentation. I have no problems with him being here or any of theese sites. You should just see what one Hot Tub dealer does online. Citrix is a full professional solution that works EXTREMELY well in many applications. That's one of the reason MS tried DESPARATELY to (1) Put them out of business and then when that failed they tried to (2) buy the technology at 1/4th the value. That is the reason most corporations use Citrix instead of MS's poor RDP products. In the past I deployed a 23-server Citrix infrastructure that supported over 4300 users and is still running PERFECTLY to this day. I have not yet tried Citrix with this solution as I do not need it with the full clients. IMHO it is a little pricey for this application.

[bpape]

Thanks. There is a version of Citrix that comes with the Viewsonic Airboard as part of the package. I didn't figure I needed the whole thing. Just wondered if anyone had used this 'thin' product.

[ndabunka]

Actually, you WILL need the server portion as well in order to use it. The Citrix "thin" client is free but the server is $$$$'s.

[bpape]

The product is called Citrix-GoToMyPC. It is a free piece of software that as I understand it is used in place of MS RDP to allow access to a desktop from pretty much anywhere.

I'll do some mroe checking.

[mcascio]

Originally posted by bpape
Thanks for all the responses. Some good suggestions there.

My limitation has been that I already know what software I want to use (PC Jukebox when they add WMA) This is a desktop only application so some sort of remote desktop is going to be required.

bpape,

I'm currently using "MY" software to do what you originally set out to, although, it doesn't require remote desktop.

I'm using a 15" Viewsonic Airpanel (ebay for 'round $400) which RDP's into another computer running MainLobby, MusicLobby & J River's Media Center. From the Airpanel I can control music just as you would from a real jukebox - people don't believe me when I tell them they actually need to press the coin in order to gain 3 credits :) :
http://www.cinemaronline.com/images/320.240.musiclobby01.jpg

It's great for parties. Although after 11pm, depending upon alcohol consumption, it's a good idea to point them to a fixed touchscreen so they don't accidentally drop it. :)

You can even enter VALET mode, which just provides a simple visual of what just played, what's playing and what's coming up. Just a quick way for onlookers to see what's happening. They can also click on the cover to move forwards, backwards through the playlist while in this mode. The good thing is there is a hidden button to prevent unnecessary access to your computer.

I also have another 15" wall mounted touch screen in the kitchen which provides the same functionality as far as selecting music although it does so much more than that.

BTW, J River already supports WMA format along with around 80 other audio formats.

I can also control the whole house music from my office computer. Essentially any networked computer becomes a client capable of music control...including pocketPCs.

Add in a Global Cache device and now you've got a universal remote control.

[bpape]

OK. Thanks.

Just to be clear, RDP IS a remote desktop. I've heard some say it was slow and unresponsive. What is your experience with it?

I've looked at a lot of jukebox type software. There are a lot of nice tools out there. For me, ThePCJukebox is what I'm looking for. I have to wait for additional format support (next couple months supposedly.)

One question, why would I need a Global Cache? I already have an IR repeater system in place. Isn't there something out there that can make a pc emulate an IR transmitter? I have pronto codes for all of my stuff already. I just want a single device (and the wife wants the Pronto back upstairs!)

[PabloReiter]

bpape,

I use 3 airpanels around the house. For many reasons I got rid of 3 tabletpc's and replaced them with airpanels. I never looked back. No regrets whatsoever. With good enough WIFI covereage in your house (you may need several access points), screen refreshes are nearly instant. They are simple and when you lose 802.11 connectivity (802.11 is not 100% uptime for sure), you touch one icon and you are reconnected. I dont know what the problem with RDP could be as I use it day in and day out without issues. With SP2 you can hack it to give you 2 sessions (console and remote) or you need 2003 server or Thinsoft Winconnect for more sessions.

I use the Airoanel 10.4" model and it is light enough to carry around without issues. They are on clearance right now brand new for under $400 in many places. Wti the stand (tigerdirect.com for $69) it is just gorgeous and unobtrusive.

From a software perspective, RDP works great day in and day out. Make sure you try the software you are trying to use under RDP to make sure that works well under a multiuse environment. You can do this with PC's before you commit to buying more hardware.

From a remote control perspective, you need a USB or RS-232 to IR converter. Many of those to pick from. GlobalCache is one of many. Mainlobby is OK. Somewhat buggy and slow (it takes over 70MB of memory to run MusicLobby). Lots of CPU usage (30-40%) on an AMD 2400+. Spotty support too. On the other hand, you can produce gorgeous screens relatively quickly with a short learning curve. It is simple to use even though it is a very quirky interface to design with. It has somewhat been slapped together over time and it shows.

CQC is much more complicated but a much more elegant solution. The GUI front end is not as strong as Mainlobby in any way. You need to create your own graphics. CQC is really well thought out and is much more powerful than Mainlobby, but you need to spend a lot more time designing the user interface with tools such as Photoshop.

Hope this helps

Pablo

[bpape]

Thanks for all the good info Pablo. So what specifically am I giving up between an airpanel and a tablet pc? The line seems to be very blurred.

When you say an RS232 to IR converter, I assume you would put that on the 'server' and trigger commands via tha airpanel via some software of my choice.

Brand on the airpanel? I'm finding only Viewsonic.

[dirk1843]

I would like to make a minor thread hijack for a second.

I would like to have several small wired type touchscreens throughout my house to display caller id, a doorbell cam, other cams throught my house, and do whole house system control.

Where can I start looking to find information on what is available??

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by bpape
Thanks for all the good info Pablo. So what specifically am I giving up between an airpanel and a tablet pc? The line seems to be very blurred.

When you say an RS232 to IR converter, I assume you would put that on the 'server' and trigger commands via tha airpanel via some software of my choice.

Brand on the airpanel? I'm finding only Viewsonic.

Airpanel is a viewsonic brand, not a generic product. Smart Display is the product type and Phillips also makes one. It has been discontinued by Microsoft as a specification for a product. Viewsonic is getting rid of the last ones.

The IR distribution box attaches to any PC, preferably the server. CQC or Mainlobby can run on the server or on any PC in a distributed network of PC's.

TabletPC's are NOT touchscreen. They require a pen to operate. They are a full fledged PC so they run hot, ttakes a while to boot up, have a hard drive that needs to be updated with latest patches, etc. Viewsonic airpanels are based on winCE and are appliances that only connect to a server via RDP. You cannot run anything local. No hard drive, lightweight. All horsepower is at the server, so that you can upgrade the server and gain more power and the airpanels stay the same. Really elegant solution.

You need xp Pro or 2003 server to run airpanels. Unless you mod xp or buy a third party solution, when you use an airpanel, the main monitor gets locked out.

Pablo

[PabloReiter]

Also, the OS on the tablet is XP tablet edition, a different OS than XP Pro. Some software has problems running on the tablet, such as Mainlobby which crashes every 24 hours under xp tablet.

[robocomp]

would this be true for pocketpc OS as well???

[Dean Roddey]

The GUI front end is not as strong as Mainlobby in any way. You need to create your own graphics.


I would tend to look at it as more flexible :-) It doesn't provide pre-fab interfaces since it is designed for custom installations where there's no way to know what set of functionality will be present and how the customer will want it presented.

However, we are adding new features to aid you with the creation of interfaces in the upcoming 1.3.5 release.

- It will have a nice new select of pre-fab images for use in interfaces.

- There will be 'theme' support, where you can select a theme and apply it after the fact or set it to be automatically applied to new widgets as you create them. This makes it a lot easier to create attractive and consistently styled interfaces without having to decide on and apply visual styles yourself.

- It also has some not so flashy but very useful improvements like multiple widget selection (for drag and applying attributes and such), snap grid, auto-snap, and alignment tools to help you make nice looking interfaces.

- The new release is moving over to PNG as it's native image repository format so it'll be able to use lots of transparency effects and will load images a lot faster because they are compressed now.

- It allows you to scale and adjust gamma during import of images into CQC.

So we are working hard to bring the front end's power up to the same level as the back end.

And, importantly, we are working on a .Net version of the interface viewer component, so we'll be able to host our interfaces on PocketPCs and various CE.Net devices. That will close a major hole in CQC's breadth of functionality and you won't have to choose between supporting small hand-held devices and having a hardcore automation back end architecture.

[bpape]

Great info. Thanks. I definitely want to run XP Pro and do NOT want to have to use a stylus.

I'm still stuck with the issues about adding RC capabilities though. What HARDWARE do I need combined with what software? I know I can use the devices that will control everything but don't need that as I already have a Xantech repeater system.

Pablo,
Using RDP, I understand about the main monitor being locked out. What about being able to have 2 Airpanels connected to the same server at the same time?

[ndabunka]

Pablo appears to normally have good information but I have to say that he missed the boat on the TabletPC details. Tablets and Airpanels are quite similar but the TabletPC is just that, a FULL PC. That means it can run on it's own without the need to have any "backend" server driving it. Thus it's more functional and generally faster than the AirPanels. The Tablets do NOT run hot. I have had a number of the Fujitsu 3400 and 3500's I have been working with over the past few months. These things are QUITE, cool-running and do NOT require a pen to function. TabletPC's ARE TRUE touchscreen PC's. He's simply wrong on these accounts. Don't get me wrong. I think the Airpanels are also a great technology and sad to see the MS gods fronwing on them (i.e. drropping support) but the tabletPCs have their benefits as well IMHO.

Originally posted by PabloReiter
Airpanel is a viewsonic brand, not a generic product. Smart Display is the product type and Phillips also makes one. It has been discontinued by Microsoft as a specification for a product. Viewsonic is getting rid of the last ones.

The IR distribution box attaches to any PC, preferably the server. CQC or Mainlobby can run on the server or on any PC in a distributed network of PC's.

TabletPC's are NOT touchscreen. They require a pen to operate. They are a full fledged PC so they run hot, ttakes a while to boot up, have a hard drive that needs to be updated with latest patches, etc. Viewsonic airpanels are based on winCE and are appliances that only connect to a server via RDP. You cannot run anything local. No hard drive, lightweight. All horsepower is at the server, so that you can upgrade the server and gain more power and the airpanels stay the same. Really elegant solution.

You need xp Pro or 2003 server to run airpanels. Unless you mod xp or buy a third party solution, when you use an airpanel, the main monitor gets locked out.

Pablo

[PabloReiter]

ndabunka,

By DEFINITION, a TabletPC MUST use a pen, by Microsoft SPECIFICATIONS. The writing algorithms provided in XP Tablet PC can only be used through an active pen. If it does not use a pen, it is a webtablet and runs some other variation of a windows platform, not XP. As of 30 days ago the ONLY Tablet that would run XP (not tablet) and be a touchscreen as well as XP tablet (with a pen) was the sahara. Again, a TabletPC must adhere to the microsoft hardware specs. If it does not, it is not a tabletpc and cannot run xp tablet.

Also, by using a much higher clock speed, HEAT is generated, no two ways about it. The compaq TC1100 was hot enough to make your lap sweat. The viewsonic, with its Xscale 400mhz processor is almost cold to the touch. The bluesonic, with its 400mhz crusoe processor, ran pretty cool too. I c an imagine that the fuji 3400 and 3500 with their 400mhz and 500mhz processors, run pretty cool too. Unfortunately, they are not TABLETPC's. Before you say somebody is wrong, you first need to understand what you are talking about. They run win98 or 2000 or NT and they CANNOT run XP Tablet. Good luck running anything such as Mainlobby on a 500mhz Celeron. Like I said before, 1-2 second delays...

Pablo

[bpape]

It's getting clearer. FYI. I checked on the Citrix thing. Their version that they 'give away' requires a subscription to a remote server service. Non-starter for me.

Here is what I see as plusses and minuses:

Plus for Tablet PC

Fully functional PC
No backend server required

Drawbacks

Weight
Size
Special OS
Potential Heat
Limited selection if you don't want to use a stylus

Smart Display Plusses:

Weight
Size
Heat
Finger touch
Main unit (PC) can be hidden, case design is wide open
Standard XP OS

Drawbacks

Need remote back end 'server'
Support pulled by MS

Did I miss anything?

[PabloReiter]

bpape, there is one more drawback to the airpanels, they heavily rely on your wireless network and with any interruption you lose your interface and it must be reconnected. I have 3 in the house and they lose their connection invariably every 2-3 days for some reason. Not a huge deal to click on the connection button again, but if you have in a prominent place, the 'cool' interface sometimes is not there.

Pablo

[PabloReiter]

bpape

I think you need a backend server regardless as you need to send IR or RS232 commands to your equipment from somewhere. The tabletpc will not send IR commands AFAIK and definetely will not send RS232 commands over the air. These messages need to be relayed to a server which in turn is connected to your equipment.

Pablo

[CJO]

Originally posted by PabloReiter
By DEFINITION, a TabletPC MUST use a pen, by Microsoft SPECIFICATIONS. The writing algorithms provided in XP Tablet PC can only be used through an active pen. If it does not use a pen, it is a webtablet and runs some other variation of a windows platform, not XP. As of 30 days ago the ONLY Tablet that would run XP (not tablet) and be a touchscreen as well as XP tablet (with a pen) was the sahara. Again, a TabletPC must adhere to the microsoft hardware specs. If it does not, it is not a tabletpc and cannot run xp tablet.


I think that spec is newer than the PC's we are talking about. These computers were originally called tablet PC's, and then Microsoft decided to create its own definition of a Tablet PC.

CJ

[bpape]

Losing the interface now and then is not a large concern to me (as long as it's not every few minutes! I can live with twice a week for the convenience). The vast majority of the time, it will be used as a remote and be within 25' of the access point in the basement. I'll probably end up hacking XP to allow for 2 connections as eventually. I'd like someday to also have a hard touch panel (hard wired) by the equipment rack.

My biggest concern is the lack of support for the smart display and the cost/OS issues on the tablet PC's. Leaning toward the smart display right now.

[ccapozzoli]

I have read all the post here and I realy think that going with the Viewsonic is the best and easiest choice for controlling mucis from your PC. My friend shoed me PC Jukebox the other day and it looked realy nice. I will have to look into the other music software that was mentioned.

The only questions I have, is if I buy an airpanel, what else will I need, except for the pc jukebox software, in order to connect and to control it properly.

I am not sure what other control software is needed if any.

After I get the Viewsonic, then I will reconfigure a server I have with Windowx XP and leave it in my basement running 24/7. I will then rip all my misic on it and also run DV Archive on it so I can store all my Replay TV shows. HEY!! Woill I be than able to view the show on the Airpanel?? I don't see why not.

Any suggestions to my idea? Am I on the right track??
Thanks, great Thread!!!!:D

[PabloReiter]

If you will not use that PC for anything else on the main monitor, you dont need anything aside of an 802.11 AP and an airpanel.

You cannot view full screen movies on the airpanel if they are displayed on the server as an overlay (or games for that matter)

Pablo

[ccapozzoli]

Originally posted by PabloReiter
If you will not use that PC for anything else on the main monitor, you dont need anything aside of an 802.11 AP and an airpanel.

You cannot view full screen movies on the airpanel if they are displayed on the server as an overlay (or games for that matter)

Pablo

Sorry for my ignorance, but what do you mean by you cannot view full screen movies if they are displayed ont he server as an overlay.

I figured with the airpanel, that you are controling your server remotely, maening running any program that is on the server. So if I were to run DV archive and run a video that is on the server, not being streamed it should show correct??

[PabloReiter]

The protocol that the airpanels use (RDP) to communicate with the server will not send video overlay information over the airwaves to the remote airpanel. I have not tried windowed video (slow fps), but full overlay (theatertek, zp, windvd, myhd, etc) will not show on the airpanel. A big black box with an X on it shows up...

[ccapozzoli]

OK thanks for the info, so it sounds like you can run my pcjukebox etc without a problem. Same as you could for running word, excel outlook etc?

Is that correct?

Also what is the best way for the Server to send out IR commands. I want to amek it so the PC sends the IR ro the device that turns on the room I am in and then I can choose the music t play in that room.

thanks

[PabloReiter]

yes,

you can run all of those applications without a problem.

GlobalCache, Ocelot, Slinke, USBIRT are all devices that let you send IR from the PC...

Pablo

[ccapozzoli]

Can anyonw tell me what Nevo is and what is the reason you would want it with the Viewsonic Airpanel?? I found a reviewer on Amazon talk about it and wanted to know what it is.

Here is the reviewers post.

I purchased a ViewSonic V150P off of E-Bay last week. I E-mailed ViewSonic's tech support and they told me that Nevo units were still available through the parts department while supplies last. I called the ViewSonic parts dept at (800)688-6688 and they still have them in stock as of 7/27/2004. I was able to order one for the cost of S/H (<$20) after they verified my AirPanel serial number. The Nevo unit itself is still free to AirPanel customers. Given that Nevos on E-Bay are going for over $500, this made me very happy and I have nothing but good things to say about ViewSonic.

Nevo has been discontinued by ViewSonic in favor of the MPlus solution that comes with the MPlus V210 Bundle.

http://www.mplusint.com/

My primary issue with the Smart Display right now is lack of updates from Microsoft, including the patch that is supposed to be in Windows XP SP2 to allow concurrent console and remote desktop access on the same Windows XP PC and range problems in my house. The smart display seems to have less range than tablet PC's and laptops that I have tested here. I also don't like the fact that streaming video doesn't work correctly over a full fledged 10 MBit network. If it streams from the internet at less than 3 MBit, it should be able to stream to the Smart Display. But this is a Microsoft issue. The Viewsonic product itself is great.

Any Clarification would be great

[ccapozzoli]

Originally posted by PabloReiter
yes,

you can run all of those applications without a problem.

GlobalCache, Ocelot, Slinke, USBIRT are all devices that let you send IR from the PC...

Pablo

Pablo,

Do you recommend one over the other? an you point m to a website showing how these are installed and configured. I would like to see how these work before purchase.

Also is one easier to install and configure than another.

Thanks

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by ccapozzoli
Can anyonw tell me what Nevo is and what is the reason you would want it with the Viewsonic Airpanel?? I found a reviewer on Amazon talk about it and wanted to know what it is.

My primary issue with the Smart Display right now is lack of updates from Microsoft, including the patch that is supposed to be in Windows XP SP2 to allow concurrent console and remote desktop access on the same Windows XP PC and range problems in my house. The smart display seems to have less range than tablet PC's and laptops that I have tested here. I also don't like the fact that streaming video doesn't work correctly over a full fledged 10 MBit network. If it streams from the internet at less than 3 MBit, it should be able to stream to the Smart Display. But this is a Microsoft issue. The Viewsonic product itself is great.

Any Clarification would be great

CC,

Nevo is an IR solution that lets you send IR commands from the Airpanel just like a remote control would. It is a bundle of software and an IR card that plugs into the PCCard slot. You need direct line of sight with the equipment you are trying to control, just like any universal remote control.

You do not need any updates from Microsoft. An airpanel is nothing more than a Windows CE touchpanel with an preinstalled RDP client. There is plenty of hacks out there to open it up and install other sofware on the airpanel including the standard windows CE RDP client that you can download from the MS site. RDP is alive and well within Microsoft. The only thing discontinued was the windows CE image that microsoft scpecifically designed for airpanels. Since you should never have to touch the airpanel itself, it is not an issue. The only limitation is that there will not be an airpanel II or airpanel III in the future. Microsoft decided that they will not invest any more time on a windows CE shell because of the competition with tabletPC's (at the time there wasnt much of a price difference between one and the other).

The hack to allow sp2 to run 2 concurrent sessions is not supported by MS because of licensing issues. Thinsoft works great (winconnect xp) and it is a commercial product. You can also run win2003 server with terminal server. Again, nothing to do with the airpanel or RDP.

With respect to the IR hardware, I dont know much about any of them except the Slinke which is discontinued (MS bought it). Do a search and you will find plenty of information here or google. The globalcache one seems to be the best, but I have never used one.

Pablo

[PabloReiter]

CC,

with respect to video overlay, RDP as a protocol is like PCanywhere, it has nothing to do with streaming compressed video. It sends the desktop to a remote machine. The amount of data at 1024x768x24fpsx24bit color depth cannot be sent over 802.11b. you need at least 802.11g or higher...

Pablo

[ccapozzoli]

Pablo,

Thank you for your knowledge.

I just purchased a Viewsonic Airpanel with docking station from ebay. Looking forward to starting this project.

My next step is to reconfigure my server with Windows XP Pro. Do you know if that will run on a server with drived in RAID 0 configuration? If not, then I will need to get Windows Server.

Then I will get a global Cache unit to have it send IR to my equipment. I also saw another USB type unit that also send IR out, I have to rememebr wher I saw that.

Once I get all that configured, then I will rip all my cd's to the server, then get the PC Jukebox and hope it all works.

If you or anyone has any helpfull hints or suggestions, please let me know, I want this to go as smoothly as possible. Thank you for all your help. This is going to be FUN!!!:D

[fvoelling]

CC,

May I ask who you bought your Airpanel from and what size? Would you buy from that source again?

Thx,
Frank

[PabloReiter]

XP Pro should be fine, but Server would be better for RDP...

[ccapozzoli]

Originally posted by fvoelling
CC,

May I ask who you bought your Airpanel from and what size? Would you buy from that source again?

Thx,
Frank

Frank,

I just did a search on Ebay and found a few on them listed, mostly by the same person. I have never bought before on eBay, only sold, so hopefully this iwill be a smooth transaction.
What I did do is soign up for a paypal line of credit becasue of the fraud protection on eBay transactions. I will pay the balance in full, but I just wanted that buffer of protection.

[ccapozzoli]

Originally posted by PabloReiter
XP Pro should be fine, but Server would be better for RDP...

Pablo,

Better how?? Speed, Reliability, what?

[PabloReiter]

if you ever decide that you want another airpanel, you can just buy it and turn it on as Terminal Services under win2003 is enabled for multiple users. It also has better management tools for remote users. Nothing that you would kill for, but if you have the choice (and the $$$), go with win2003 server.

Pablo

[ccapozzoli]

Pablo,

Courious,

Can you tell me your designa nd layout using your airpanels?? What are you using them for how are they configured, How is you main PC set up and configured.

DO you use Win2003 Server?

What are some other expamples of using this type of setp up?

I am just getting into this and would like to know other ideas.

Thanks

If anyone else has ideas, feel free to post.

[PabloReiter]

CC,

I have 3 airpanels and one HTPC. The HTPC has a slinke connected to it and a USB RS-232 hub with 16 ports. I control lighting (lutron) and all of my equipment rack which is mostly rs232, some IR. The HTPC also serves as my scaler with the HOLO3D card in it as well as a media jukebox playing 3 streams of audio to the whole house audio system. in addition, I have an XM rreceiver being controlled by the HTPC.

One Airpanel is the remote control in the dedicated theater. The other two are in the master bedroom upstairs and the other in the kitchen. They are solely to pick music for any of the 10 zones of audio throughout the house. I can pick the FM tuner, XM stations with cover art and station display information, or play any of the thousands of CD's in the server. 3 separate audio streams can be selected for any one of the 10 rooms.

I am using XP Pro on the HTPC. On a second PC I use XP Pro and the thinsoft winconnect xp software to allow multiple clients. I actually use a second PC to act as the Terminal Services Server since the load is too much for one server when watching DVD's or scaling satellite stuff through the H3D card.

I use Mainlobby, Musiclobby and XMLobby by Cinemar as a front end to Girder and MediaCenter10.

Amazingly enough, it works 99.99% of the time. I have not rebooted either machine for a couple of months. The airpanels lose their connection once in a while when using the microwave...

Pablo

[PabloReiter]

BTW.

I have 3 wireless AP's throughout the house to make sure coverage is good thorughout...

Pablo

[ccapozzoli]

Originally posted by PabloReiter
CC,

I have 3 airpanels and one HTPC. The HTPC has a slinke connected to it and a USB RS-232 hub with 16 ports. I control lighting (lutron) and all of my equipment rack which is mostly rs232, some IR. The HTPC also serves as my scaler with the HOLO3D card in it as well as a media jukebox playing 3 streams of audio to the whole house audio system. in addition, I have an XM rreceiver being controlled by the HTPC.

One Airpanel is the remote control in the dedicated theater. The other two are in the master bedroom upstairs and the other in the kitchen. They are solely to pick music for any of the 10 zones of audio throughout the house. I can pick the FM tuner, XM stations with cover art and station display information, or play any of the thousands of CD's in the server. 3 separate audio streams can be selected for any one of the 10 rooms.

I am using XP Pro on the HTPC. On a second PC I use XP Pro and the thinsoft winconnect xp software to allow multiple clients. I actually use a second PC to act as the Terminal Services Server since the load is too much for one server when watching DVD's or scaling satellite stuff through the H3D card.

I use Mainlobby, Musiclobby and XMLobby by Cinemar as a front end to Girder and MediaCenter10.

Amazingly enough, it works 99.99% of the time. I have not rebooted either machine for a couple of months. The airpanels lose their connection once in a while when using the microwave...

Pablo

thank you for that info, great layout. A question came to mind while reading this. I was thinking of going with NetRemote for my control and going with JR Media Server, everyone seems to like that. I also want to be able to serve different music to different rooms. Seeing as I have an Audio distribution system installed (Soundstream) , can I play multiple mp3 at the same time from the server? How would I be able to do that.

I figure I can use net remote to choose the room then I would need to be able to choose a different song from the server. Thiking about it, I dont think it can be done but just curious. I know you cna choose different sources when you want to.

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by PabloReiter
CC,

3 separate audio streams can be selected for any one of the 10 rooms.

I use Mainlobby, Musiclobby and XMLobby by Cinemar as a front end to Girder and MediaCenter10.


Pablo

CC,

the audio streams are coming from JR MediaCenter. You can create unlimited number of zones (limited to the number of sound cards or outputs from a single sound card). I have a soundcard with 5 outputs (4 analog and 1 digital) and can play JR MP3 streams to each one of them. It works great. CPU load is 1-2% per output if configured correctly. If you play without blanks (mixing songs), it will spike up to 10-20%...

Absolutely it can be done, this is the way I do it with Mainlobby, musiclobby and JR media center. Works like a charm... I Have an audioaccess system with 12 rooms and 5 zones. Not as good as Netstreams, but good enough...

Pablo

[Sailn]

In the for what it's worth. You can run win XP on a Fujitsu 3X00 pen based PC. The 3X00 series (3400, and 3500) have pasive touch screens and do not need an active stylus. The real problem is all the work you need to do to make the pen work under xp as it was ment to work uunder NT, 2K or 98. You can pick them up on ebay for about $300.00, make sure that you also get a floppy drive as will need it is you ever wish to rebuild the hd.

When we move into the yet to be determined new house, I plan on having five or six of these scatered around the house.

As to SD or a used "tablet" it is really a toss up. SD using remote desktop is without a doubt a much easier process.

I prefer a "tablet" with net remote and girder, a much steeper learning curve, but the overall control is just great. Additionally, it doesn't tie up the htpc from other tasks

[Al Sherwood]

Originally posted by ccapozzoli
Pablo,

Thank you for your knowledge.

I just purchased a Viewsonic Airpanel with docking station from ebay. Looking forward to starting this project.

My next step is to reconfigure my server with Windows XP Pro. Do you know if that will run on a server with drived in RAID 0 configuration? If not, then I will need to get Windows Server.

Then I will get a global Cache unit to have it send IR to my equipment. I also saw another USB type unit that also send IR out, I have to rememebr wher I saw that.

Once I get all that configured, then I will rip all my cd's to the server, then get the PC Jukebox and hope it all works.

If you or anyone has any helpfull hints or suggestions, please let me know, I want this to go as smoothly as possible. Thank you for all your help. This is going to be FUN!!!:D

ccapozzoli, a couple of questions for you, which airpanel did you purchase? Have you purchased the Nevo package from Viewsonic?

I am thinking of doing the same thing...

Pablo, you say that one of the Airpanels is being used as a remote in the home theatre, did you buy Nevo? or are you just talking to the HTPC to control it?

Thanks!

[PabloReiter]

Al,

no Nevo, my equipment is in a closet...

Pablo

[Al Sherwood]

Thanks Pablo.

Some of mine is in a closed cabinet as well, it's just that some is not and the thought of having to just tap a screen for some controls is cool!

Given that the Nevo peice is not expensive, it would be worth a try. Just have to find the best deal on a V150p now...

[PabloReiter]

Al,

you can run a xantech IR repeater from the HTPC to your equipment and you can control it from anywhere in the house!:) Mainlobby or Netremote work great for this...

Pablo

[Al Sherwood]

Hmmm, a xantech IR repeater from anywhere in the house, I'll have to check that out! Thanks Pablo!

[RxMan1]

Pablo,

You have a PM.

[thericky]

been reading this thread and i have a few questions as i'm trying to do some similar things...

1. what sound card has 5 outputs? :)
2. with the airpanel... does it run its own operating system and simply access files on another computer or is it just a remote monitor?
3. does the airpanel take over the computer it's connected to or can the visual output from that computer be sent out of its standard video card at the same time as using the airpanel?
4. what software are you using to switch between audio zones and play different music in different zone?

i think that's all for now...

thanks

[ccapozzoli]

Originally posted by PabloReiter
CC,

I have 3 airpanels and one HTPC. The HTPC has a slinke connected to it and a USB RS-232 hub with 16 ports. I control lighting (lutron) and all of my equipment rack which is mostly rs232, some IR. The HTPC also serves as my scaler with the HOLO3D card in it as well as a media jukebox playing 3 streams of audio to the whole house audio system. in addition, I have an XM rreceiver being controlled by the HTPC.

One Airpanel is the remote control in the dedicated theater. The other two are in the master bedroom upstairs and the other in the kitchen. They are solely to pick music for any of the 10 zones of audio throughout the house. I can pick the FM tuner, XM stations with cover art and station display information, or play any of the thousands of CD's in the server. 3 separate audio streams can be selected for any one of the 10 rooms.

I am using XP Pro on the HTPC. On a second PC I use XP Pro and the thinsoft winconnect xp software to allow multiple clients. I actually use a second PC to act as the Terminal Services Server since the load is too much for one server when watching DVD's or scaling satellite stuff through the H3D card.

I use Mainlobby, Musiclobby and XMLobby by Cinemar as a front end to Girder and MediaCenter10.

Amazingly enough, it works 99.99% of the time. I have not rebooted either machine for a couple of months. The airpanels lose their connection once in a while when using the microwave...

Pablo

Pablo
Another couple of questions. What do you recommend for an audio card so I can get 3 seperate audio outputs.

Why did you decide to go with MainLobby, MusicLobby and XM Lobby instead of say NR.

Seeing that I am going to build my own HTPC, do you have any recommendations on certain parts for the HTPC? Graphics Card etc.

I would in th efuture like to add the ability to Rip all my home videos and pictures. What would I use as an overlay to have control over them and even DVD's for that matter.

Thanks

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by thericky
been reading this thread and i have a few questions as i'm trying to do some similar things...

1. what sound card has 5 outputs? :)
2. with the airpanel... does it run its own operating system and simply access files on another computer or is it just a remote monitor?
3. does the airpanel take over the computer it's connected to or can the visual output from that computer be sent out of its standard video card at the same time as using the airpanel?
4. what software are you using to switch between audio zones and play different music in different zone?

i think that's all for now...

thanks

1. The M-Audio Delta 410 has 4 analogs, 1 digital. If you also have one on the motherboard, it makes 6. RME is also another brand that makes them.

2. Airpahel is just a remote monitor
3. Please read the thread... You need a third party product or an XP hack or win server 2003 for this functionality
4. Musiclobby hooked up to JR Mediacenter

Pablo

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by ccapozzoli
Pablo
Another couple of questions. What do you recommend for an audio card so I can get 3 seperate audio outputs.

Why did you decide to go with MainLobby, MusicLobby and XM Lobby instead of say NR.

Seeing that I am going to build my own HTPC, do you have any recommendations on certain parts for the HTPC? Graphics Card etc.

I would in th efuture like to add the ability to Rip all my home videos and pictures. What would I use as an overlay to have control over them and even DVD's for that matter.

Thanks

Mainlobby was the only thing available a few years ago. At that time Netremote did not work on regular PC's, just on PocketPC's

With Mainlobby or Netremote or Meedio you can control other applications such as Zoomplayer, theatertek, etc and view your pictures on your main monitor.

Pablo

[RxMan1]

Pablo,
I sent you a PM.

[RxMan1]

I have been looking at netremote to use with my airpanel. Mainly, because of the high cost of ML w/MusicLobby. I haven't found a netremote theme that I like yet.

[Dean Roddey]

CQC also offers very nice application control. It currently has drivers for TheaterTek 1.5/2.0, Media Player, WinDVD 4, WinDVD 6, MyHTPC, and SageTV, and I'll be happy to add a driver for anything else you need. And you can create any interface look you want. And a number of our customers use it on an AirPanel as well.

[ccapozzoli]

OK There is a glitch I need help with. I wanted to have my HTPC send an IR signal to the multi zone A/V system to Turn on that zone and then I can play my music. I am using an Airpanel. However the problem is the IR signal needs to be done locally in order to tuen on that room. I thought I could do this from the main unit. What is the best way to accomplish this? Turn on th elocal room and then I can control my music server or movies using Girder and possibly Main Lobby

[PabloReiter]

not sure what you are asking... sorry, too early sunday AM:)

[ccapozzoli]

Originally posted by PabloReiter
not sure what you are asking... sorry, too early sunday AM:)

No Kidding! I woke up this morning thinking about it. OK. Ready here is the setup I want. I we all recall, I am setting up a HTPC as a media server to serve music through my Soundstream A/V distribution system in my house. I was planning on using an Airpanel to have control over the HTPC and hook up the PC to the soundstream.

I was going to use either NetRemote or MainLoby etc, to control the music. I was also going to hook up a USB/IRT device to blast the IR signals to the components.

OK so here is a senario. I have the Airpanel and walk into my kitchen. I hit a button on the airpanel that turn on the room and then starts the music software. However here is my problem. I thought I could send the turn on room signal to the HTPC to send it to the main controller that the sources run through but I can't. I need to turn on the room locally via IR.

Now I am trying to figure out how I can continue with my original plan but incorporate the ability to turn on the room via IR. I do have NEVO which comes with an IR card, maybe I can incorporate NEVO to accomplish this then have a way to go to the music server to serve up the music.

May any more sense???

[PabloReiter]

I am not familiar with the soundstream system you have. do you have a link?

If you can only turn it on with IR in the local room, it will be tough. I dont know how you swith between the NEVO and something like NR or ML. I think it will be hard to integrate both so that it makes sense on the airpanel. I have never seen the NEVO run though so I cant tell you for sure..

Pablo

[Petro_Shimonishi]

soundstream product is verrry cool! Have used it for close to 6 months and works splendidly. Check em out!

[ccapozzoli]

The Soundstream system had been disconcontinued. I thought that might be the case. It's a couple of steps more than I wanted, but what I think I might be able to do is to use the airpanel with Nevo to help turn on the room I am in then I will switch to remote desktop and control the server with all the other software we have talked about.


Petro do you have this system which consists of local amps in the rooms with keypads and IR sensors. The main unit sits next to your a/v equipment so you can you them as sources, LD, DVD, FM, CD, etc. once you tun on the room, than you can control the source via IR. play, stop, channel change etc.

Thanks.

[mcascio]

ccapozzoli,

I haven't had a chance to read through this entire thread, but have you looked at the Russound CAV6.6 system?

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by ccapozzoli
The Soundstream system had been disconcontinued. I thought that might be the case. It's a couple of steps more than I wanted, but what I think I might be able to do is to use the airpanel with Nevo to help turn on the room I am in then I will switch to remote desktop and control the server with all the other software we have talked about.


Petro do you have this system which consists of local amps in the rooms with keypads and IR sensors. The main unit sits next to your a/v equipment so you can you them as sources, LD, DVD, FM, CD, etc. once you tun on the room, than you can control the source via IR. play, stop, channel change etc.

Thanks.

ifyou give us a link we may be able to help more... I find it hard to believe that whole-house audio system can only be turned on at each zone. Most of them have better integration capabilities than that...

Pablo

[ccapozzoli]

I agree Pablo. It should work better, but 10 years ago and not that much $$ to spend on it, this is what I have. I can't give you a link because there is NOTHING on the Internet that shows the system. Can you believe it!

This system is no longer! Gone see ya vamoose.

I was actually looking into the ELan VIA! system however it looks like today everything needs CAT5 and I was never ran when I build the house.

I will look into the Russound system. Maybe it can be reconfigured a little easier.

However the way the system was originally designed like this. The amp and the speaks are local to the room or Zone and then the control wiring goes back to the SN1 controller where there the source is choosen and it then plays in that zone.

If there is a system that can utilize that same design then I will switch in a heartbeat.

[mcascio]

ccapolzzoli,

Take a read through the Cinemar Russound thread:
http://www.caseserve.com/cinemar/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2390&start=0

It is very flexible and controllable from MainLobby.

You'll have IR pass through at each keypad. You can even assign commands to the actually buttons on the keypad. Such as triggering lights, complete lighting scenes, even adjust the thermostat if you want.

I'm pushing callerID to each keypad as well as it notifies me when someone is at the door. The system also announces callerID over specified zones.

Keypads require only cat5.

[ccapozzoli]

Originally posted by mcascio
ccapolzzoli,

Take a read through the Cinemar Russound thread:
http://www.caseserve.com/cinemar/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2390&start=0

It is very flexible and controllable from MainLobby.

You'll have IR pass through at each keypad. You can even assign commands to the actually buttons on the keypad. Such as triggering lights, complete lighting scenes, even adjust the thermostat if you want.

I'm pushing callerID to each keypad as well as it notifies me when someone is at the door. The system also announces callerID over specified zones.

Keypads require only cat5.

Mario,

I have an HAI Onmi system and a panasonic phone system currently. I would love to tie them all together and do what you are talking about and more.

The only problem I see, because I just looked at the installation of the system is that everything, including the speakers needs to be home run to the main controller. It is close to impossible to do that for me. If ther is a way I can bring a line level output from the Russound to where the amps are now, then that could work, except how do you control the turn on/off of the amps.

Make any sense?

[CJO]

If you have a two story house with an attic and crawl space, you should be able to run CAT5 cable yourself without too much hassle.

CJ

[ccapozzoli]

I agree. I can run the CAT5 fine. As a matter of fact, when I built my house, I ran two two inch PVC pipes that tie the attic and basement together. I have already used it for additional HDTV wiring.

THe major problem is trying to get the in ceiling speak wires that are in the house now and bring them to where the main controller will be placed. Currently theyt are wires to an area int eh room where my soundstream amp is located. They are not homerun

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by ccapozzoli
I agree Pablo. It should work better, but 10 years ago and not that much $$ to spend on it, this is what I have. I can't give you a link because there is NOTHING on the Internet that shows the system. Can you believe it!

This system is no longer! Gone see ya vamoose.

I was actually looking into the ELan VIA! system however it looks like today everything needs CAT5 and I was never ran when I build the house.

I will look into the Russound system. Maybe it can be reconfigured a little easier.

However the way the system was originally designed like this. The amp and the speaks are local to the room or Zone and then the control wiring goes back to the SN1 controller where there the source is choosen and it then plays in that zone.

If there is a system that can utilize that same design then I will switch in a heartbeat.

Look at Netstreams and Control4. They both can use the type of configuration you have. Also look at Zon by Oxmoor... Hope this helps. I think A-bus can use it too.

Pablo

[tom derby]

I'm looking to do the same kind of setup as some of you mentioned. Would i be correct in assuming that with the airpanel and a home theater PC that connects to my reciever and mainlobby, that would be all i need? Basically want to use the airpanel as a remote to control everything

[Al Sherwood]

Originally posted by tom derby
I'm looking to do the same kind of setup as some of you mentioned. Would i be correct in assuming that with the airpanel and a home theater PC that connects to my reciever and mainlobby, that would be all i need? Basically want to use the airpanel as a remote to control everything

Tom, this is exactly my goal and the airpanel is on the was as we speak, however....

Your statement uses the words "basically" and "all";)

There is a number of hooks and peices that will be required to make this all come together, suffice to say that you will have to be up for the challange!

[Les Auber]

I'm not entirely sure I'm getting how your music server works. If I understand correctly it is IR controllable and will handle distribution to the individual rooms from the music server when switched.

If this is true a PC set up in the same location as the music server could control everything with an IR blaster. USB-UIRT works. You could put the wireless access point there also for easy wire routing. Given that a control system called CQC (www.charmedquark.com) can be set up to control it from an airpanel. If your music server can't control all your rooms from the server end CQC can still get you there but you'll have to run cables just like the Via Elan.

One thing to remember is airpanel connects through RDP which locks out console access on the PC. WinXP Pro will do fine as long as you don't want video out from the PC while connected to the airpanel. If you need both you'll have to look at something like thinsoft winxpconnect to run multiple terminal sessions.

I'm getting to the point where I'll be using CQC to run a system more like Tom Derby is describing. Pre/pro, projector, DVD player etc. The PC is primarily a controller with side duties as a HDTV tuner/recorder. Still have to spring for thinsoft, $$$, so I can do both at once. The main parts are controlled via serial cables which is far more robust then IR.

[bpape]

It's not another PC in addition to the music server, it is just a remote display FOR the music server. The music server also runs the 'jukebox' software. I'm not using it for distribution purposes. I just want a single panel that will let me control the jukebox AND act as my universal remote for the theater. I just need it to be able to blast IR back out of the PC as a passthrough to a second 'eye' to the terminal block on the IR repeater and out to my lights and AV components.

Others in this thread are trying to do various other things with it. My initial requirements are pretty simple. No distribution (already have an RGBHV/SPDIF switcher), no HTPC (run an external scaler), no DVD player... you get the point.

[Les Auber]

bpape,
I'm not sure I do get your point. Which is the remote display for your music server, the airpanel or a PC? In anycase if you have a PC where you can get a usb cable out to your terminal block you can do this. USB-UIRT is a IR receiver/blaster that will work with CQC. There are others also. I use the UIRT so can say it works as advertised. CQC is easy to set up for IR control and has the benefit of being able to do anything you'd want in the future.

If you're planning on an airpanel the only concern would be that your music server display would run over RDP. It doesn't support video etc AFAIK. Regular text and graphics are ok fine.

Hope this helps and sorry if I'm being extra dense tonight.

[bpape]

I don't need something as advanced as CQC. The remote display would be the airpanel - acting as a remote touchscreen monitor for the music server.

[tom derby]

OK, then let me clarify what I want. I currently use a home theater pc as my dvd player and I use it to play MP3s and internet radio. It is used in a home theater with a projector. I would like to use the airpanel as a remote control for everything (reciever, cd, etc.) I thought i may be able to have a vga splitter so I can have the same thing on the airpanel as on the projecter. When I just want to listen to music, either mp3 or internet radio from my cpu, i wouldn't have to bother turning the projector on, i could just use the airpanel. I understand that I would need a usb to ir from my cpu and mainlobby, music lobby, dvd lobby. I don't mind the set up time as long as it would be fairly simple to set up. I spent a lot of time customizing my pronto tsu remote and I don't mind doing stuff like that but what else would I have to do or what else do i need. My home theater cpu run windows xp home edition.

[Al Sherwood]

Tom, I use my HTPC to watch DVD's and play MP3's, haven't set up any internet radio yet, and if you have some tips on this maybe you pass them along.

I am running XP Pro on my HTPC (you'll need this for the airpanel), it too is connected to my projector via a DVI cable, the second output from the video card (VGA) in the HTPC currently goes to a 17" monitor.

I running an ATI 9000Pro, this card allows you to run both displays at the same time, or as you suggested you can leave the projector off and just use the VGA display, this way is the cleanest way to go IMHO, it is also way cool to drag something from the VGA (crt) display right onto the projector live and seamlessly!

Of course when I receive the airpanel I will be replacing the 17" CRT display with it and operating the HTPC from it.

[bpape]

Except that unless you hack XP, when you connect the airpanel via RDP, it disables the local PC display (your video card - BOTH outputs). It's panel OR PC monitor, not both simultaneously as I understand it.

[Les Auber]

bpape is correct as far as he went. The only other option I know of to have more then one session, either airpanel or console, it with a software package by thinsoft called winconnect xp. It's rather pricey at $300.

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by tom derby
OK, then let me clarify what I want. I currently use a home theater pc as my dvd player and I use it to play MP3s and internet radio. It is used in a home theater with a projector. I would like to use the airpanel as a remote control for everything (reciever, cd, etc.) I thought i may be able to have a vga splitter so I can have the same thing on the airpanel as on the projecter. When I just want to listen to music, either mp3 or internet radio from my cpu, i wouldn't have to bother turning the projector on, i could just use the airpanel. I understand that I would need a usb to ir from my cpu and mainlobby, music lobby, dvd lobby. I don't mind the set up time as long as it would be fairly simple to set up. I spent a lot of time customizing my pronto tsu remote and I don't mind doing stuff like that but what else would I have to do or what else do i need. My home theater cpu run windows xp home edition.

OK, only the 15" airpanel has a vga input and when you connect it to the computer, the airpanel acts as a second monitor if you have a video card with 2 monitor capabilities. Otherwise you need a splitter like you said.

When you undock the airpanel, it connects wirelessly and as everyone said, unless you hack xp or use windows 2003 server or the thinsoft software, your main monitor goes back to the signon screen while you use the projector. With either of the three solutions outlined above, you need remote control software to make sure one session can control the other, specially with dvd playback software as you want your main screen to show the dvd overlay and the airpanel session to be the remote control.

Hope this helps

Pablo

[Al Sherwood]

Well, I have a 15" airpanel now with another on the way, I have been researching the problems associated with using one of these on my HTPC to control the software running there and still have the projector up and running with the DVD output visible on the PJ.

Well, there are 2 scenarios to consider, docked and undocked.

While docked there is no problem with the HTPC displays because the 15" is connected via the VGA pass through, it's just a monitor. The downside with this is the Nevo remote control appearently only functions when the airpanel is undocked, I will confirm this as soon as I have the Nevo software installed.

While undocked, you have the option to connect to the host PC or stay unconnected. When connected of course the PC's display (primary or secondary) reverts to a login screen which doesn't works well for your DVD viewing pleasure! :mad:

AFAIK if you were to start up the HTPC, get your DVD viewing software up and running in the PJ ( in my case with an ATI card, make the PJ the primary monitor), you can undock the airpanel and as long as you don't connect via RDC you won't affect the PJ/HTPC operations.

This may not appear as much of a solution, but for my setup, once the PowerDVD software is running I can control all of the software functions from the onscreen remote control viewable on the PJ image, and now with the airpanel undocked the Nevo software will function to control all of the other functions in the theatre such as lights and sound. :)

The last thing to consider if you really do need or want to work with the HTPC in the middle of all of this by connecting using the airpanel using RDC would be a minor adjustment (read: hack) of the XP Pro operating system. I have yet to try this but it has been reported to work and for those interested I can point you in the direction of the information that I found, but by running an older version of the termsrv.dll and modifying a registry entry to allow concurrent sessions, you can have up to 2 different sessions running on the HTPC at the same time, unfortunatly not in the same session, but 2 none the less.

FWIW, that's what I have come up with so far...

[sic0048]

Al, wouldn't your set up run better if you had a 1st generation tablet PC which could function as a stand alone unit? I say 1st generation tablet PC because these are the ones that have a touch screen that will work with just finger control (the newer tablet PCs are stylus only :(). If your Airpanels every crap out (or you could simply resell them on E-bay), I would look at replacing them with something like a NETA 980, Simpad SL4, or SonicBlue Progear. They can be purchased for the same or just slightly higher price than the Airpanels and would give you much greater freedom.

[Al Sherwood]

Originally posted by sic0048
Al, wouldn't your set up run better if you had a 1st generation tablet PC which could function as a stand alone unit? I say 1st generation tablet PC because these are the ones that have a touch screen that will work with just finger control (the newer tablet PCs are stylus only :(). If your Airpanels every crap out (or you could simply resell them on E-bay), I would look at replacing them with something like a NETA 980, Simpad SL4, or SonicBlue Progear. They can be purchased for the same or just slightly higher price than the Airpanels and would give you much greater freedom.

sic0048, Why didn't you say something before I hit enter on that last Ebay auction!!! ;)

I'll have to check out the units you mention above (if you have links, I'd like to see), the average price for a 10" or 15" airpanel from Ebay is $380 plus shipping. How do the units you mention compare?

As my lengthy post above points out, the airpanel is not the most complete solution, but it can be made to work, and either type, a Smart Display or Tablet PC causes the same grief when connecting in via RDC.

The advantage that I can see with a tablet PC is that it could use a process called shadowing to actually work within the same session that is running on the HTPC. I have seen however, where shadowing can cause a bit of a slowdown on the host PC if there is a great deal of data flowing back to the client in the form of screen updates.

The advantage with the airpanel smart display is the Nevo remote control software, which from all accounts that I have seen should combine all of the remotes that I currently have into one "super touch screen" remote. :D

So from I see, some pros, some cons. But as my stated interest has always been " I like to figure things out" please tell me more about the units you suggest, I am never too committed that I won't consider other options!

Al

[PabloReiter]

Al,

I think that you are missing the point on the Airpanel. While it can act as a second monitor while docked, the real power comes when it is undocked and you sign on on a separate session to the computer. You can make the airpanel session communicate with the desktop session for remote control capabilities sitting on the couch and not displaying messing with any remote control stuff on your main display. You can use software like NEVO if you have direct line of sight with your equipment or Mainlobby, CQC, Meedio etc and communicate back to the HTPC via 802.11.

BTW, what you have is much better than any progear or other outdated web tablets... dont give up yet.

hope this helps

Pablo

[Al Sherwood]

Pablo, I might have scared you with that last post, I am firmly commited to making the airpanels work within my Home Theatre - HTPC system. When I mentioned "other options" what I should have said was, undestanding of the other systems work might give me ideas how to better set-up and incorporate the airpanels.

As you mentioned, I also think that the coolest thing about the airpanel is the RDC aspect, I have a laptop with a wireless NIC, and the airpanel is better and way more portable!

I was however hoping at the beginning that the airpanel could connect to the existing session on the HTPC and still act as the remote control. I understand more about the product now and how I need to change my plan slightly. I'm not too sure what you meant when you said this: You can make the airpanel session communicate with the desktop session for remote control capabilities sitting on the couch and not displaying messing with any remote control stuff on your main display.

I am actually going to take some time tomorrow and re-read this entire thread, you know, see what I may have missed! ;)

Thanks again for your input!

[PabloReiter]

Al,

glad to hear that you like the airpanel...

When you have the abilitiy to have multiple sessions running with the hack or any of the other means mentioned, you basically have a client/server system. It all runs on one machine (client and server), but it is a client/server system. If you consider that you have your server waiting to be told to do something (start windvd, play movie, change volume) on your main monitor session and the other session (client) from the airpanel is telling the server what to do. The simplest way of doing it (ok, may be not so simple :-) ) is to have girder running on the server session, and the remote girder client running on the client session. Girder client can tell girder server the commands to execute. CQC and Mainlobby dont rely on girder to do this as they have their own client/server schemes, but the concept is the same, a session (client) tells another session (server) what commands to execute. You can have 2-way interaction where the server tells the client the status of your equipment or chapter of the movie it is playing. girder uses tcp/ip under the covers as CQC and mainlobby I believe.

Like you said, the fun is just starting...

Pablo

[Les Auber]

I can't say much about MainLobby as it seemed mostly a front end for a HTPC with some automation getting added in. I can say that CQC will function happily in this environment with an airpanel connecting to a multi-user session of XPPro or from a separate computer networked in the system. It was designed from the ground up this way with the front end GUI stuff being added to a backend cabable of running your house.

Currently the HTPC app control drivers are a little scarse but growing. I think most of the popular stuff is there. Theatertek is and I think WinDVD. There are others that I don't recall and more coming.

The attraction for me was slapping a serial card in my machine and controlling my existing theater hardware. PrePro, DVD player, projector amps etc. Also the front end is very flexible so you can create about anything you want.

I run this with airpanel or from either of the 2 pc's in my network. Your wireless laptop would work fine to and without disturbing the output of your HTPC.

One other option for getting multi-user sessions going is thinsoft winconnect XP though it is pricey. Something to keep in mind since I won't be surprised if MS renders the XP Pro "mod" useless some time in the future.

Glad you like the airpanel. I like the instant on, dead quiet and portable parts a lot. Most tablets are heavier, noisier and have active touchscreens requiring a stylus. I find the win ce OS a little squirrely though. Seems more like a late beta then a finished product. Looks like viewsonic is still developing product but of course the OS image for the v210 won't work for the v110 :(

[ronaldvr]

With all the enthousiastic messages about the ViewSonic Airpanels I bought a V150 myself. I however am struggling to get the Airpanel to login on the Windows XP professional computer. I followed the very short instructions which were supplied with the Airpanel. It seems that the Airpanel is working (I can see the wireless network and connect to it) and I can also add users via the supplied USB cable but if I want to test the connection (part of the software installation via the PC) this test fails. Installing it manual on the PC and AirPanel doesn't help either. I tried with a WEP key (not 802.1x) and without a wepkey.
The Windows XP computer has service pack 2 on it and is running the Dutch XP version. The Airpanel is running an English version.

Any help is much appreciated.

Regards,

Ronald

[semi_expert]

Ronaldvr,

I also recently bought a 15" airpanel. I installed the Airpanel users manually. Have a user set up on the XPPro host, then set that user up on the Airpanel. You need to set your wireless SSID on the Airpanel user....one thing that I discovered is that my WAP has to be broadcasting the SSID. I could not get it to connect without broadcasting the SSID (I really would prefer not broadcasting it)

Also I had to enable the RDP capability in XP Pro (under networking properties as I recall)

Fred

[Al Sherwood]

Ronald, the process that Fred describes should work, you must do all of the processes, and make all of the physical connections as layed out in the quickstart guide.

Now assuming that you have done this, you have a few other things to check:

1) RDC enabled
2) port 3389 open for TCP
3) The XP firewall set to allow remote connections

Also as Fred mentioned, you do need a WEP key enabled, installed and matching on both the XP Pro PC and the airpanel. The SSID must match as well.

If these settings don't allow you to connect, definitely run the "Connection Trouble shooter" that should now be in the start menu if you followed all of the installation instructions. It will check the 3 areas where problems can arise. If it fails, there will be a log file link in blue near the bottom of the page which contains important clues to any problems. Cut an past it here and we can take this a little further.

Fred, what bothers you about broadcasting a SSID?

[semi_expert]

From a security stand point not broadcasting the SSID is "Safer" than broadcasting it. If your clients know the SSID you usually can avoid broadcasting. I was not able to get the Airpanel to work without broadcating the SSID. Also WEP key is not required for the Airpanel to work, but most feel safer with WEP.

Fred

[memnoch2]

i have the Viewsonic Airpanel V150 and i would just like to ask the users here if this wireless monitor loses its charge even if it is off? if so, how long? this is rather inconvenient because you have to remember to dock the panel when not in use. i believe this is not the case and my battery must be broken. moreover, the battery meter shows a full bar but says 0%.
on a useability perspective, how do you guys deal with the mandatory log-on? it's also inconvenient to log on every time you turn on the panel, especially since there is no built-in keyboard.

[Les Auber]

I think it will slowly discharge even if off. Not sure that it actually turns off fully. I've noticed the charging light start flashing occasionally even when docked.

If you don't like logging on look under "edit" in the log on name box. You should have option of either logging on automatically when turned on or have the password automatically entered.

[PabloReiter]

i had a problem with one of my airpanels that would not charge and always showed 0%. It was not the battery as swapping it out made no difference. They ended up replacing the unit. It would not charge the battery at all. The unit undocked and turned off should hold a charge for a while, even a few days at least...

[memnoch2]

Originally posted by PabloReiter
The unit undocked and turned off should hold a charge for a while, even a few days at least...
I thought it was supposed to be this way. i mean, laptops do not lose charge even if they're not plugged in. Looks like I may have a defective unit or battery... when off, does the unit's wireless features still work, potentially draining some of the battery?
Pablo, my unit shows 0% but the bar is full. also, i can use the monitor 2-3 hours straight. so this means that the battery is charged... did Viewsonic replace your unit or was it the store you bought it from? thanks.

[sic0048]

Just a copy of updates. First, I think a lot of people run Netremote as a front end for these touchscreens. NR is made by the same people that bring you girder and it can be fully integrated with girder to provide complete control. Check it out at http://www.promixis.com/

I also found out in my research that the Neta 980 and Simpad SL4 run CE.net which means they are more like giant Pocket PCs (ie no harddrive). You can use Netremote still, but in the PCC form rather than the full PC form. I'd love to hear peoples results with the Airpanels. I'm still waiting for WAC before making any purchases (I might be waiting a while too :().

[PabloReiter]

The airpanel is also running win ce and it can be hacked to run anything that is ce compatible, including netremote.

The store where I bought it from replaced it... I really dont know what is wrong with yours, but something is not right for sure...

Pabl0o

[sic0048]

Pablo - have you been sucessful in hacking the CE to run normally rather than a remote desktop? I have seen several hacks on the internet, but from what I've read, none are truely sucessful because there is not a full version of CE running on the airpanel. You can hack it to prevent it from automatically running as a remote desktop, but since there isn'a a full version of CE, it really doesn't work as a stand alone computer.

If you've figured out what parts are missing and have been able to load them on, I'd love to hear about it. If so, you are the first person that I have heard about having compete sucess in running an Airpanel as a full standalone unit.

[Mr Joshua]

Are all the Airpanels (100, 110, 150, 210, etc.) fingertouch driven? Using a stylus to change the channel or adjust the volume is a non-starter for me.

Thanks to all for the great thread.

Kent

[Les Auber]

The v110 is finger touch for sure. The others are spec'd as also having a resistive touch screen so should also work with a finger touch.

Most of viewsonic's tablet's use an active screen. Stylus required.

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by sic0048
Pablo - have you been sucessful in hacking the CE to run normally rather than a remote desktop? I have seen several hacks on the internet, but from what I've read, none are truely sucessful because there is not a full version of CE running on the airpanel. You can hack it to prevent it from automatically running as a remote desktop, but since there isn'a a full version of CE, it really doesn't work as a stand alone computer.

If you've figured out what parts are missing and have been able to load them on, I'd love to hear about it. If so, you are the first person that I have heard about having compete sucess in running an Airpanel as a full standalone unit.

I have seen the same hacks, and you are right, the CE image is limited. I have not tried it myself. I tried updating to a v210 image of full ce.net, but it did not work at all. I think the v210 is the right animal for a superpda machine...

Pablo

[Les Auber]

FWIW, viewsonic states that the v110 can't be updated to the v210. I asked them for the same reason. Sure seemed like the v210 might be the right beast for the job. Of course viewsonic would not say why it couldn't be upgraded. Spec wise the v110 and v210 looked identical, processor, memory etc even the same old wifi standard.

Nice to know that it didn't work. I was thinking of trying the v210 image.

[Al Sherwood]

Originally posted by Mr Joshua
Are all the Airpanels (100, 110, 150, 210, etc.) fingertouch driven? Using a stylus to change the channel or adjust the volume is a non-starter for me.

Thanks to all for the great thread.

Kent

The V150 is touch as well. I have used the "big" keyboard many times, the only thing that I don't like is all of the "finger prints" when not using the stylus.:(

My V110 should arrive shortly, then even more fun begins!

Just as an FYI, I found that the V110 was offered with the B2 bundle, you know the M-Plus software for home automation. I contacted the M-Plus guys, they only wanted $500 for the software!!!! I don't think so :eek:

Les, the V210 has more memory then the V110, 2 times as much actually, that's why the newer image will not fit.

[Les Auber]

Oh, must be a case of oldtimers. I'd remembered the same on both. At least it shows that Viewsonic gave it straight as opposed to just wanting to sell me a new one.

[arnolds]

Anybody have any suggestions on mounting the airpanel into the wall?

[Al Sherwood]

I too am looking at this option, if you come up with an idea please take a couple of pictures and post them.

I guess that Viewsonic decided that the airpanel was to hold not mount so they did not included the standard VESA mount.

I guess that one consideration (with the 15" size) is if you still want the VGA pass through to work?

[Al Sherwood]

Is anybody actually running Nevo on one of these?

Experiences and observations greatly appreciated!

[Les Auber]

Sorry Al. I've got the bits but have never pulled them from the box. I've never heard anything about Nevo beyond that.

[thragus]

OK, I think I'm going to get one these airpanels also. Is there any difference between v150 and v150p? I see both model numbers mentioned. Might get a v110 also if the price is right.

[semi_expert]

My understanding is that the P originally had a copy of XP Pro upgrade included in kit.

I think the units are identical.

Fred

[Al Sherwood]

thragus ,

Hmm, there is a bit of conjecture about these designations. I did see on the ViewSonic site that there was an offering of XP Pro... a $199 value, but beyond that the only thing that I could confirm was that the disc included only contained SP1 for XP Pro.

The other suggestion was that the "P" suffix meant that only the panel was included, where as the no suffix model included the docking station. What is for sure, the airpanel itself either "P" or not is identical for both model designations.

At any rate, the most prolific location to find these panels available from is eBay and with that source the caveat is to read the auction closely. Most of the airpanels for sale are 15"(V150) with the occasional 10"(V110).

For both sizes be sure that the unit is new and that includes the parts you are looking for. I have even seen auctions of late that include an extra battery. This may not sound like much, but check out the price at Viewsonic online store to see what a lowly battery is worth :eek: Given this it might be an idea to buy an extra battery while you can.

The other thing is there are a few major differences between the 10" and 15" airpanels which may determine your choice:

version: V150 , V110
use as wired Y , N
monitor:
resolution: 1024x768, 800x600
touch screen
while docked: N, Y

Other then that, both are touch screens when operating in a wireless mode, both can connect to the host XP Pro PC via RDC and have only a 16 bit colour depth.

I'm getting to know these cool displays quite well, if you have a question I may be able to answer it for you

[PabloReiter]

One comes with just the panel and the other with an upgrade copy of xp pro and a usb 802.11b wireless adapter for the host PC. In theory, all you would need to make this puppy work. dont know which is which though...

Pablo

[thragus]

Thanks for the info you guys. There does seem to be a deluge of them on eBay right now. I found a cheap online place for an extra battery, docking station and the unit itself, if I decide not to go eBay. I always think it's a good idea to get an extra battery for any type of portable device. I already have XP Pro, and actually am thinking of getting XP Media Center 2005 OEM.

[PabloReiter]

you need xp pro for RDP to work. I am not sure about MCE but for sure xp home will not work...

[CJO]

MCE should work- it's based on XP Pro.

CJ

[ellisr63]

Originally posted by Al Sherwood
Is anybody actually running Nevo on one of these?

Experiences and observations greatly appreciated!

I got my Nevo package for the price of shipping from Viewsonic. I hope to get it setup in the next month (I am moving to my new house). I will post how it works when I get it setup.
Ron

[ronaldvr]

This post is maybe a little bit out of place but since this thread made me decide to buy ViewSonic AirPanels I hereby also post a question I have on my first and for a short period only AirPanel. With some efforts I managed to get my AirPanel working at two locations (thanks to the tips of Al Sherwood). Now that I finally have a Windows XP pro computer configured I want to use the AirPanel at home with my wireless network. I am using two D-link DWL-900+ access-points. I am not able to connect the AirPanel via my wireless network to the Windows XP pro computer. In less then 2 seconds when I press the button do a repair in the wireless network setting the AirPanel says that the network is not valid. The gateway of a previous installation however is not removed ans still visible (in fact I have removed everything from previous connections but I am not able to clear the gateway). Before I spend again a lot of time on it I want to:

1. Check the firmware I have. I have 1.0.0056.11 on the AirPanel is that a good version if not where can I find a newer/better firmware version?;
2. Do a hard reset. In the manual it is stated that when you detach the battery or AC power when the AirPanel is on it will do a hard reset but that is not working with my AirPanel. It still shows a user after I unplugged the battery while it was on. Does anyone know how to perform a hard reset so that it will start up with factory defaults again (and you in first instance have t realign the screen).

I hope someone can help me out as I don't think it has something to do with my wireless network.

Thanks and regards,

Ronald

[Les Auber]

This is the kind of behavior that makes me think viewsonic should have sold these as betas. I don't know for sure exactly what issue you're having. Is your wap set to allow the mac address of your v115? Is the v115 set with the right wep keys etc? Are you transmitting the SSID?

I've had my v110 just lose the network on occassion which repair does not help. One or more resets using the button on top so far has worked. I've never done a hard reset so don't know anything more then was in the manual.

[ronaldvr]

Yeah the access-points accept all MAC addresses and also the wepkey is defined. So that should not be the problem.

Ronald

[cmcjo]

Did you allow remote connections from the desktop?
You might also try to turn off the firewall and Turn off WEP or whatever wireless security you are using until you can troubleshoot the problem.

[PabloReiter]

I agree with Joe, turn off WEP and start one step at a time. Taking the battery out will do a hard reboot, but not a reset. You may have to plug it into the PC via USB to do a reinstall. I dont think there is any other way...

Good luck

Pablo

[Al Sherwood]

The firmware that is in the panel when it comes from ViewSonic is know to work, there is a later version available that AKAIK only adds the Nevo remote Control software to the base firmware image. This version is available from the ViewSonic site or on a CDROM that comes with the Nevo PCMCIA IR card. (Version 1.12.0057.38). This is the version that I run, but I did not have any problem using the panel on the previous version.

Ronald, have you tried the Microsoft Connection Trouble shooter, this utility can point out most problems that would prevent proper smart display connections to the XP Pro host. If you haven't tried this while the panel is in the dock with a USB cable connected, try it and let us know what the tests find. If it fails on the network portion, cut and paste the 'log' portion so I can see what it complains about.

The setup guide directs you to use a WEP key, in my experiance it is not possible to assure proper connection of the airpanel to the host without this in place and matching (host<=>airpanel). As Les also pointed out the SSID must be entered and transmitted, agin matching settings in the host and airpanel.

If I can think of more I will post it, let us know how this goes.

[Les Auber]

One other thought also. Check and see if you have the latest firmware for your access point. I've seen improvements with the upgrade.

[ronaldvr]

Thanks Joe, Pablo, Al and Les for your help. That is much appreciated!

I tried the following things in the meantime:
1. I checked the firewall settings (allowed remote desktop and also disable the firewall completely);
2. I changed the WEP key and also completely disabled the WEP key (for your information I am able to connect a Dell laptop, a D-link network camera and An Ipaq to the wireless LAN with the WEP key enabled);
3. I downloaded new firmware and installed it however this version seams to be the same version which I had. Do you have the address where I can download the newer firmware version Al? One remark as to this point when installing the downloaded firmware the AirPanel did a hard reset and that is what I was hoping that would help me but that is not. The wireless network settings and users were completely blank but the problem remains the same (invalid network in the section where you can repair your wireless network settings);
4. I have tried the Microsoft Connection troubleshooter but that program is not running I get an error message which is (translated from Dutch): page cannot be displayed;
5. I checked the firmware on my two D-link DWL-900AP+ (firmware version 1) access points and they have both the latest firmware (version 2.61) .

The wireless settings of the network also seems to be OK (SSID broadcast is on and the wepkey is shared).
I don't think at this moment that my connection problems are connection problems between the PC and the AirPanel. The problem is more to get the AirPanel to use my wireless network. After the hardreset I had no users and connections and even without users (and the connection to the PC therefore) I was not able to connect my AirPanel to the Wireless network.

Do you maybe have things which I need to check in the wireless network? I don't have 802.1x protection and the speed of the accesspoints is limited to 11Mbs (the D-link equipement in the + range is capable of 22Mbs). I am using two access points but I think Pablo is even using more access points so that should also not be a problem I think.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions,

Ronald

[PabloReiter]

do you have DHCP enabled?

I have 2 access points, 1 Dlink and one Linksys with no problems. Do you even see the network when you boot up the airpanel? Does it say getting network address?

what errors are you getting?

why do you have to repair network?

Pablo

[ronaldvr]

Pablo,

I have DHCP enabled and I do see the wireless network. When I try to connect (I do that with the repair option but that is probably not necessary to do it that way) I get first the message trying to get network address and then it says network unavailable. When I watch in the screen where you can do a network repair the text network is invalid is mentioned.

Do you also have a DWL-900AP+? I tested my AirPanel with a friend and he has a D-link 624+ wireless router and that worked. So the brand D-link should be ok but I am thinking that maybe it has something to do with the type of access points I am using.

Ronald

[Les Auber]

Ronald,
My airpanel will do exactly that on occasion and I have a working system. It can be running along ok fine in the dock so it's not been moved to a location with poor signal. It will lose the connection then say trying to get network address and then network unavailable even though the signal is very good and the network is seen in the setup page. I will also sometimes get this on power up. So far a few soft resets has made the network available again with no other changes. I've also had it lose the network setup after a reset and rediscover it after the next. Real PITA. I do wonder if they fixed this on the v210. No idea if this will help or not. It's exasperating, I've been there.

Al,
I haven't seen any new images on the viewsonic site for some time. What you list is newer then the latest I found.

[PeterM1]

The timing of this thread is interesting, I just posted my findinds on Airpanel disconnects over at the cinemar forum.

http://www.caseserve.com/cinemar/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3820

I have 3 V110s, the disconnects started shortly after I integrated my 2nd and 3rd Airpanels in my wireless network. I keep a ping log for all airpanels every 1 min (via cron) so I have uptime/downtime details for the past month or so. No DHCP here, all static IPs. The V110s will disconnect from the network even while sitting next to an Access Point, but always after being inactive (unused) for a while. V110s are unpingable at that point and will not reconnect easily to the wireless net either. (1 or more resets required, repair does not work).

Partial paste from my latest findings:

1 Airpanel: No disconnect issues whatsoever with any AP (Linkys WAP11, Linksys WRT54, Netgear WGR614). I'm convinced that Viewsonic didn't plan for multiple V110s running simultaneously.

2 Airpanels: Inactive V110s disconnect within 1-2 days on the WAP11, 3-4 days on the Netgear. WRT54 is now out of range, can't test). Active V110 (as in frequent MusicLobby use), does not disconnect.

I'm testing with a Cisco 350 AP at the moment but it's too early to post results.

[PabloReiter]

I too get an ocassional disconnect, but I attributed to the usual 802.11 interference. Once in a blue moon I have to take the battery out. Not often though, may be once every two weeks on a single v110. I have 3 airpanels v110 and 2 AP's. I can go for a week or so without a hitch often..

Pablo

[PabloReiter]

something interesting is that I got rid of all 2.4ghz phones in the house and replaced with 5.8's. Big difference!

[ronaldvr]

It looks like a small miracle happened. Yesterday evening when I came home and the AirPanel was on AC/DC power all day it gave a network signal after when I was able to log in on the computer.

But now I entered into another hitch which I don't understand. I was using the AirPanel for a few hours and was lately looking at photo's with ACDsee 7 software and switched of the AirPanel. When I tried to reconnect it gave an error message(This client could not connect to the remote computer). Looking with VNC on the computer (it is with my audio equipment without keyboard and monitor) showed that the computer was quite busy so I gave it a hard restart and even after this hard restart I am not able to reconnect. I gave the AirPanel and the computer a few reboots but no luck so far. I didn't change settings either. I am going to work and hope this night another miracle has happened
;)

[PabloReiter]

since i learned about the 'repair' function in this thread, I dont have to take the battery out. Last nite I could not connect, I hit repair and voila, it came back without a hitch...

Pablo

[ronaldvr]

Good to hear that you I could help you also a little bit Pablo.
One question for you as a regular user of the AirPanels: I have ordered a couple of more AirPanel V150P's (I ordered 4 AirPanels for myself in total to use at three different locations). Do you think I am going to like the use of them? Until now I had quite some issues with my first AirPanel and I am a little bit nervous on the fact I the use is reliable enough to use them. I don't want to need to check my PC as that has no Keboard and monitor (I am waiting on a docking station as well) so I cannot ease check that PC.
What started my interest is the ability to use the AirPanel as remote for controlling an HTPC. I know the issue about the client - server need to be able to get video out of an HTPC when using a RDP client like the AirPanel so that will be my next step to get the software, a new HTPC computer and the right software. The first step however was buying the AirPanels.

Ronald

[PabloReiter]

I absolutely love them! Had 3 tabletPC's and 3 progears before them and there is no comparison. A quick 'repair' every couple of weeks is not bad at all. They are light (v110), cool to the touch, instant on, touchscreen, on screen keyboard etc...

I use the thinsoft software and it works without a glitch too. Weeks on end on the server side without any reboot.

BTW, thanks for the 'repair' tip!!!

Pablo

[Al Sherwood]

Sheesh, I been away for awhile and it looks like you guys are having all of the fun!

I though I was a little differnt for having more then one of these airpanels, looks like I have a long way to go to catch up to Ronald. I only weigh in at two V150's and one V110!

Curious where you guys buy all of these, care to share the details?

PM me if possible, Thanks!

[Al Sherwood]

I noticed something different about the V110 versus the V150...

The V110 connects to the network at 11mbps where as the V150's both only connect in at 2 mbps.

Could you guys compare what you see at "settings/system info" @ network speed ?

I'm trying to determine why they are different and whether this connection speed can be changed?

Thanks!

[Les Auber]

Al,
Maybe someone else will remember the whole thing. I remember reading that the 2 mbps connection reading was quirk of the OS. If I'm remembering correctly the statement also was that it was really running at 11 mbps but would just latch onto whatever rate it first connected at for display. My 110 used to do it all the time until I flashed it with the latest image available. In those cases using repair would make it read 11 mbps again.

Pablo,
I'm glad repair works for you. Most of the time for me once it loses the connection even though it still displays it a reset or two is needed. Repair usually doesn't get it. Seems to happen every couple of weeks or so.

Good to hear that thinsoft is so stable. It seemed that it was on the trial period. Shame that it's so $$$$. With only one v110 I'm still limping along but it's on the shopping list. Only complaint I'd have is it left pieces of itself behind and running when I uninstalled it. Took Ghost to completely remove.


Does anyone know if these OS quirks were corrected in the latest v210? I've not read of anyone using one.

[Al Sherwood]

Hi Les, I hope your right as I would hate to think that it is only connected at 2 mbps!

BTW, I have already upgraded both V150's to the latest firmware level (1.12.0057.38)

Is there any way to confirm the actual transfer rate?

Thanks

[PeterM1]

Combination of eBay and stores that occasionally offer refurbished ones for sale.

[PeterM1]

Les,
same here. Repair doesn't recover the panels, need a reset to get them back online.

What's amazing is, when the disconnect happens, the panel displays "good signal" and yet, has no connectivity to the AP whatsoever:

For example:

USB detected.
Check users RDP permission: PASSED
Number of wireless network(s) detected by your Smart Display: 2
Smart Display current SSID: t3
No local wireless network.
Smart Display WEP status: 0
Host IP,Subnet: 192.168.1.3
Smart Display pings host by using IP address: failed
Smart Display IP: 192.168.1.57 SubNetMask: 255.255.255.0
Host PC pings Smart Display: failed

[Les Auber]

Al,
Unless you notice a difference in actual use I'm not sure it's worth worring about. Some WAPs will display the speed of the connected device I think. Beyond that I'm not sure. There is likely a way. I just don't know it.

Peter,
I guess misery loves company :). Mine will insist that the network has a good connection and signal but that it can't connect to the host. So far all repair has done most times is set the IPs to 0.0.0.0. I haven't gone to the extent you have in checking but so far reset has worked. Sometimes takes a couple tries. Real frustrating. Still sorry MS pulled the plug. The thing is perfect for this kind of use.

[Al Sherwood]

I tried the Repair function from the dashboard, the network speed now read 11 mbps, thanks!

I think that it is mostly physcological, "it seems faster" :D

I bought the first V150 from Tiger Direct, and the next 2 units from eBay. With the V110, the seller claims it was new but from what I can tell it is definitly a 'repack'... the panelworks great but there is the issue of a "B" melted into the panel next to the serial number tag!

Another seller on eBay has 2 NEW V110's for sale right now.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6740669412&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr4_PcN__Stores

opps, down to one now!

[PeterM1]

Here you go, syslog from a Cisco AP on the disconnect of a V110.

Wireless wizards out there (or at least someone that can open a ticket with Cisco?), can you decipher this? What is BSS? It may help us figure out the disconnect issue:


2 Feb 2 16:18:29.441 UTC Information Interface Dot11Radio0, Deauthenticating Station 0002.dd33.9b70 Reason: Previous authentication no longer valid
3 Feb 2 15:31:03.164 UTC Information Interface Dot11Radio0, Deauthenticating Station 0002.dd33.9b70 Reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS
4 Feb 2 15:31:00.632 UTC Information Interface Dot11Radio0, Station 0002.dd33.9b70 Associated KEY_MGMT[NONE]

[Les Auber]

Does the V115 touchpanel work when docked without being connected to the wireless network? IE when docked and working as a wired monitor?

Sorry Peter not a clue. Then again I'm no wireless wizard even though some of it sometimes seems like magic. :D

[Al Sherwood]

Originally posted by Les Auber
Does the V115 touchpanel work when docked without being connected to the wireless network? IE when docked and working as a wired monitor?

Sorry Peter not a clue. Then again I'm no wireless wizard even though some of it sometimes seems like magic. :D

Les, if by your question you are referring to the touch-screen functionality?

While docked, the V150 is in monitor mode and the screen is not touch sensitive. BTW, this has nothing to do with the wireless network, it truely becomes like a regular LCD monitor. Docking the V150 disables the 'airpanel' functions.

However since the V110 is never a 'wired' monitor even when docked, it retains the touch-screen function at all times. This the primary reason I bought a V110 to go with the Nevo kit. :D

[Al Sherwood]

Originally posted by PeterM1
Here you go, syslog from a Cisco AP on the disconnect of a V110.

Wireless wizards out there (or at least someone that can open a ticket with Cisco?), can you decipher this? What is BSS? It may help us figure out the disconnect issue:


2 Feb 2 16:18:29.441 UTC Information Interface Dot11Radio0, Deauthenticating Station 0002.dd33.9b70 Reason: Previous authentication no longer valid
3 Feb 2 15:31:03.164 UTC Information Interface Dot11Radio0, Deauthenticating Station 0002.dd33.9b70 Reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS
4 Feb 2 15:31:00.632 UTC Information Interface Dot11Radio0, Station 0002.dd33.9b70 Associated KEY_MGMT[NONE]

Peter, looks like a 'time out' followed by an airpanel going into 'suspend' mode.

As for 'BSS' when I get back to work, I'll check

[Les Auber]

Thanks Al. I use my v110 in a similar fashion. It connects ok when docked so I get infinite battery life until I pick it up.

I was hoping that the v115 would act as a alternate to a wired touchscreen but I guess not. Would have been nice to have wired and wireless in one unit :(

[PeterM1]

Al,
thanks. Something interesting to note, is that the "BSS" deathentication happens within a second of the Airpanel connecting to the access point.

It seems to me more of a handshake failure that eventually leads to the Airpanel freezing while also getting good signal from the AP. In the example below, this happened less than an hour of the original connect!

[Al Sherwood]

Originally posted by Les Auber
Thanks Al. I use my v110 in a similar fashion. It connects ok when docked so I get infinite battery life until I pick it up.

I was hoping that the v115 would act as a alternate to a wired touchscreen but I guess not. Would have been nice to have wired and wireless in one unit :(

Les, You do, but just not at the same time!

There is a way to disable the wired connection of the V150, but I'm not really sure that is what you are looking for. Is it?

Sorry Peter, still haven't found the "official" definition of BSS..

[Les Auber]

Al,
Your right, not what I was looking for. Looks like used v115 is in the price range of a 15" wired LCD touchscreen. Would have been nice alternative in having the solid connection of wired plus wireless when desired. Especially when the airpanel just decides the network is unavailable. Usually about the time a phone rings and you want to mute the system. Looks like I'll still have to look to Planar or Elo.

[PabloReiter]

Originally posted by Les Auber
Al,
Your right, not what I was looking for. Looks like used v115 is in the price range of a 15" wired LCD touchscreen. Would have been nice alternative in having the solid connection of wired plus wireless when desired. Especially when the airpanel just decides the network is unavailable. Usually about the time a phone rings and you want to mute the system. Looks like I'll still have to look to Planar or Elo.

sounds like the phone is screwing up your network. Change to a 5mhz phone and you will not have that problem

Pablo

[Les Auber]

No doubt about it. It's on the list to change the phone. Thanks Pablo.

[72ScoutNGa]

I just had to let everyone know! I have several of the WiFi Ce.net based tablets at work that i purchased off ebay. Of course i took them home and used them to control my Gateway(in the basement) Destination to shoot S-video up to the living room(4:3 SD Tv). Well I'm happy to report that I now can use my phone to do the same through VNC viewer. I purchased a Siemens SX66 phone from cingular with built in WiFi and Bluetooth.

Anyone have any experience getting these Phone/PDA devices to connect over a VPN? I can't get it to work with my Nortel Contivity 600 but i've yet to try a Windows RAS/VPN yet!

Thanks

[Bluroof]

I have a question that goes back to some of the advise that was dispensed earlier in this thread - especially by pablo.

I am setting up a whole house audio system for my new home. The installer is recommending sonance (speakers and amps). I really like the solution that has been described earlier that uses the airpanels as remotes.

I understand how they interact with the "server" pc, and how they can chose music files - what I don't understand is how they control the various zones (on/off and volume). Do they somehow interface through the rs232? or IR? does anyone know if the sonance amps can be controlled this way? What is the device (software, rs232 cable, hardware?) that allows the computer to interface with the amp and controller/switcher?

Any advise is much appreciated - if the sonance amps are a bad choice any recommendations?

[PabloReiter]

I would go with Russound CAV. Go over to the cinemar website. Musiclobby has a plug in for the russound CAV. www.cinemaronline.com. If you go with the sonance system, you will need to program an rs-232 driver (not very complicated, very doable) in girder or/and Mainlobby plugin. Basically you use the PC (musiclobby) to queue songs to multiple outputs on a multiheaded PC soundcard. then via rs232 you tell the amplifier which zone is listening to which output and at what volume. You are using the russound or sonance as a matrix switcher and volume control only. The rest of the work is done on the PC. with the russound system, you can also install keypads where volume and matrix switching is done from the wall but the song selection is done from the PC with Musiclobby. In this case, you done need any rs232 connections from the Pc to the russound system. As an added feature if you do connect the rs232 port, musiclobby can display song and title on all keypads listening to a specific zone. Pretty cool...

Pablo

[Bluroof]

So, if I understand you correctly, if I am happy with letting the keypads set on/off and control volume - I don't need any rs232 connection - so I could use either Sonance or Russound.

But if I want the music choice displayed on the panels(nice feature), or if i want to control on/off and voulme from the airpanel (much preferred) - the russound will be easier to set up - as the software is set up to handle it automatically once I plug in the rs232.

If I want to save $, I could go with the Russound and no keypads, and just use the computer or the remotes to control things.

I assume that I could set up the russound to use either the keypad or the computer- whichever is convenient at the time?\

Thanks again for your help - if you wouldn't mind confirming that I get it now based on comments above that would be great.

[Bluroof]

Also - does anyone have any opinions on the philips proscribe "wireless thin client monitor" vs the airpanel? - says its built to be water resistant and to survive a 3 foot fall

[PabloReiter]

[QUOTE=Bluroof]So, if I understand you correctly, if I am happy with letting the keypads set on/off and control volume - I don't need any rs232 connection - so I could use either Sonance or Russound.

But if I want the music choice displayed on the panels(nice feature), or if i want to control on/off and voulme from the airpanel (much preferred) - the russound will be easier to set up - as the software is set up to handle it automatically once I plug in the rs232.

If I want to save $, I could go with the Russound and no keypads, and just use the computer or the remotes to control things.

I assume that I could set up the russound to use either the keypad or the computer- whichever is convenient at the time?\

Thanks again for your help - if you wouldn't mind confirming that I get it now based on comments above that would be great.[/QUOTE]

Absolutely correct as i understand it. I have an older audioaccess px600 controller, sonance amp and audioaccess keypads working in the exact configuration you are talking about with the airpanels and rs232. It took about 3 day of setup and some experimentation. I would head over to the cinemar forum and confirm all information for russound...

[sfbaypp]

Try Maxivista. It clones a monitor on another PC. I have used it (just a trial version), but not in touch panel (on a secondary monitor). Kinda slow though.

P

[fvoelling]

Bluroof,

Something else you may want to consider is the Sonos system (www.sonos.com). I was going to buy one of the more traditional systems with wall-mounted control panels etc, but it's a lot more convenient to have a hand-held remote. The wireless airpanels may give you that as well, but the elegance and simplicity of the Sonos is amazing, and the synchronization across different zones is great as well.

Good luck with your selection,
Frank

[CJO]

[QUOTE=PabloReiter]Absolutely correct as i understand it. I have an older audioaccess px600 controller, sonance amp and audioaccess keypads working in the exact configuration you are talking about with the airpanels and rs232. It took about 3 day of setup and some experimentation. I would head over to the cinemar forum and confirm all information for russound...[/QUOTE]

How did you configure the PX600 without the programmer (or do you have an AudioAccess programmer)?

Thanks,
CJ

[PabloReiter]

My px600 was all set up as a factory default so it was correct, but eventually I did get a programmer for it on ebay...I also called a local dealer and they were willing to lend me one for a day...

[PabloReiter]

My px600 was all set up as a factory default so it was correct, but eventually I did get a programmer for it on ebay...I also called a local dealer and they were willing to lend me one for a day...

[CJO]

Thanks!

CJ

[KINGOFOOTBALL33]

Im a trillion years late and only read half the pages.

I didnt see any mention of XLobby.

Its free it works on the pc and can be used on a pda and over wifi you can control pretty much any and all your media on your pc with it and use it just as the original poster wanted to.

Pocket pcs with wifi can be had for dirt cheap youd be looking at a sub 150$ solution.

I think in any of these situations the choice comes down to screen size vs portability. You can have a kick a$$ stationary panel , or you can have a small hand held portable one. Both have pluses and minuses im sure you already imagined both.

[JeremyMc]

Seems this thread might be long dead. Anyone still using there AirPanels, or moved onto something better?

[emillika]

Still use a v150P here with great success..

[ellisr63]

[QUOTE=JeremyMc]Seems this thread might be long dead. Anyone still using there AirPanels, or moved onto something better?[/QUOTE]

I moved on to the Fujitsu 3400

[JeremyMc]

[QUOTE=emillika]Still use a v150P here with great success..[/QUOTE]

In what config are you using your v150P? Dual log-on hack? Only one at a time? Running a Nevo card at all?

[JeremyMc]

[QUOTE=ellisr63]I moved on to the Fujitsu 3400[/QUOTE]

Why did you move to a tablet? Isn't it a slower boot, heavier, and not as attractive?

[IVB]

[QUOTE=JeremyMc]Why did you move to a tablet? Isn't it a slower boot, heavier, and not as attractive?[/QUOTE]

Nope. Leave it on all the time, wallmount it but leave removable. Plus there's no RDP nonsense to deal with, like the airpanels. That means that if the wifi drops, it'll reconnect without issues.

I haven't yet ran the A/C for mine, but that too will come.

http://www.myhometheaterpc.com/images/6%20almostdone.jpg

http://www.myhometheaterpc.com/images/8%20done.jpg

I have a wallmount thread somewhere in the HTPC forum about the details around how I wallmounted it.

[jbhungvt]

[QUOTE=IVB]Nope. Leave it on all the time, wallmount it but leave removable. Plus there's no RDP nonsense to deal with, like the airpanels. That means that if the wifi drops, it'll reconnect without issues.

I haven't yet ran the A/C for mine, but that too will come.

http://www.myhometheaterpc.com/images/6%20almostdone.jpg

http://www.myhometheaterpc.com/images/8%20done.jpg

I have a wallmount thread somewhere in the HTPC forum about the details around how I wallmounted it.[/QUOTE]

So, have you found the link/thread for installing the wallmount?
Also, does the 3400 comes with touchscreen capability or do you have to install special drivers to do that?

Also, where can I get decent price on the 3400 online? I'm looking for 3 of them. 1 for HT room, 1 for kitchen and 1 for masterbedroom.
thanks,
jbhungvt

[IVB]

Search is working funny on the avsforum; here's my identical CQC forum post. (http://charmedquark.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6650&highlight=wallmounted)

eBay is where most of us have bought ours. I've actually seen some listings that start at $125, $199 buy-it-now. I've heard of some folks picking them up for as little as $150.

It comes with touchscreen ability - inherent to the product. I don't happen to have the pen-recognition drivers on mine, but it's unneeded since all i do is push CQC buttons anyhow.

Be sure to get W2K and at least 128MB RAM, ideally 192K.

[JeremyMc]

Any preference between the 3400 and 3500?



[QUOTE=IVB]Search is working funny on the avsforum; here's my identical CQC forum post. (http://charmedquark.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6650&highlight=wallmounted)

eBay is where most of us have bought ours. I've actually seen some listings that start at $125, $199 buy-it-now. I've heard of some folks picking them up for as little as $150.

It comes with touchscreen ability - inherent to the product. I don't happen to have the pen-recognition drivers on mine, but it's unneeded since all i do is push CQC buttons anyhow.

Be sure to get W2K and at least 128MB RAM, ideally 192K.[/QUOTE]

[ellisr63]

the 3500 has more ram...so it might be faster but i saw in one of the forums that some people are putting the 3400 lcds on the 3500... i have 5 3400s and i am happy with them.

[JeremyMc]

Putting 3400 LCD's on 3500? You mean pulling the screens from a 3400 and a 3500 and swapping them? Did the 3400 have a better / different screen? I know the 3500 offered like 2 or 3 different screens and it's hard to tell from looking which one is which if you're trying to buy one off eBay.

[QUOTE=ellisr63]the 3500 has more ram...so it might be faster but i saw in one of the forums that some people are putting the 3400 lcds on the 3500... i have 5 3400s and i am happy with them.[/QUOTE]

[jbhungvt]

[QUOTE=ellisr63]the 3500 has more ram...so it might be faster but i saw in one of the forums that some people are putting the 3400 lcds on the 3500... i have 5 3400s and i am happy with them.[/QUOTE]
5...wow!!

Can you tell us how are you using your 5 3400s? So far I only envision 3 being use, 1 for HT, 1 for master and 1 for kitchen.
1. Where are you installing yours?
2. How are they connected back to the central location, wireless or wired? If wired, what types of wires, VGA or cat5?
3. Are you using CQC like IVB?

thanks,
jbhungvt

[ellisr63]

[QUOTE=jbhungvt]5...wow!!

Can you tell us how are you using your 5 3400s? So far I only envision 3 being use, 1 for HT, 1 for master and 1 for kitchen.
1. Where are you installing yours?
2. How are they connected back to the central location, wireless or wired? If wired, what types of wires, VGA or cat5?
3. Are you using CQC like IVB?

thanks,
jbhungvt[/QUOTE]
1. I have 6 zones and have alloted 1 3400 for each zone ( I am waiting on 1 more to complete the setup).
2. Mine are all running wirelss
3. I am using CQC too