In addition, the installation software, based on the answers to its questions, automatically sets up certain macro commands to perform numerous functions at once. For example, when you press the button to play a DVD, the system will switch every component it needs to for that function to activate. The installer can set up other tasks, called scripts, as well. Use a motion sensor to kick on the music system when your car pulls into the driveway. You no longer have to remember any of it. I’m confident that all but the most dim-witted of dealers could install this home automation system.

The in-wall wireless or wired mini touchpanel is extremely handy if you don’t have a TV to see the on-screen interface. From the panel, you can control music, video, lights, temperature and more.

Control4 left me with three different means of controlling the system: a handheld remote, a wireless touchpanel, and a wired in-wall mini touchpanel (a wireless in-wall mini touchpanel is also available for retrofit applications.) The handheld remote comes with the Media Controller and uses wireless technology (not IR or RF) to communicate with the system. This means it will work as far as your wireless network will reach, which is cool. Get a bunch and just leave them around the house.

The remote is handy and well laid out, but otherwise isn’t much different than a typical universal remote. The small LCD panel that displays music server information is a nice touch. The remote is particularly simple to use with the system’s on-screen interface, less so without it. In fact, if you commit yourself to use the on-screen interface, I’m not really sure you need a wireless touchpanel at all.

Both the large, wireless touchpanel and the wired or wireless in-wall mini touchpanel use the same graphics as the handheld remote’s on-screen interface. This makes the system control consistent from one interface to the next. The larger panel could replace the handheld remote in the theater, while the in-wall version is intended as an upgrade from a three or six button keypad in a more distant location. The latter can also output any audio signal on the network to an external amp or powered speakers, which is a really neat feature, and the panel is handy when a TV is not around.

Touchpanels are inherently more intuitive than handheld remotes—you can just press the function you want, instead of moving a cursor and selecting it—and these are no exception.