My AI Vegas: First Impressions.

As a follow up, here's some thoughts about the AI wireless controller.

I find it to be a little bit underwhelming. "Wireless" refers only to how it communicates with the LEDS. Otherwise, it has to be powered via a mini-usb cable. So, if anyone is expecting it to be like some remote control that you can dock to recharge, you're out of luck. I'd have to say that AquaIllumination's marketing is a tad deceptive. It's always pictured fully powered with no cable attached. Also, the controller is the brains of the operation. If you turn it off, or it stops working, the lights will stay locked in whatever state they are in until the controller reconnects.

Functionally, the controller is fine. The screens are easy to navigate, and changing the settings are a breeze. The coral acclimation mode is a nice touch as well. You pick a starting intensity, and then pick how many days you'd like the Vega's to take to ramp up to full power.

I was a little surprised that there is no direct way to trigger a weather effect to demo. You can enable them via a menu, and then opt to have them start immediately. However, the effect that you get is random. So, if you're hoping to show off a lightning storm to your friends, you may instead trigger 5 or 6 cloudy periods in a row.

I suppose my biggest gripe with the controller is that it totally crapped out on me today! I can't get it to power on. It seems to be bricked, and I did nothing unusual with it. There's also the faint odour of "electrical burning" coming from it. So, I'm stuck manually controlling my LEDs until I can get a replacement. That will be a bit of an issue when I go back to work because I'm away from home for about 13 hours at a time.

On the positive side, I've heard good things about AI's customer support. I guess I'll get to test that out.

 

That's a bit disappointing to hear about the controller. Hopefully they'll release the Director soon. I just ordered a Vega color with the controller, but I may send the controller back if AI actually had any information on the Director at MACNA.

 

Sorry to hear this, hopefully you'll get to the bottom of this.

 

Just as a follow up, after contacting AI support, they have shipped me out a new controller. There was a slight delay in them replying to my support request because the entire company was at MACNA apparently, so I can't really fault them for that.

Also, if anyone else is considering these lights, AI support told me that the ideal hanging height is 6"-8" above the water line. I thought I would pass that along because I couldn't find the information anywhere else despite a few google searches.