Smart Homes for Dummies |
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| Title: | Smart Homes for Dummies |
| Author: | Danny Briere
Patrick Hurley |
| Publisher: | For Dummies |
| Type: | Book / Paperback |
| Publication Date: | June, 1999 |
| ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0764505270 / 9780764505270 |
| List Price: | $21.99 |
| You Save: | $13.06 |
| Amazon Price: | $8.93 (via Amazon marketplace seller) |
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Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
Welcome to the new millennium and the next step in home technology. Replace your telephone with a computer. Power up your burglar alarm from a PC that's miles away. Turn lights on and off with a click of your mouse, or plan and build your meals without stepping into the kitchen (well, almostÖthere's still dishes to do). In short, discover how to network your entire home and remote control everything with the smart home" technology that's available today. Smart Homes For Dummies guides you step-by-step through everything you need to know about automating your home, from advanced security to home theater entertainment centers. Find out what it takes to turn your home into a state-of-the-art entertainment and communications center, and discover the benefits of home networking, from Internet access in every room to monitoring the baby from your living room TV. Decide what to buy -- and what to avoid -- in the absence of universal standards for "smart homes," and get the lowdown on competing home systems from X-10 and IBM Home Director to CEBUS and Intellon. Explore a wonderful wide world of wireless products, and secure and protect your investment with an integrated security system. Build the home of the future today with the smart advice you find in Smart Homes For Dummies.
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Customer Reviews:
• Where's The Beef
12 June, 2008
A good introductory book for understanding the options but not enough examples of how to use the technology in real life.
- Amazon Customer Review
• I'm Not That Dumb After All
11 February, 2010
This is the first 'dummies' book I've ever read. You can read the book from "start to finish" (as I did) or jump around the chapters that may interest you. While it did provide some interesting information which certainly helped me, it also provided page after page of pointless repetition. I'm wondering who the publishers think their market might be, it's not so much for 'dummies' but more for the 'utterly stupid' who probably wouldn't be reading the book in the first place.
My advice is just Google something like "Cabling for Smart Homes" or "Wiring for Smart homes" and you'll get all the info you need without having to suffer wading through a lot of the tripe found in this publication.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Not As Informative As I Hoped It Would Be
28 September, 2008
I assumed this book would be about home automation, but it only briefly touches on that. It is mostly about wiring of distributed audio and video, which I didn't find very interesting.
The book does contain some interesting and useful information, but it could probably all be squeezed into about 30 pages.
The reader is directed to an an accompanying web site for up-to-date information, but the web site was last updated three years before the latest edition of the book was published.
- Amazon Customer Review
• I'm Not Sure I Know What I Expected...
12 September, 2009
...but I didn't get much out of this book. Much of what was in it - I already do (for example, I have a home network with a central "server computer"). I was hoping it would cover more about automating lighting and compare different methods/systems...
Anyway, it also lacks much of the humor I normally find in "dummies" books - so it was pretty dry reading.
Bottom line - not very impressed.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Brilliant Introduction To Home Electronics Industry
20 February, 2010
Some readers commented that there is not actually enough information on "how to actually do something" or "home automation". That's true. There could be more of this stuff, but if they were, the book would probably not be for "dummies", any more. Not meaning that stuff is too technical, but it would require a lot more pages, and the Dummies series probably doesn't allow this. There are whole courses on those subjects from CEDIA.
Anyhow, I find that the book is a treasure for information on what is available today to ensure you are up to date with the latest technology (at the time of writing). It enabled me to update my home system in ways I did not think possible. I thought I was doing well, until I read the book. One really good thing I like about the book, too, is that it mentions companies and products that are available for the area of discussion. Something as seemingly simple as introducing me to baluns, is a point worth noting. I always thought I'd have to get really long line level cables for long runs. Also, I thought a "zone" was simply somewhere where I've run speaker wire from my receiver, where it would have to play the one source that was playing. I didn't know there were specially built multi-zone/multi-source amps out there and that Russound and Niles Audio were even companies. These are simple examples of how you can learn new stuff by reading the book. Of course, there are so may others. I have done so many upgrades since reading this book. e.g. my Roku Soundbridge (never knew it existed until reading the book), my D-Link DMA (which is now my most used piece of equipment, outside of the tv and receiver), my Russound whole home audio upgrade. That's just to name three.
Bottom line, if you want to increase your home electronics/automation knowledge, you cannot go wrong with this book. You will not become a CEDIA ESC after reading, but you'll be on your way!
- Amazon Customer Review
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