Savant Details ROSIE iPad App (Updated)

John, all you’ve given us is opinion.  You have yet to state a fact yourself besides Crestron being larger.  BTW that 70% dissatisfaction rating isn’t an opinion.  It’s a number Crestron doesn’t want people to know.  It’s internal and was accurate as of 2006.  That number may have changed but I seriously doubt it. 

Call your local Apple store, it’s not my job to know which one has a Savant kiosk. 

One of the largest Crestron dealers in my market (one of the 2 largest) is switching over to Savant.  Why?  Because unlike your statement above based on your opinion:  IT’S LESS EXPENSIVE and yes, it’s easier.  You can program a house in a day if you’re experienced.  You’re also right that it’s a better looking product.  The Savant touch panels have better graphics.  You’re wrong in it using FLASH.  Apple hates Flash.  The iPhone won’t use Flash.  If you’re going to make some claims at least know what you’re talking about.

Savant is less expensive.  Savant has better looking graphics.  Savant is more powerful.  Savant btw uses both a Unix based computer and a OSX based computer in just about all of their products.  They aren’t doing anything simple that anyone can just copy. 

You said Savant can’t do things the Crestron is incapable of, but that just isn’t true.  You can’t program a Crestron system in a few hours.  You can with Savant.  Yes, I know some Savant dealers who are having growing pains in their switch over.  That is all it is, growing pains.  Once they learn the quirks the programming will be done in a day or less for most homes. 

Also Savant can control more devices without ever slowing down.  It’s just more powerful.  That isn’t an opinion.  That’s a fact.  Take the most powerful Crestron chip and compare it to the Savant.  It’s not comparable.  One company is using extremely old technology while the other is using multiple quad core processors. 

I don’t have my iPad.  It should be here today or tomorrow.  The Savant App is in the store though, so I’ll have it immediately and I can then answer your question of what it does differently.  We know it was designed for an iPad and we know the Crestron app was not.  Configurable or not, the Crestron app is an iPhone app.

Also is this a hobby for George too?  Your claims are cynical and lack any true knowledge of product or company.  You’re wrong on price, what is in the product, what the product uses, or the products ability.  What does that say about you and your opinion here?

Savant is growing because you can walk into an architect’s office and say “I’ve got an Apple based automation product that will make your Crestron headaches go away.”  They’re immediately interested.  You can change architect to builder or anyone else that has had to deal with Crestron over the last 30 years.  The facts are that people believe that Crestron is over priced and too difficult to deal with. 

As soon as people are convinced another solution is easier to deal with and less expensive and can do everything Crestron can do ....  they switch.  It’s that simple.  Hold on to your old technology and your old ways of thinking.  Ignore that the iPad can create new job opportunities for you.  That will only make the people at Savant and Savant dealers happy.  By the time you realize that Crestron is no longer the market leader in technology or even coming close to pushing the envelope you’ll be too late.  Unlike Crestron my experience with Savant is they won’t sign up any dealer who wants it.  They want a select number of dealers in each market.  They just won’t sign up anyone who has a job sold.  There are nearly 40 Crestron dealers in my market.  There are I believe 6 Savant dealers. 

What value are you bringing to a discussion by writing inaccuracies?  Again, Savant is less expensive in product, easier to program, and doesn’t use Flash.  Savant is also more powerful of a product.  It can do anything Crestron can, and it does it easier and quite honestly better. 

The only thing you’ve said with merit is that Crestron is bigger and has been around longer.  Has it won more awards?  Depends on the magazine.  Some magazines Savant is clearly more liked.  Then there are some magazines that are as close minded as many dealers I know why are quick to judge a company just because it’s different without learning about it at all.  Like you.

John, I completely agree with Johnson in that the only facts you have cited throughout this entire debate is that Crestron is both bigger company and a more mature company having been around longer.  Other than that, all you seem to offer is opinions masquerading as facts.  It is quite that you really don’t understand the technical aspects of what you sell.  You certainly don’t know what Savant is selling.

Johnson is right when correcting regarding your comments about Flash.  Apple doesn’t use Flash prefering to use HTML5.  Many companies are going to great lengths at considerable expense to convert video from Flash to HTML5 so that content will work with the iPad.  These companies include Hulu, Disney, and others.

Additionally, you knock Savant because it uses a mac mini at its core and runs on Apple OS X.  What do you think runs most any AV product today?  Every cable box, every satellite receiver, every DVR, every game console, and certainly every automation component from Crestron to AMX to Control4 to Niles, to URC runs on a processing chip running Microsoft OS software.  It would be disingenuous for me to say all of these products are simply boxes run by Dell computers.  Please, give Savant more credit than simply saying they repackage a mac mini and that is all that it is.

Again, it would be nice if you would make your argument based on facts.

What really concerns me about you is that you don’t seem to want to accept the change happening in our industry.  You admonish Control4 because they, in your words, “...lowered the perception of what automation should…cost and have [therefore damaged] our industry.”

Well, what should automation cost?  I ask because this is the central question that is forcing change.  You say you program an iPhone in 4 to 6 hours with a cost of around $500.00 plus the cost of the iPhone itself.  I can do it in five minutes and deliver a similar experience to my customer for far less money than you.  The iPad will be no different as I will be able to offer it at half of your price.  It is this that provides me my business’s competitive edge.  Throughout history, companies have prospered because of their ability to deliver a quality experience cheaper.

Need another example?  How about Vizio?  The televisions look good (to most average people they look great) and are significantly less expensive than other brands.  Funny, most of the older and bigger companies are now leaving the marketplace and consolidating or shutting down factories as they can now no longer compete.  Vizio, however, continues to thrive.

Again John, I really want to debate this topic with you.  Please, offer something substantive when you post.

Story has been updated with a screen shot of Savant’s ROSIE 4i iPad App.

In researching Savant, I came upon this article and the comments that follow.

My husband and I installed a full scale Creston system in our home 5 years ago. Since then, we’ve taken off the HVAC, Security, Gate and pool functions because they never seemed to work correctly. The installer went under in the first year and we’ve never been able to replace with someone because the access key code went with them… Proprietary apparently. As a consumer and owner of the system WHY do we not have the access key code to this system within the walls of our home.

We have 2 wireless remotes that never worked well,costing $4500 a piece. One of them we store in a drawer because it’s dead. When I contacted Crestron direct, the rep came out and decided that they could not warranty the units because it was a licensed product that Creston did not manufacture themselves. SO they can license their name and take a fee but feel no need to back the product that bears their name?  Crestron had NO loyalty to us as a consumer which was the biggest turn off of all….

AS for Savant returning calls. I was contacted within 2 hours of my request on-line by David, the regional rep who was all too happy to spend time with me on the phone and direct me to a local dealer.

Crestron is as good as the pp installing and programing it.. Which from my experience has been difficult to find. I have friends on both coasts that feel the same.

I can’t wait to move and put in a new system, whether it be Control 4 or Savant… anything is better and more cost effective than Crestron. Maybe the late 90’s allowed for over spending on AV systems but with the economy the way it is, everyone I know is HAPPY to see a CRESTON alternative!

Monica, I think you’ll find it is the case that most home-control systems are only as good as the installer.

It is disappointing whenever I learn of a consumer that is inconvenienced (to say the least) by not having access to their system’s software code.

We advise that you address this important issue up front with your installer before entering into an agreement.