Panelview - standard vs plus

I have few questions:

1. Apart from the software used to program, is there any difference between Panelview std and Panelview plus?

2. With the Panelview standard, we update the program by just plugging in the memory card (containing .PVA) and cycling the power. The program will get downloaded automatically. I know with the Panelview plus you can download the program with a memory card but does anyone know if it can be done automatically (I do not want to give a huge instruction to a non-technical customer)..

3. I heard a rumor that Panelview standard is going to be discontinued. Is there any truth to this?

Thanks!

Panelview + comes with ethernet. It also uses RSView Studio and they seem to be (generally speaking) cheaper. As long as you put a 'go to config' button on your app you can load multiple applications and choose which to run.

As to wether it will load up an app from a CF card and run automatically, I'm not sure.

I dont think PV is going away any time soon as i still see a bunch of them being installed by OEMs.

Comparing PV Standard to PV+ is like comparing RS500 to RS 5000. It is much more capable, many more options. It is primarily ethernet based, but many other comm modules can be added for a price. But the ethernet is always there.

As far as loading fom a card automatically, I can't say that I have ever tried. I always just download across the network. But the previous post was correct in that you can load several programs to one screen then from the config screen choose which progam to run.

The PanelView Plus project load / project run menu in Configuration Mode is straightforward enough that some of my OEM customers provide a 1-page illustrated cheat-sheet for their non-English-reading customers.

On powerup, the PV+ will attempt to load and run whichever Runtime (*.MER) project file had been previously running on the terminal. If that project file is not found, the terminal goes to the Configuration mode.

One thing I've done to make the loading of a new project as painless as possible for a remote user is to make up a Batch file (*.BAT) that is executed by Autorun when a CF card or USB memory device is inserted. The batch file deletes the existing *.MER files and copies my new file (with the same *.MER filename) into the runtime directory. Cycle power to the PV+ and you're off and running. The drawbacks are the labor involved in making up the batch file, and the fact that I can't easily go back to the old Runtime because I wrote over it. I suppose I could use the Batch file to rename the old one instead... I haven't tried that.