OmniTouch 7s or wall-mounted iPad Minis running Space?

[eddy]

I'm getting ready to do a new Omni install and I'm trying to determine the pros and cons of OmniTouch 7s versus wall-mounted iPad Minis running Space (the replacement for Haiku).
 
I don't have any direct experience with the OT7... all of my previous Omni installs have used the traditional Omni keypads and Haiku for convenience and remote use.
 
One benefit of the OT7 to me is the hard-wired connectivity and PoE power (the PoE switch will be on a UPS), making installation seemingly more reliable since I like hard-wired devices. (Then again, this is 10Mb half-duplex we're talking about...  ) Another benefit is the status LED: being able to quickly glance and see if the system is armed or disarmed is nice.
 
Although iPad Minis are relatively inexpensive compared to an OT7, you do have to factor in the price of a decent wall mount and a (code-compliant) way to get power to them. (My current favorite after some searching is something like this mount and their power setup.)
 
I'm looking for feedback from folks who have used both the OT7 and Space (or even Haiku) to let me know how they think it would compare to a wall-mounted iPad Mini.
 
Some questions I have to start:

1. Do OT7s have a loud sounder like the normal Omni keypads that augment the interior siren? Will Space (in Kiosk mode) make any noise? (Is an iPad Mini speaker in a wall-mount even audible?)
2. Are there any plans for Space to have a fixed set of on-screen buttons like the OT7 does for Home / Back / Security / Settings? (I find having some consistent UI elements makes the system easier to explain to others, especially the "Security" button since that will be a primary use-case.)
3. I'm not a fan of how many taps it takes to arm the system via Space: Tap the "shield" icon (not obvious to the casual user), find the area icon in the top left (all the other zones are displayed as well, making this tap non-obvious to the casual user), tap the area icon, tap the word "Disarmed" (again, not obvious to the casual user), tap "Away" in the pop-up menu, and finally enter the security code. Is arming via an OT7 faster?

Having not used an OT7 it's hard for me to do an in-depth comparison with Space, so I'm hoping there's some folks out there who can iterate more pros and cons.
 
Thanks! 
 

 

[mattw22]

I'd recommend the Launchport wall mounts.. It's more versatile with the ipad's.. You can move the ipad's around and then dock it on the wall when you want to or just leave it always on the wall.. And they  always come out with sleeves for every new ipad so you won't be locked into one model after you open the wall up.
 
On the OT7's even with a UPS and POE when the power goes out I doubt you'll have much run time. I would still recommend at least one hardwired control pad especially during a power outage.

 

[eddy]

Thanks for the insight about the Launchport wall mounts. They do look really nice!
 
A hardwired "keypad style" console is required to maintain a UL rating with an Omni panel, so there will definitely be one of those.
 
For now, I'm mostly interested in comparisons of the OT7 to wall-mounted iPads (running something like Space) in terms of functionality, response time, ease-of-use, etc.