Given a choice, HSPRO or PRO-100?

[Extreme-Z]

Hello!

I am trying to get my Homeseer and Z-Wave stuff up and running finally I have a PRO-100 (not hooked up yet) but have noticed the sale on the software right now which looks tempting.

I am wondering if some of you experts could help me out and let me know if there are any major differences between the HSPRO software and PRO-100. I already have the PRO-100 but if the HSPRO software will give me more flexibility and "power" then I will pick that up while it is on sale.

I already run a couple computers in the home 24 hours a day so the "low power" of the PRO-100 is not an issue for me. What I see as a possible benefit of the HSPRO software is that I can load it on a much more powerful computer than the PRO-100 which may (or may not?) make it run better/faster? The PRO-100 will also likely be setup in a closet which will not have as convenient of access as the desktop which I would load the HSPRO software on so that is something else I'm considering too.

Anyway, just curious if somebody can give me some advice and let me know if you think I should pick up the HSPRO software while it is on sale or if there is really no advantage of the stand alone software (given my situation) over the PRO-100 which I already have?

Thanks!!!

[Guest]

Doesn't the Pro-100 come with HSPRO software?

[Extreme-Z]

Doesn't the Pro-100 come with HSPRO software?

Yes it does... but given the advancement in computers and hardware since 2006 I was curious if people are finding using the HSPRO software on a more powerful computer than what is contained within the PRO-100 is beneficial and worth going the stand alone software route

Thanks!

[Rupp]

It depends on what you are wanting to accomplish. The pro100 is an excellent set it and forget it controller but most of us are always adding new hardware interfaces to our pc's. This is when HomeSeer Pro comes in handy. You can get as large a pc as you need to handle the additional add on hardware.

[Extreme-Z]

It depends on what you are wanting to accomplish. The pro100 is an excellent set it and forget it controller but most of us are always adding new hardware interfaces to our pc's. This is when HomeSeer Pro comes in handy. You can get as large a pc as you need to handle the additional add on hardware.

That's kind of what I was thinking. Do you have some examples of a hardware interface that is difficult/not possible with the PRO-100 vs the HSPRO software? I was likely going to add some simple weather station type setup as well... could this be added to my desktop PC and then accessed via the PRO-100 over the home network or do many of these type interfaces need to be added to the actual computer where the HS software is located? That may not be a good example but curious what some of you are doing that you find the stand alone software is more powerful/better than trying to do it through a PRO-100?

Thanks!

[Rupp]

That's kind of what I was thinking. Do you have some examples of a hardware interface that is difficult/not possible with the PRO-100 vs the HSPRO software? I was likely going to add some simple weather station type setup as well... could this be added to my desktop PC and then accessed via the PRO-100 over the home network or do many of these type interfaces need to be added to the actual computer where the HS software is located? That may not be a good example but curious what some of you are doing that you find the stand alone software is more powerful/better than trying to do it through a PRO-100?

Thanks!

I have a Davis Vantage Pro unit connected to Weather Display running on a seperate server. Weather Display comes with scripts for HomeSeer that will update several variables on a recurring basis. I use the solar sensor to control when lights come on at night, turn off my sprinkler system when it windy or raining, etc. So this is very possible. As far as what a Pro-100 wouldn't work well with are very heavy cpu and memory intensive apps. It seems that if you load the Pro-100 with text to speech, VR, and a slew of external hardware it's starts to show it's limits. For the averag user the Pro-100 will work perfectly. It's the users that want to hang weather stations, RFID, media servers, media players, and other software packages this is when these devices reach there limits.

[Extreme-Z]

Gotcha! Thanks, Rupp!

I'm thinking since I'm a bit of a computer guy and have a couple computers running 24/7 I might as well just get the software and sell my PRO-100. Thanks again for the advice/recommendations!

[Rupp]

I wouldn't unload the Pro-100 until you get the PC up and running. The one thing that the Pro-100 brings to the table is stability.

[Extreme-Z]

I wouldn't unload the Pro-100 until you get the PC up and running. The one thing that the Pro-100 brings to the table is stability.

Good advice. Thanks!