Rating: 
Summary: For Dummies and Experts
Review: I got the first book and read the second one too. Don't let the title fool you -- this is a great book with very comprehensive coverage of everything you'd put into your home. Don't expect line-by-line drawings of exactly what you need to do...this is a view of your whole home and everything you need to do in it. It's current, it's detailed, it's accurate. It's not a nuts and bolts how to splice fiber optic cabling book, and doesn't purport to be. THIS book should be your first stop before you buy anything else for your home, because it tells you how to think about everything before you start. It's great at exposing you to what you need to do to futureproof your home for 20 years.
Rating:
Summary: For Dummies and Experts
Review: I got the first book and read the second one too. Don't let the title fool you -- this is a great book with very comprehensive coverage of everything you'd put into your home. Don't expect line-by-line drawings of exactly what you need to do...this is a view of your whole home and everything you need to do in it. It's current, it's detailed, it's accurate. It's not a nuts and bolts how to splice fiber optic cabling book, and doesn't purport to be. THIS book should be your first stop before you buy anything else for your home, because it tells you how to think about everything before you start. It's great at exposing you to what you need to do to futureproof your home for 20 years.
Rating:
Summary: Smart Review
Review: I have read this book in its whole entirety. It is very well written, thorough, and sectionally organized. It covers a diverse range of interesting issues in relation to the title's subject. The approach to reading this book can be tackled from a stand-alone-chapter format, and/or in a chapter-linking format, and/or obviously as a whole book format.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for New York City homes
Review: I live in New York City, and there are all sorts of limits as to what you can do with your homes, and so that limits how smart you can make your home. This book a fun mix of stuff that we've worked on, and while we don't have a totally smart home now, we've got a smarter home, and are working continually on it. We got a good broad view of everything we could do in one place -- for voice, data, video, audio, security, etc. We would have had to read five other books at least to find out the same amount of info, and then we'd have to figure out how it all fits together. On top of that, these guys have a sense of humor which kept me engaged throughout. Now if I could only afford the 42" plasma screen outfitted hot tub they showed me.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you Danny Briere!
Review: I read all of these reviews, and I think that it's important to know what the book is and is not. The authors say it above -- it's not a "here's where you put this wire" type of book. It's a design guide and something that you need to read before you read the "here's where you put this wire" types of books. I found it to be extremely helpful in providing the big picture. I think the example provided in one of the reviews about pages 42-43 were unfair -- I looked them up -- they're from the overview sections at the front of the book. Check out the later parts of the book and it gives you more detail than you want -- the part on which modulators to buy for instance. If you are looking for a wiring guide for your audio or stereo system -- this is not for you; if you are looking to figure out an overall approach towards wiring audio, video, security, home control, home automation, etc. -- which I personally would urge you do before you plunk down money on this all -- then I think this book is perfect. There's only so much anyone can do in 300 pages, and I think the authors did a great job in doing what they set out to do -- to introduce me to all my options and what I need to be thinking about when putting together a smart home. The wiring diagrams I can find elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you Danny Briere!
Review: I read all of these reviews, and I think that it's important to know what the book is and is not. The authors say it above -- it's not a "here's where you put this wire" type of book. It's a design guide and something that you need to read before you read the "here's where you put this wire" types of books. I found it to be extremely helpful in providing the big picture. I think the example provided in one of the reviews about pages 42-43 were unfair -- I looked them up -- they're from the overview sections at the front of the book. Check out the later parts of the book and it gives you more detail than you want -- the part on which modulators to buy for instance. If you are looking for a wiring guide for your audio or stereo system -- this is not for you; if you are looking to figure out an overall approach towards wiring audio, video, security, home control, home automation, etc. -- which I personally would urge you do before you plunk down money on this all -- then I think this book is perfect. There's only so much anyone can do in 300 pages, and I think the authors did a great job in doing what they set out to do -- to introduce me to all my options and what I need to be thinking about when putting together a smart home. The wiring diagrams I can find elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: A great guide for networking your home
Review: I recently got a cable modem and by using the info in this book, I was able to connect all 5 PCs in my home through one computer (that saves me $20/month instead of paying for extra IP addresses!)After finising this small project (which I thought would be much harder) with no problems, I decided to try something a little more adventurous and built a home video network, and I'm currently in the process of hooking my baby monitor up to it so I can watch the baby from any TV in the house.
Rating: 
Summary: vague and useless...
Review: I was looking for specific, real-world help in creating at least a partially 'smart' home. What I found was vague and amorphous predictions for the 'future' and not remotely enough concrete advice or help. Here is an example of what I found on two pages (pp. 42-43) picked at random: "will allow you to...are going to be...what's coming down the pike...you'll be able to...will change drastically" This is "Everything you need to prepare your home for the 21st Century"? I think not. This book was very, very irritating. If I had seen any part of it before placing an order, I never would have bought it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for some concepts
Review: I'm rating this book on how well it introduces novices to the "automated home" world. This book does a really good job describing the basics of many different concepts in home automation and networking. I felt that it concentrated a lot on building a new smart house, rather than installing the technology in an existing home. If you are interested in learning about automated homes, get this book. If you are already know the basics of home automation, borrow this book. If you are a "smart home" enthusiest who has already completed some automation projects and want's a detailed guide for your next one, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Do you think 'network' means ABC, NBC or CBS?
Review: If you think that 'network' refers to ABC, NBC or CBS, then this is a great book for you. I bought this book on the basis of the fabulous reviews on this site. However, I was very disappointed because of the lack of detail, specifically in the audio and video arena. This book is great if you are building a home and need ideas. I'd rate the coverage of the various areas as (1 - lowest, 5 - best): new home ideas - 4; audio - 2; video - 2; computer networks - 3; x10 automation - 4
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