And the mighty return!  Yes your favourite alarm review site is back with yet another spectacular wireless home security alarm system review and today we are going to sit by the fire with some milk and cookies to give you the Visonic Powermax Alarm Review.

If you have never heard of the Visonic Powermax then why not?  In our last post we were complaining about how dull and dry the names these alarm companies are calling their products and along comes Visonic with “The Powermax!”.  We were genuinely considering giving it 10 out of 10 simply because it had a cool name.  Alas our professionalism conquered that thought so if you are considering purchasing this home security device, read on.

In our short time reviewing alarms we have unfortunately come across one or two rather unsavoury points of view regarding wireless alarm systems and their ability to actually … erm … work.  Well we have to just say that this is not true.  Well it’s not true when considering the Visonic Powermax as this is one of the most assuring home alarm systems in quite some time.

With its “code secure” technology ensuring that external scanners don’t pick up any of the signals, this is no ordinary “do it yourself” alarm.  In actual fact it genuinely isn’t.  As apparently it comes under the BS6799 Class 5 standards, but that’s enough tech talk for one day!

Where were we?  Oh that’s right; we were doing our eagerly anticipated Visonic Powermax alarm review!  The alarm itself will set you back around £199 but if you shop around you may get a better price but don’t count on it.

What Do You Get With This Wireless Home Security Alarm System?

What do you get for your hard earned money?  Well you get the control panel obviously, a key or fob if you will which you can remotely access the alarm system and you will also get 2 door sensors.  It has to be said however, there has been reports that this system only comes with 1 sensor, either we were lucky or this was simply an error on Visonics part we don’t know.

So once we opened up the box and got rid of the packaging we did what we always do and tried to set up the system using solely the manufacturer’s user manual for the alarm kit.  One thing that Visonic has got correct is the fact that they know their target audience, they got their branding spot on and the set up is tailored to those with no home security experience what so ever.

That gives Visonic mega brownie points in the eye of Cool Home Security as we always feel that there are far too many companies these days creating their manuals as if the only people that will use their alarms are individuals with a brain the size of a small planet.

We will never understand why they do this; it’s as if wireless security setup is an exclusive club with only tech geeks and brain boxes with an invite.  Don’t get us wrong, you won’t find bigger tech geeks than us at Cool Home Security but when you consider that these devices will be used by people from all different aspects of life, young and old you begin to realise the importance of a user manual “for dummies” when setting up alarms.

Aesthetically the alarm ticks all the right boxes.  It has a very nice design that can be said is quite original when comparing it to other wireless security systems out there.  It’s not a futuristic design by any means but it certainly looks quite stylish and would find a home in any fashion conscious alarm lovers (Do they even exist?).

How Durable Is The Visonic Powermax Wireless Home Security Device?

We found that the installation went pretty straight forward; we managed to hang it up on the wall without any issues to said alarm or wall.  Once we installed the anti tamper features it comes with we then proceeded with giving it a good thumping.

We like to call it our “Durability test”.  If you are a regular reader of our alarm reviews you will already know what the test involves.  For those new to the site we simply take a hammer and try and smash the alarm off the wall.

Why do we do this?  Simple, it’s because we are clinically insane.

Not really, we do it because if you are in the unfortunate situation where a burglar has entered your house and your alarm goes off; the thief will 99 times out of 100 take one of two different choices.  He/she (equal rights and all) with either run out of your house as fast as they can or they will try to bash the alarm in the desperate hopes that the siren will fall silent.

The sad fact is that sometimes the burglar is successful when they try this, and that is why it is important to test the durability of the alarm once it is secure in your houses.  What use would our wireless alarm reviews be if we praised an alarm system only to find that our mailbox was overflowing with angry folk complaining about the fact their alarms got smashed off the wall and they were on the receiving end of a nasty break and entering episode.

No one wants that to happen hence we will continue to smash alarms with a hammer.  In addition to this it’s a rather fun thing to do too.  It can be a bit of a pain to tidy the remains of the alarm up but every silver lining has a cloud.

Long story short, the Visonic Powermax passed the durability test and although the alarm did come off the wall eventually, it took a while to get the alarm to stop.  This ensures us that whoever tries to break in to a house with this system set up they will be in for a hard time.

We would like to end this review by saying that the Visonic is a great piece of hardware, it does have some minor issue with regards to the manual but the diagrams are probably enough to allow even the most non-technological individual set the device up.

We can confidently say that this wireless home security system will keep you and your family safe.  It looks good, it’s secure, it’s a bit pricey but it’s still a very robust piece of home security.  The Visonic Powermax alarm review gets a score of 7 out of 10.

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Another day another alarm review and this time we are going to be getting stuck right into the InGrid SK803IG alarm review.  Why these alarm companies insist on the driest product names is beyond us, we are patiently waiting for the “Proctor Zap!” or the “Skylink Mega Siren!”.  Something tells us that we shall be waiting patiently for many moons yet to come.

Terrible product naming aside, it wasn’t actually that long ago we did our last review.  If you missed that it was the GE 45142 Choice Alert and we were rather impressed by it.  So the InGrid has a lot to live up to if it is to keep the good alarm reviews light burning, how will it fair?  Read on young ones and you shall find out.

If you are a regular reader of Cool Home Security then please call the doctor, there is something very, very wrong with you.  You will also know that we are the harshest alarm critics in the solar system and we test and test again pretty much every aspect of the alarms we test.

This is good for a few reasons namely that it allows you guys to make a more educated decision instead of allowing the terrible alarm manufacturers product description lie to you.  So well done you regular reader, pat yourself on the back before you call the authorities.

No let’s get stuck into what the InGrid SK803IG alarm review and find out what it can do and figure out if this nifty device is indeed that … nifty!

We have to hold our hands up; this alarm system kit is quite cool.  In actual fact, it’s more than that, its borderline next generation tech we are witnessing with this home security product.  Don’t believe us?  Well tough!  No not really, we shall explain all.

We Were Impressed With The Ingrid SK803IG

To begin with we were more impressed with this security device than the majority of most professionally installed home security, impressive stuff no doubt.  It is also one of the most durable alarm systems we have seen this year.

With all our alarms we test it for breakages and try some impact trauma on it too (That’s right, we hit it with a hammer and see if it breaks).  For anyone considering the InGrid you will be glad to hear that it was like trying to break into a walnut with candy floss.  Try as we may, we simply could not destroy this thing.

This is a good thing when you consider that the thief usually has two options when a home alarm goes off.  They either run away with their tail between their legs or they try and physically break the system.  If any thief tried the latter they would find themselves on the receiving end of a losing battle.

The usability of the InGrid SK803IG was quite impressive too.  We were able to seamlessly connect the device during our InGrid SK803IG alarm review to more than one of the usual suspects.  Once connected to a cordless telephone, mobile phone or even a remote web browser such as Internet Explorer or the popular (and simply better) Firefox.  Once connected we never had any issues with basic operation.

That’s the thing with this wireless home security alarm system, it simply works.  We had an idea it would after the initial “durability test”.  All round it’s a pretty solid performance from InGrid, and we will hold our hands up we honestly thought we wouldn’t see eye to eye with this alarm when we first read its technical specification.

Well to be honest it wasn’t its tech specs that bothered us too much, yes they aren’t the greatest of reading when you consider the other so called “power house” alarms on the market today.  No, our biggest gripe with this alarm was yes you guessed it, monthly fee!

In their defence it does come with a 30 day money back guarantee but gee whiz do we hate the monthly fee alarm systems.  We have mentioned it before, these payment plans will soon be a thing of the past as no home owner in their right mind will opt for a monthly contract when they can find devices these days that are more than capable of taking full control of their home security at an absolute fraction of the price.

Anyway, enough about that.  What was the alarm like to set up?  We hear you scream from the rooftops.  Well it was … OK, we at Cool Home Security are a bunch of professionals who have been in the security industry quite some time.  In fact many of us read user manuals for breakfast.

We do however have to consider the way a normal more wholesome human being would read these manuals and when we were reading the user manual for the InGrid alarm.  We have a slight idea that some would struggle.

Some serious tech jargon to be found in the instructions.  A breeze to super professional folk like us but for 70 year old Miss Flanagan may be problematic.

Thankfully, if they were to get over the slight alarm system geek speak found in the set up, the average person shouldn’t have too much of a problem in getting this sweet piece of anti theft protection up and running and catching those criminals in no time.

To wrap up, we were really surprised with this security device.  Pleasantly so.  Yes there were a few minor issues with the set up for novices but we are slightly nitpicking with that gripe.

If you are in need of an affordable home security system then the InGrid SK803IG might be right up your street.  Of course when we say affordable, we mean affordable in the respect of all other monthly fee alarms.

We of course always recommend going for a wireless home security system that requires only a one off payment.  Hopefully with our recommendations companies who charge monthly fees will think twice about their business model.  This can only be a good thing for consumers of security products in the future.  Now, our rating?  The InGrid SK803IG alarm review gets a safe 8 out of 10!

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Well, I think it might be, is it? … Yes!  Its wireless home security alarm system review time!  We know, we know, you have missed us.  It’s natural for you to feel sad as we are of course simply the best alarm review site on the net!  So what is in Santa’s alarm (Too early for Santa jokes?) grotto today then children?  Well it’s only a bleeding GE 45142 Choice Alert alarm review!  Not a mouthful either, that name simply rolls off the tongue.  Snappy!

We began testing this alarm early September then completely forgot to complete our tests, unprofessional we know but we were busy planning and designing this website so we can be excused.

GE 45142 Choice Alert Alarm Review

Anyway, down to business as usual, what does this alarm do?  What can it do?  Well lets take little sneak peak at the unbiased (yeah right) manufacturers description shall we?  Yes, I think we shall.

Apparently the GE 45142 offers absolutely all you need in a wireless alarm control centre.  God knows what that means.  Bashing on, it does have a good amount of zones, four separate ones to be precise and that adds value to the sensors it has too.  16 to be preciser (is that even a word?!).

It all adds up to being a wireless alarm system that allows you the lucky user the ability to customise the alarm to quite a few specific situations.  This is rather pleasing as throughout or testing when we review alarms, one thing always becomes apparent when we do these, everyone’s requirements for an alarm system is different so we welcome the fact it lets users have some flexibility.

During the GE 45142 Choice Alert alarm review we found that the keypad that comes with this alarm is pretty cool in our humble opinion; it’s a 5 button device and fits in the hand rather nicely.  It has quite a quick pairing setup meaning that if you want to connect this with a wireless system or another alarm based accessory you can and with ease.  Thankfully there is no need to get the tools out to pair this up to other devices, always a good thing as we are rather lazy here at Cool Home Security.

Okay that’s the basics out the way, now on to the meat of the device, the alarm itself.  And the meat of the device is a good term to use as this alarm certainly belts out quite a noise.  In fact I was a little scared that it may break a window due to how high pitched it was.  In our opinion we can always replace a window no problem, just as long as the burglar or thief gets a heart attack from the siren we will be happy!

But is this Wireless Home Security Alarm System Loud?

It’s actually hitting around the 130 decibel level even though the manufacturers states that it’s a lowly 120.  We tested this a few times under a few different recording devices and it was consistently over or around 130 decibels.  Definitely enough to wake you and the neighbours in case of any home based emergency or break in’s.

The Choice Alert wireless home security alarm system is of course one part of the alert endless line of products.  We are a little sceptical on the business model of this, we have always been a fan of getting more than what we pay for and to find out that this was only a section of a complete package certainly left a bad taste in our mouths.

Sadly though this is just a small facet of business and we can see this bite size business model everywhere we look not just the wireless alarm industry.

To the manufacturers credit, the alarm is pretty easy to get up and running.  No sweat was visible in the set up to this alarm device and no stress was felt.  Nothing worst than getting a nice brand new alarm only to find you require a degree in electronics to read the user manual.  We always take a point or two off for lazy user manuals, gladly though this alarms manual was easy to understand and thankfully was in plain English thank god!

Other advantages to this alarm kit are that it’s a one off purchase, no need for monthly or bi monthly fees.  This can be a sign of a bad alarm but in these times we know how important money can be to consumers with regards to home security and no one in their sane mind wants to pay a monthly fee for an alarm.  In fact we at Cool Home Security predict that more and more companies will be getting rid of the monthly fee model as they will soon realise that there are many perfectly capable alarms available to home owners at the fraction of the cost and with no subscription payment to boot!

At the end of the day (wait we are an alarm review site, not footballers!) we think this alarm is pretty good.  It’s nothing amazing by any means but it certainly can do a lot of things other alarms can not.

It wont win any awards at the annual alarm Oscars (we made that up) but it can keep your house safe and that at the end of the day (not again!) is all that matters.

We spent more than 3 hours debating what score to give this alarm as we were weighing up its pros and its cons against some of the alarm reviews on our site already as well as comparing it to the other wireless alarm systems out there for this price point.

And with the wild debate now over we are pleased to say that the GE 45142 Choice Alert alarm review gets a very respectable 7 out of 10.  Not bad at all we think.  You can do a lot better than it, but you certainly can do a hell of a lot worse.  The GE Choice is a safe choice for those wishing to keep their belongings safe and secure this winter.

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