The ECOS is IMO far and away the most attractive controller on the market. See Jerry Quinn's excellent comments on the sorry state of dcc aesthetics here. The ECOS does everything I'm aware one could want such a unit it do, and it does it well insofar as I've observed. The UI is good, the touchscreen is good, the color display looks good and overall it's very easy to work with.
Programming is really easy! Previously I used a Trix mobile station and in a word it is shit. Perhaps that set the bar low, but I love my ECOS. I have my layout mapped in it, I have all my engines with custom graphics (All the default icons are European, but you can upload your own). If you choose to use this with the radio control throttle you will be limited to their default iconic euro symbols however. (That is, you only get to see your fancy custom bitmaps on the touch screen).
The ECOS exists on my network! All computers in my house can see it. Software on my PCs can access it and manipulate the trains and switches. It can produce output via it's html interface, like logs and rosters. It's really easy to update with new versions of it's software. This is also how you upload your own locomotive images. I’ve made custom art for all my engines not already included, easy to photoshop, and looks great.
My ipad and iphone can see it too, and using iCab I can run my trains from both. The software updates seem to come every few months and have added new features each time. I'd liken it to getting an update for your iphone's iOS. Sometimes it's mainly bugs, sometimes it adds something cool. The key thing is that the software is an ongoing project, buying an ECOS is buying into a platform that's being actively developed, it's not just an appliance like other controllers.
I’ve tried out touchcab for the iphone/ipad and it works as advertised, though it seems more a novelty then a controller replacement.
The ESU website annoyingly requires your serial number before you can download firmware updates, and it’s verified manually, so I had to wait a few days to get it. A onetime issue, but an annoyance.
Complaints: The only real improvement I’d like to see is an upgrade to the quality of the plastics used for the housing. I want it to feel like it was made by Apple and not Acer. Also, it has no power button. You can shutdown the software but to power it down it must be unplugged. Odd.
Also, I have found that Fleishmann 6 pin NEM 651 decoders do not run smoothly with Railcom feedback enabled on the ECOS. I'm not sure who owns that bug, but it did cause me some annoyance.
Using the track mapping feature I spent about 45 minutes to map out my layout thus far. I can now tap the switches and uncouplers on the map to throw them, and the graphics update. Sweet. As a means of operating those however, I think the amount of attention the map requires makes it a little impractical, though, the little switch icons are kinda small. Still, the really important thing is that the ECOS can control it, which means my PC can, and my phone can, and with the sensors I plan to install the whole thing will run itself to a degree one day.
So there you go. Overall, a really nice box.
Thumbnails below, here's the day it arrived:
great review... I am new to Ecos and thinking about buying one. I come from a Digitrax Loconet background using DS50 and DS64 etc. Those worked really well, but you had to be a bloody genius to work it out most of the time. Scrolling through menus is painful. this Ecos looks too easy to be true. Tell me, what point controllers you use to control from Ecos. Can it hook up to standard peco point motors?
ReplyDeleteregards
steve