Future Planning? Automation of ReefKeeping Stuff

[wannabeeareefkeeper]

Questions for you?

:wow2: Looking down the road in planning for total automation of ReefKeeping.

1.) What would you put on the list of things to purchase?

2.) What operating system would you go with; specifically which tablet & smartphone would you purchase

a.) Apple products

b.) Android products, Ice Cream, Jelly bean, etc.

Let's see how good of a salesperson you are! Which product line you would go with as well as why you wouldn't go with the other product line. Give me the pros/cons of each.

Wannabee


P.S How much memory should I be looking for in a tablet? Please consider future upgrades on tablet software updates.

 

[jbdreefs]

I am not a controller expert, but from my perspective of being a future consumer, apex appears to have the best monitoring environment. Maybe it is just better marketing...

With regards to tablet memory, I don't expect you to find this to be a limiting factor. It seems to me that most controllers operate (or communicate through)
in a cloud environment. You just need the ability to access a webpage or connect through an application.

Just some thoughts!

 

[nicoli627]

I love my apex. I have two of them one one each of my tanks. They are the best thing since sliced bread. It wouldnt own another tank without one. As far as tablet. I do all my controlling through my I pad. Works great

 

[mcphock]

These days software needs to be vendor agnostic. Given that its all web based, it needs virtually no hardware on the computing end -- all the work is done at the device level. Get whatever tablet you feel meets your other needs and it'll be more than enough.

 

[ghbrewer]

I would have to agree with McPhock on this one, no matter what controller technology you go with (I prefer Apex for flexibility, innovation, and best support), the computer and/or mobile device you decide to go with just needs to meet your other personal/professional needs. Personally, I use nothing but Apple products. Professionally, I use high-powered Microsoft workstation grade machines. In either case, I can manage and view my Apex just the same. It is web based, so it does not make a difference what type of computer I use, as long as it can access the internet.

 

[crew]

I did pretty extensive research and found Apex to be, far and away, the best automation option. Their customer support is top notch, they are innovative, and the quality is there.

Personally, I had issues connecting my apex to my network using the netgear unit that most people use. I don't know if I had a bad unit, but I went out and got an Apple Airport ($99) and the apex instantly connected and hasn't gone down since.

You don't need a tablet exclusively for the apex. For one, it comes with a display module, but you can access Apex Fusion from any device that can access the internet.