Re: story about slink-e

I've had the Slink-e less than a year but I'm not sure how I got by without it.

Previously, our CD collection had to reside in another room; that is, separate from the family room where our music/home-theater is located. We seemed to always listen to the same 5 discs in the CD player. Now we've got two Sony 200 disc players up and running with CDJ and enjoy the variety that was too inconvenient before.

Beyond the beauty of running CD megachangers, Slink-e and it's associated software are great home automation controllers. Besides the relatively low price, I find provides four other capabilities:

1. IR remapping: I can use Slink-e to recognize any IR remote signal and generate any other remote signal. If I didn't already have an expensive universal remote, I wouldn't need to buy one. I could take any cheap remote that I liked (or already had) and set it up to control anything.

2. Automation macros: Upon receipt of any s-link or IR command, you can generate any sequence of IR or s-link commands. On top of that, I really like setting up macros with a computer. It's a lot easier and faster than with most universal remotes.

3. Remote IR transmit/receive: While the Slink-e isn't a wireless solution, it's a simple, effective way to add remote IR transmit/receive to any room in your house. OK, if this is all you wanted to do, you should go buy the $30-40 wireless solution from Radio Shack. But, as wired solutions go, this is a simple, low-cost (compared to many wired solutions), "extra" feature.

4. Finally, if you're comfortable with a little bit of programming, Slink-e is ultimately flexible. It's uncommon to find a product with all of it's "guts" laid out for others to build upon. The help documentation details all the low-level capabilities and how to use them. If you're comfortable with PC programming (using VB, VBA, Visual C++) you can use the power of Slink-e in your own programs.

If there's anything I'd like to see, it would be even more documentation. Of course, though, Nirvis keeps adding to their documentation all the time. I wouldn't let this hold you back, though, because ...

Slink-e and CDJ (their software program downloadable from their website) is one of the best supported products I've run across. Between their web BBS, mail list, and personal email support, I've got nothing to say but, "GREAT JOB". I watched the message boards before purchasing; I found them to be insightful. Since my purchase I've been nothing but pleased!

Keep up the good work, Nirvis!