Yeah, you know it's going to be expensive when you have to call and ask for a quote. It's funny that even the expensive options haven't figured out how to make a quiet electric motor. If you don't mind me asking, how much did yours end up costing per window?
Someone else mentioned the ikea shades coming out in October, so I might wait and see how those are. Potentially much cheaper, but no slatted blind effect, so the only option would be to fully raise/lower them (and deal with whatever noise that generates).
Just a thought about a potential mechanism, off the top of my head (which I'm sure has many issues).
Opening blinds is generally a morning thing, and ideally would want to be the quiet option if you could only have one option which was quiet (theoretically speaking). What if the electric motor drove the blinds down by pulling a counter weight. That way in the morning to open the blinds it would only need to release the weight, which wouldn't require any substantial movement and therefore limit noise...?
A similar effect could be achieved by replacing gravity/counterweights with a simple spring or hydraulic cylinder.
My standing desk operates similarly to assist in raising it.
Someone else mentioned the ikea shades coming out in October, so I might wait and see how those are. Potentially much cheaper, but no slatted blind effect, so the only option would be to fully raise/lower them (and deal with whatever noise that generates).