Purchasing Ion Xe, wanting a Designer view solution.

Question

We are currently planning to purchase the ION XE, and have some money leftover in the project budget. Id like to add a secondary control location for a designer, and am having difficulty finding a straight forward answer tat will be effective both now and in the future. Ultimately, Id like a way for a designer to see what the board is doing, and if possible, be able to program / make changes remotely. 
 There are two products that sound like they could be beneficial, and from what I've heard, they are both comparable in pricing. 
 First, the Remote Video Interface3, RVI3. From what I have been told the RVI3 can view what the console is doing, and can even change views. So the designer can see different things on it's screen than what the console is looking at. However, the RVI3 cannot make changes. Is this an accurate statement? 
 Next, the Nomad Puck. Its a cheaper solution than buying an additional console. If I'm not mistaken, when networked together, and with the right settings, the Puck could control the Ion XE, such as change views, adjust cues, etc. Is that true? Would the Puck need to run in Client or Backup Mode? I have heard though that the Puck runs on Window 7, so the two may not be compatible over the long run, is that true? Does this mean the Ion XE runs on Windows 10? 
 I hope this all makes sense. Are there any other options I haven't thought of? 
 Thanks!

ueliriegg · Answer

the RVI and Puck can mostly do the same thing, they just come in a different box. both as well as the Xe run the same operating system, but it actually doesn't even matter for the connectivity. and you can also us a laptop to do the same (PC or Mac). 
 when you decide if you want to run the Puck as client or backup (or even as primary) you need to be aware how licenses work. every "console" (no matter the shape or size of the box, so in your case the Xe, the Puck and the RVI) has an output license. it describes how many addresses (not universes or parameters) the console is allowed to output. backup and primary look at their license and together figure out how big the output license for the whole system is (it's the lower between primary and backup). clients just need the license but don't care about the size of the license. RVI, Puck and Xe come with a license integrated, if you want to use a laptop you will need to buy a license in form of the ETCnomad dongle, but then it can also be primary, backup or client. 
 from the user's point of view it doesn't matter if you run a station as primary, backup or client. they are all equal interfaces. the only difference is that the primary has the additional job of calculating the output, and the backup needs to make sure the master is still there and if not take over output.but programming can happen from primary, backup and client. which is actually something happening a lot in real life. 
 regarding the designer looking at what the console does: yes, absolutely. even with a laptop without dongle 
 regarding the designer looking at what the console does and changing views: yes, absolutely, but you need a license for that, so in case of the laptop solution you would need to have the ETCnomad dongle. 
 regarding the designer looking at what the console does and changing views and programming as well: yes, absolutely, but you need a license for that (cf. above). and you need to think about how the designer will be able to input his commands. there is no facepanel to press buttons, neither with RVI, Puck nor laptop. you can use the virtual facepanel view in the software (even better with a touchscreen), think about a programmable keybaord (PI engineering's X-Keys come to mind) or depending on budget about an Eos Programming Wing which adds the exact same facepanel like the Xe to your designer's station. 
 does that help?

Purchasing Ion Xe, wanting a Designer view solution.

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