HouseBot

This issue was brought up by a client, and I think that it would be a great enhancement to HB.



Currently, a PC can run only one SWRemote. Running several clients requires more PCs.



It could be great if several (touch screen) monitors be attached to the same PC (with multiple video cards) and each would act as a client.



If the location of each client is saved separately, rebooting the PC won't require the repositioning of the client's screens.



Yoram.

Could you elaborate on this topic briefly for me? I'm considering Housebot for my system, and was planning on using a couple of wifi PDAs mounted around the house to control everything. Is this not possible?



I was under the assumtion that the PPC client connected as a client and rendered it's own screen, but the way you described it, it seems like housebot creates a virtual monitor and the PPC VNCs to the server, targeting that montior.



Basically I'm asking how it works. I don't want to use the trial yet, as I don't have any X10 hardware to use with it - otherwise I'd figure it out myself.



Thanks in advance.

Crashless,



HouseBot has many great features, and using a PocketPC is one of them. There should be no problem of setting multiple PocetPCs to work with HouseBot.



Windows OS allows to connect more than one monitor to a single PC, to make a larger work area. So for example you could view one document in one monitor and edit another in the other monitor.



I asked to connect multiple MONITORS (not PCs) to a SINGLE PC and to run multiple instances of the software remote on that PC. This would allow to distribute mutilple monitors, all connected to the same PC, and each is independent.



Yoram.

I see, so you want to be able to add a bunch of PCI video cards, then run touchscreen monitors around the house, and have multiple instances of the software remote application target specific montiors, so you don't have to manually drag each instance to it's monitor every time the system boots.



That's not a bad idea, but wouldn't it be severely limited by the distance you could run a VGA cable?



Would it not be easier/cheaper to install multiple CE devices around and simply run the client remote software?



Granted you _would_ loose the ability to play video on the monitors - which would be pretty cool...

I think that good quality VGA cables can run up to 25 meters. I think that there are also [costly] range extenders in the market.



Adding monitors may cost more and require more efforts.

PDAs are mobile by nature, so they are great to move around the house with. I think that a PDA is a wonderful remote.



A 10"/12"/15" monitor attached to the wall is a different thing. Put a few of them around the house and you'll never want to use wall switches again. (I don't suggest to get rid of wall switches, just use them less frequently).



I'm for a combination of the two. To my opinion a system with multiple monitors and multiple PDAs would be great.

I was able to start up two software remotes on the same pc with no problems. Search HB help for "Software Remote command line options". I used the /name "remotename" option.



There is a utility out there you could then use to make the remotes always open on the proper screens. Sorry, don't remember the name of it.

There are still some issues with data that is saved in the registry that can get confused between the two instances (like panel positions). But it should work fairly well. Great idea!



Why didn't I think of that?

Scott,



Did not realize there were issues like that. Here is a thought. How about slightly tweaking the remotes to have one branch in the registry per remote name and/or theme.





And the utility I was trying to think the name of just came to me:

http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/ . I am sure there are others out there, but this is the one I have heard of before. Have not tried it out yet, but am thinking about it for my quad output video card.

I'm very interested in this conversation. Right now I'm using three ViewPad CE devices. They work reasonably well but they are slow and have memory limitations. What I like about them is that they are a 10" touchpad.



I think the typical PDA is too small and the ViewPads are really a bit big but I've never seen anything (especially a CE device) that's in between. Have any of you found something you like? I'm not against cabled devices for some applications but having wireless is very nice. I've become happy enough with HouseBot now that I'm willing to shell out a bit more money for an elegant high quality solution. Any recommendations are appreciated.



-- Dave

Scott J,



The "name" option solves the issues I was experiencing. Nice workaround!



Yoram.

Dave, see if you can find a Simpad on eBay. They have 8.4" SVGA screens and are a really nice size for a lot of uses.

Regarding remote devices, I'm using 2 Fijitsu pen tablets, one wired to the LAN, the other wifi. They are "reasonably priced" and as long as you don't expect them to do much in addition to act as HB remotes, they work fine. They are a little on the clunky side but since one is mounted in a kitchen base cabinet drawer, and the other is essentially at a fixed location in the master BR, the 'clunk' is not much of a factor. And the screen size works for me better then a PPC or similar hand-held.



fwiw,