The Simon is a great wireless system. I absolutely love it but for
what your freind needs, this might not be enough. A better panel would
be the Visonic Powermax. The only reason it's better is because it can
dial up to 4 different numbers and then initiate a two-way voice
session. What this means is he can actually hear what's going on
inside the house and talk to the intruder/unexpected visitor/wife's
boyfreind/whatever and actually verify the alarm himself. If the Simon
offers this, I'm unaware. The Ver. 2 did not but Ver. 3 may, I haven't
used that panel much but I do like Simon. The best damn x-10
functionality out of any alarm panel on the market plus it's easy to
program. The visonic has x-10 features but they're no where near as
good or as versatile. I guess it depends on what you want to do with
the system.
I'd watch E-bay for one of these system. You shouldn't pay anymore
than $250 for a complete kit, if you do, you're paying too much. If
you need help programming either one, the vendors offer excellent
customer service but it's not usually for end-users. There is some
technical knowledge that he is going to need to put this thing in but I
imagine finding someone to help won't be too difficult if he runs into
problems. I know there's some companies out there that will program
the thing for you right over the phone for about $25 or you can find a
local wholesaler and try and find an installer whose looking for work
on the side. Call the distributor and tell them what you're looking
for and they'll pass it onto someone for a quote. Or you can use an
online referral service to help as well. If he needs a contract
installer, don't pay more than $100 for a basic install and $10 a
contact over the basic. If you do, you're just getting ripped off.
They're just doing a simple hang and bang so $100 is fair.
A basic should include:
2 wireless doors
1 Wireless motion
Maybe 1 Fob, I know the Simon and Visonic have a package that has a fob
1 Transformer
1 Keypad
(wires ran in the wall if possible or stapled neatly down the wall and
hidden as best as possible)
A phone line connection, preferably with line siezure but in an
apartment, it may not be worth the trouble and extra expense.
One thing he should absolutely get is fire protection. Absolutely,
must have it, don't even think about not getting it. Tell him to get
one smoke detector that's tied in the system and make sure the system
can dial someone other than him (like his mom or someone).
Other options are the Ademco Lynx which is widely used where I live.
I'm not a huge fan of it but it's what they give me to put in. DSC
Envoy, it looks sweet but I've never used it. And that's about all, I
hope this helps.
