C4 Touchscreen vs iPad functionality

[dbuono]

When choosing between the two, is there any difference in functionality?  I know the TS has intercom and the iPad does not.  Anything else?  Just trying to make sure I understand all functionality before deciding which to go with. 

Also, can they both see video from door station and cameras? 

[sonic30101]

Intercom, always connected so it wakes faster, page flips programmatically are the big bullet points on the main differences

[Gary Leeds UK]

Which Door Station do you have ? 

DS2 OR another ? 

[BraydonH]

Okay as far as functionality goes there are a few things like Wake-Up Agent, Intercom and a few others but honestly the T3 is superior in every way. Its not the way the app works, its the way the touchscreen functions. Its always on, its always connected, it doesn't need firmware updates constantly, it doesn't need an Apple ID, it just works.

I have tried everything. Tablets, Wall Mounted Tablets, iPads, Wall mounted iPads, Fixed Mounts, removable mounts (launchport) and even tried the surface mount with buttons.

They just don't compare to the T3.

If your kid wants a tablet to view youtube and facebook, then give them their own iPad, don't try and use the wall mounted one for Control4. Actually just dont use wall mountediPads for control4 at all.

Been a dealer for 7 years and it took a long, long time to get on the Control4 Touchscreen Bandwagon, I guinneapigged so many iPad solutions and at the end of the day not one of them has looked better, and not one of them has worked better.

Its a really tough bill to swallow at $1400 CAD for a 10" T3, But I am certain if you had both an iPad Mini+Launchport and compared that to the T3 mounted on the wall you would use the T3 5x as much and prefer it in every way. Its hard to understand becuase it doesn't do youtube, it doesn't do facebook, technically the iPad is superior in every way on paper, but in practice the T3 wins every time.

Also the 10" is just gorgeous. I almost never sell the 7" becuase the 10" is so nice and doesn't cost much more than the 7"

 

[Cyknight]

It's pretty much all been said above.

Understand that iPads or Android tablets and the app work well - but they don't work AS well.

Always consider native screens for strategic locations at least - what these are depend on the house layout, but some examples based on where I use them are:

-Theatre/media room (portable, and the one place i would strongly advise a portable)

-Cross section of main 'living' areas (ie I have one mounted in the little passage way out from my living room which exits into a landing leading to the dining room, office, kitchen, stairs coming up from the entrance and the hallway leading towards the bedrooms and of course the Living room itself  - and another at the bottom of my basement stairs where it's in the landing splitting off into the Theatre, Games area and family room)

-Master bedroom (I actually use a portable) for going to bed to check and control everything, plus set up the wake-up

-Front entrance/garage door - because it controls everything upon entrance or exit

-Backyard/deck door to get those tunes going!

 

Of course budget and circumstance will be a huge part of that decision, as well as personal use and preference. As well as what you're actually doing with your system (ie movie selection, lighting and so on). The bold ones above are the ones I would press for the most.

[penn65000]

Go C4. We tried iPad — installed in the wall. Wanted to like it. iPad not as responsive and comes out of dedicated mode and sometimes locks up. For everything you want to do, C4 better. 

[penn65000]

On 7/4/2018 at 4:47 PM, BraydonH said:

Okay as far as functionality goes there are a few things like Wake-Up Agent, Intercom and a few others but honestly the T3 is superior in every way. Its not the way the app works, its the way the touchscreen functions. Its always on, its always connected, it doesn't need firmware updates constantly, it doesn't need an Apple ID, it just works.

I have tried everything. Tablets, Wall Mounted Tablets, iPads, Wall mounted iPads, Fixed Mounts, removable mounts (launchport) and even tried the surface mount with buttons.

They just don't compare to the T3.

If your kid wants a tablet to view youtube and facebook, then give them their own iPad, don't try and use the wall mounted one for Control4. Actually just dont use wall mountediPads for control4 at all.

Been a dealer for 7 years and it took a long, long time to get on the Control4 Touchscreen Bandwagon, I guinneapigged so many iPad solutions and at the end of the day not one of them has looked better, and not one of them has worked better.

Its a really tough bill to swallow at $1400 CAD for a 10" T3, But I am certain if you had both an iPad Mini+Launchport and compared that to the T3 mounted on the wall you would use the T3 5x as much and prefer it in every way. Its hard to understand becuase it doesn't do youtube, it doesn't do facebook, technically the iPad is superior in every way on paper, but in practice the T3 wins every time.

Also the 10" is just gorgeous. I almost never sell the 7" becuase the 10" is so nice and doesn't cost much more than the 7"

 

I couldn’t have said it better. Same as our experience. C4 all the way or you’ll just be fighting the iPad. 

[zaphod]

On 7/4/2018 at 4:47 PM, BraydonH said:

..

Its a really tough bill to swallow at $1400 CAD for a 10" T3, But I am certain if you had both an iPad Mini+Launchport and compared that to the T3 mounted on the wall you would use the T3 5x as much and prefer it in every way. Its hard to understand becuase it doesn't do youtube, it doesn't do facebook, technically the iPad is superior in every way on paper, but in practice the T3 wins every time.

Also the 10" is just gorgeous. I almost never sell the 7" becuase the 10" is so nice and doesn't cost much more than the 7"

Everything sounds good except the price as you can buy three 10" iPads and still have $113 left over for $1400 CAD.

[penn65000]

1 hour ago, zaphod said:

Everything sounds good except the price as you can buy three 10" iPads and still have $113 left over for $1400 CAD.

Yes then you’ll have three iPads which don’t quite work with C4. 

[zaphod]

2 minutes ago, penn65000 said:

Yes then you’ll have three iPads which don’t quite work with C4. 

And $113 

[penn65000]

Yes and that


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[South Africa C4 user]

Q: Why not wait for the T4 that is being “announced” at CEDIA 2018?

A: Because it won’t be available until CEDIA 2019...

sorry everyone!

[rea]

Agree with @Cyknight above about assessing your particular needs. In crucial, high C4-use situations, I definitely think the T3s are the way to go. That being said, I just installed an iPad with iPort's LuxePort mount in a non-crucial area because I had an older, but very functional iPad that was due for retirement and the space it's in (a rec room/wet bar area) would really benefit from having a portable tablet around too. I did test my iPad out on my network and found no speed/reliability issues whatsoever over the course of a couple of weeks before making the plunge. The extra tablet-based functionality was worth the trade-off of losing some of the C4 features in this area for what I needed. And, in 3-4 years, I can swap in my current iPad that's the same size and basically get a free upgrade.  

It certainly wasn't about price as the LuxePort is crazy expensive for a charging case. Its design does at least allow you to easily pull off the wall and remove from charging on occasion which should prevent the battery swell issue that's been mentioned on here as well. 

[zaphod]

Why doesn't the iPad app have the full functionality that the C4 TS3 has?  Surely things like intercom, Wake-Up agent are technically possible on an iPad are they not?  Are they too hard to program?  Not worth the effort since the iPad is not always on/connected to C4?  Or is C4 trying to connect their profit margins because an iPad app that was a good as a TS3 would mean no more TS3 sales?  I agree that the TS3 is a more "fit for purpose" device, but it is 3.2X as expensive than an iPad and, an iPad could have other uses.

[Drake0508]

Not always connected. Also I believe the closed OS of the iPad probable doesn’t allow for some of those options. I do have a hard time even thinking about spending the money on a T3. They are extremely overpriced. Remember, they are android tablets. I’ve never owned an android tablet for longer than 1 year due to buggy OS. It just seems like a lot of money for what it is. 

[Cyknight]

On 7/7/2018 at 7:31 PM, Drake0508 said:

Not always connected. Also I believe the closed OS of the iPad probable doesn’t allow for some of those options. I do have a hard time even thinking about spending the money on a T3. They are extremely overpriced. Remember, they are android tablets. I’ve never owned an android tablet for longer than 1 year due to buggy OS. It just seems like a lot of money for what it is. 

HAH, I've been running Android tablets for years without issue, and have had major issues with my iPad 'due to buggy OS' - don't hang on your singular experience as a reference for all.
 

Quote

but it is 3.2X as expensive than an iPad

 

And while a T3 is pricey, a nice looking mount plus iPad is not 1/3 of the price. Most decent mounts for an iPad cost as much AS the iPad and with numerous iPads (and android tablets, also phones for both) being destroyed due permanently charging....

It's not a huge risk, but tablets like those are not made to be charging 24/7 or wall mounted, and it CAN destroy them, sometimes in a rather scary way (ie potential fire hazard)

[thegreatheed]

On 7/7/2018 at 7:31 PM, Drake0508 said:

I’ve never owned an android tablet for longer than 1 year due to buggy OS.

 

https://bgr.com/2016/11/17/iphone-vs-android-reliability-crashing-apps/

[thecodeman]

16 minutes ago, thegreatheed said:

https://bgr.com/2016/11/17/iphone-vs-android-reliability-crashing-apps/

well this isnt about iOS vs android at this point, but the last paragraph made me chuckle after reading the headline

"As for the types of issues affecting Android handsets, one could reasonably argue that they’re more serious than the types of failures affecting iOS devices. To this point, the most common points of failure for Android devices involved USB issues, carrier signal issues, camera problems and battery charging difficulties and screen abnormalities."

[thegreatheed]

48 minutes ago, thecodeman said:

well this isnt about iOS vs android at this point, but the last paragraph made me chuckle after reading the headline

"As for the types of issues affecting Android handsets, one could reasonably argue that they’re more serious than the types of failures affecting iOS devices. To this point, the most common points of failure for Android devices involved USB issues, carrier signal issues, camera problems and battery charging difficulties and screen abnormalities."

Those were hardware failure rates, which were less often than iOS ones. Also apps failed less often. So, as it pertains to the question at hand,  there's no "buggy android OS" other than in his head.

[Cyknight]

59 minutes ago, thegreatheed said:

Those were hardware failure rates, which were less often than iOS ones. Also apps failed less often. So, as it pertains to the question at hand,  there's no "buggy android OS" other than in his head.

Exactly.

Sure, I've no doubt a $150 10" android tablet is likely to have a shorter lifespan than an iPad of $450 (though in my personal experience even that isn't always true), but OS wise, both are perfectly stable. Even most "OS" issues on Android were generally due to the device manufacturer's own 'version' or apps AFAIK.

 

[eggzlot]

3 minutes ago, Cyknight said:

Even most "OS" issues on Android were generally due to the device manufacturer's own 'version' or apps AFAIK.

 

I agree but this is why I left Android.  Not a consistent experience across the board because manufacturers use their own flavors.  Then you are at their mercy for support and updates.  At least with iOS it’s a consistent experience across the platform and there is a decent history to estimate how long Apple will support hardware before its EOL.  Usually not a big surprise.  

[Cyknight]

4 minutes ago, eggzlot said:

Then you are at their mercy for support and updates

? As opposed to what?

Apple singularly deciding to kill off apps one-sided?

 

I'm not truly for or against either platform, I just find that the arguments on both sides are silly really.

 

My one and only point was that worrying about T3 screens because they are on 'android' (and it's not at all as simple as thinking it's on a normal android OS) vs Apple is non-sense.

 

[thegreatheed]

And taking this back to the issue at hand, the base Android OS on the touch screen doesn't suffer from ANY of the EOL or manufacturer skin issues. Any attempts to relate it to those issues are illogical, because it's a completely different situation.

[Pounce]

T3 10" is worth it for the experience. Yes, you feel like you are paying too much and if you don't try the alternatives you might not grasp the difference, but save yourself the trouble. Cyknight offers good advice on locating these in critical places and leveraging other devices where there is potentially less impact.

[penn65000]

We had a dedicated iPad in one of those $300 wall installed frames. It stunk. I was excited at first because I figured I could use all my old ipads for C4, but despite being in dedicated C4 mode, the iPad would freeze or someone would find a way out of the C4 app. C4 screens aren’t perfect but they’re much better than iPads. We have one 10” on the wall and a bunch of 7” on stands around the house. All look great and work very well. And the C4 screens aren’t unreasonably priced. They also crash and lock up much less than my iPads!