*photo
courtesy
Zebra Chelsea Limited
It
used to be that people would come to the Bahamas to drop
out, get
away
from
everything,
and just
get
comfy island-style.
With busy lifestyles nowadays demanding instant information
and the latest in automation and entertainment choices, it's
a lot different now.
High tech has hit the Bahamas. Breathe easy
though. It's definitely technology island-style, with most
if not all of the tech wizardry
ready to make it easier, more comfortable, and more enjoyable
to just sip
that cool
drink, lay back, and relax.
A home can be completely pre-wired or retrofitted
to accommodate video, audio, data, security, motion sensors,
and temperature monitors throughout. With in-ceiling speakers
and
data points
in every
room, your house can now sense where you are in the
house and adjust the temperature and lighting as you move from
room-to-room, area-to-area.
 To completely wire a new home to be tech-ready
is not so bad on the wallet, according to Ian Bethell, principal
of BahamasBest in Nassau, a company specializing in turnkey
home automation systems. A complete installation of high-grade
control cabling for everything
from
lighting
to
surveillance,
video to internet, temperature control to audio, will start
at about $7000.
Present clients of BahamasBest
installations now sit in their offices in New York and
"watch" their homes in Harbour Island, Lyford Cay, Paradise
Island, and Freeport. With six or eight cameras set in strategic
locations
around their island homes, it is just like being there. A digital
recorder logs everything seen by the cameras, creating a reviewable
history of everything that has happened in the home during
the previous period.
If you like to work on your laptop but don't
want to have to be confined to wherever the phone jack is,
you can get wired for wireless.
Referred to as "Wi-Fi", this is a system
for those who don't like wires. Digital data transmitters placed
in strategic
points
about
your
home
and
gardens completely
free you. Your laptop picks up the signal anywhere. Stay attached
to the internet in the cabana or on the patio, then move to
the kitchen without touching a wire. The range varies depending
on the model, and unlike Superman, the transmission signal
does not see through concrete.
What about getting power to some of the more
remote spots in your home to light up your pc? With a new technology
called "PoE", or "power over ethernet", you just run one cable
and plug it in. Current up to 48 volts- more than enough
to run a pc- and flat screen monitor. This means powering up
once at a central pc hidden away in a closet then just running
standard Cat5 ethernet cable to wherever you want in your environ.
Voila! Instant power without calling an electrician in to rewire.
The home entertainment room is where the
newest technology really underlines elegant living in the Bahamas.
Not only can you purchase the very latest in flat-screen, projector
and high end audio, but you can also get warranty servicing
if anything goes wrong.
 Richard
Symonette, Technical Sales & Support Engineer at Satellite
Bahamas, tells us that the latest trends
are the new Sony and Panasonic plasma screens. At 52",
the quality
of the
picture
is causing some instant love affairs with the new screens.
Starting at $10,000, they are becoming a standard ingredient
in luxury home installations.
Combined with surroundsound, you get the
complete home theatre experience. When the picture and sound
source are both digital, you actually get the same quality
as the producers put together in the video editing room and
the recording studio.
Richard also was quick to point out
that DVD recorders have become
very
popular.
It
is
now
easier
to make a DVD copy than to make a video tape, and there
is virtually no degradation of image or sound. If you are on a remote island, even without
a telephone line, you can still get high-speed internet
access with Hughes/Direcway internet satellite, the foundation
product of Satellite Bahamas. With speeds almost as fast
as DSL and cable-based internet access, two-way satellites
are easily installed in any location. Prices start at around
$1800, with a monthly fee. Once installed, the systems
are dependable and durable.
One of the outstanding technology
supply situations in the Bahamas is Dell. Serviced by
Dell Latin
America, you
can buy any Dell pc, server or laptop computer online without
any duty or tax, and have it delivered right to your home.
Amazingly,
warranties
for
Dell offer inhome servicing, and they mean it. Technicians
will either come out of Puerto Rico or Nassau. You may be
asked to send your computer in to Nassau, but the service
is fast,
professional and polite.
And there is more. The rule of thumb
is that if you can get it in the US, you can get it here.
The Bahamas
has
about
the
same level of technology available as the
most
advanced
countries.
So now when you see someone chilling
in the Bahamas with a
cool
drink
in
one
hand,
chances
are you'll see a remote control in the other.
Some further Links:
kef.com -
High-quality speakers
smr-home-theatre.org -
Non-commercial information about home theatre equipment
bahamasbest.com High-end
home entertainment supplier in the Bahamas (note: link may
not be active at time of press. Bahamas Best was working
on bringing a new site online)
rsymonette@direcway.com Satellite
Bahamas, for remote high-speed internet
www.hometheatreinteriors.com -
accessories for the home theatre (yes, they have popcorn
machines...)
www.dolby.com/ht/ -
Sound gurus at Dolby talk about home theatre
http://www.zebra.uk.com/ -
London-based home theatre design company
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