I am looking for a remote control/quasi-home automation solution.

When I first embarked on this journey I was very intrigued by Savant. Unfortunately, I cannot justify spending $6,000 on a home automation system; just doesn't make sense for me right now.

I am hoping there is some kind of remote/av solution for under $1,000 that will accomplish the following:

I am attempting to control all of my components after they are relocated to a separate "equipment closet". From there, my Apple TV, AT&T Digital Cable Box/DVR, LG Blu-Ray, and Apple MacMini will connect to an AV Receiver (which I have not purchased yet). I would then run 1 HDMI from the AV Receiver to my living room TV (a Samsung PN58B860 Plasma).

What is the easiest solution to control everything in this closet? Obviously there is no line of sight. The remote would need to have the ability to communicate with all the devices listed above, including the TV.

As a bonus, it would be nice to control my window treatments (Somfy motors - RF), my thermostats, and possibly my lighting (have not yet purchased lutron dimmers, but may in the future). These aren't a "must" though.

I should note that I will probably be purchasing an iPad pretty soon. I've been waiting to figure out this remote question first. Ultimately I would love a solution that allowed me to program the remote myself and avoid having to pay programming fees. To me, the iPad makes the most sense for this. I just don't know if the iPad will allow me to do everything I want without some expensive 3rd party system (i.e. Savant). I should also tell you I own only Apple computers (I know you probably hate that). I mention this only to make you aware that any self programming of the remote would have to occur on the Mac platform and not live in the "PC-only" world.

Any advice you could give on a remote solution would be much appreciated. Also, any suggestions on what kind of AV Receiver would be nice as well. It may not matter though; I just assumed it would need to "play nice" with whatever ultimate solution I reached.

Thanks for your help.

Take a look at a IPad app IRule. It is a pretty complete package. They are constantly improving it.

There are also other ipad/iphone apps for remote control. Most will require either line of sight or a gateway device of some sort.

Other than that for self programming your other major choice would be some version of the phillips pronto line

Where exactly are you based? You could do an advanced control system with Bitwise controls for your budget. (ipad/itouch/iphone not included). If you are serious about control start with a sample RadioRa2 single room package consisting of the serial controller, and a couple of dimmers. That iwll give you forward ability to expand and a very powerful control system.

I am using it for my home control and it works GREAT.

Much appreciated.

How does the app control devices that aren't using line of sight? In my setup almost all the AV equipment will never be in line of sight. Is there some kind of gateway device or IR blaster? I couldn't readily tell from there website. Also, is the same true for components like Somfy window motors or Lutron dimmers? That is, are they also controlled via some sort of gateway device?

I'm based in San Diego. I live in a high-rise (all glass and concrete). I'll look into this RadioRa2. I hadn't heard of it.

I've had a couple of different home-automation guys out to my place, but they're constantly trying to push $7,000+ systems on me. I'll admit Savant is very cool, but I refuse to spend that kind of money for something I know can be done for less. I'm not afraid of learning to configure the system myself; in fact, I would prefer it. This way I'm not trapped when I want to change something, or if something goes wrong, I'm not relying on one person to fix it for $200/hr.

Is RadioRa2 Mac friendly? That is, does the programming allow for an apple based computer to configure it? Also, I assume an iPad/iPhone app communicates with some sort of gateway device, that in turn talks to your various components, lights, window motors, etc.? Is this correct? Does this system use IR blasters for the infared components? What about the lighting and window treatments?