Nice post, CleverJake.

One thing I would add: High end, low-maintenance gadgets require quite a bit of mark up because they aren't selling many of them. Most of us would have fun building something similar, but I'm guessing the set of audiophiles who are also computer geeks is pretty low (compared to the audiophile population as a whole or compared to the entire population)

haha
most of the audiophile/computer geeks work in the industry on some level
theres a bit too much knowledge required to be one to not put it to use.


Most of the people that buy stuff like that are well-to-do people that simply want "the best" without any work.
so, we charge markup, they get plug and play, and the world spins round

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20080621

i also wish i could point you all to a satirical song about a shop selling high end audio gear for home use, but its in norwegian so...

haha, that reminds me of a guy who insisted that there MUST be a ultra high quality USB cable that would make his music sound better

silly rabbit

Many of the home automation system specifically use the N800 or can at least be used with a N800. It is an obvious choice for an inexpensive wireless touchscreen. In fact, it is really in a class by itself. The only thing that it is lacking is a docking station. Unfortuately that is what really keeps this device from really shining in this arena.

I am actually doing this myself. I use a software based home automation system called Charmed Quark Controller (or CQC for short). I am using mine as more of a A/V distribution system but it is designed to be a complete homeautomation system where you can tie your alarm system, lighting, pool controls, RDIF, weather station, sprinkler system, etc, etc, etc into it.

I use the N800 as well as some IR remotes, a wall mouted touch screen, and a couple of UMPCs around the house to have full control of the system.

It's amazing what you can do, and CQC is DIY friendly which is the biggest difference between it and AMX, Crestron, Elan or others. With those systems, you cannot make changes yourself. You will always have to have an installer come and do things for you. As a consumer, you don't even have access to software or hardware. You have to buy everything from the dealer and accept their high (although deserved) markup.

If you love tinkering with stuff - and you must if you love linux, then CQC or similar systems can be very appealing. I've put my system together uning a lot of used equipment I've bought and while none of it is cheap, I've spent a fraction of what one of these other dealer systems would have cost.

You can customize your screens competely with CQC. Here are a couple of the screens that I created for the N800 and N770.

CD Repository


Now Playing CD screen


DVD Repository (this screen shot was taken as a test when I only had a couple of DVDs in the repository. It now has all the DVDs I own on it). You can browse the DVDs, pull up the details, and select a DVD to play. It will turn the selected TV on and change all settings to watch the movie and start playing the movie.


Weather


Local Traffic Cameras


If you like what you see, come visit at CQC and be sure to find me in the forums.

It looks appealing but the price is pretty steep for my small pockets

yeah, 700 can be a bitmuch

My prefered way is the mythtv full frontend port

I cna control x10 home automation, stream the media, control the backend server, which, one its wired correctly through my house, will give full sound system

Im gonna bee GUIing my mp3 daemon soon too,
I just wish the audio portion of mythtv wasnt so backassed

@sic0048: Just curious... how do you store your dvds? I have a DVD changer but my brother and I were hoping to rip ours and store them (space is cheap) but can't find a good way to automate it reliably, both because of various DVD anti-piracy mechanisms, and because a lot of our dvds have subtitles, etc.

Either way, that's a very cool looking system. If I was willing to pay for the hardware necessary to automate that stuff (ok, and alarm system, and a pool, and...), I would definitely want some DIY software for automation.

Well my system is strickly A/V right now. One step and one budget item at a time. But that is the benefit to going DIY. You can move at your own pace.

I use a Sony cx-777es 400 disk DVD changer. It has a serial control port so we control it that way (not via IR which is less reliable). Bought it used on E-Bay.

You can also used ripped DVDs just as easily, but I like the changer better (just makes things simple and I don't need a fast computer to play stuff on). I have ripped all my CDs in Windows Lossless format and I do use the computer to play them back. I have a Delta 410 card which allows multiple concurrent streams. I can have three different things playing at the same time (don't have a need for more), but I could have up to five with that card.

From what I understand AnyDVD is well worth the cost. It strips out the built in anti-piracy crap in real time and allows you to rip almost any DVD. I think it's about $30 from Slysoft. Combine that with your ripper of choice (DVD Decrypter for example) and you'll be able to choose what stuff you keep (like subtitles) and what stuff you leave out (like different audio tracks and extras/previews).