I was broken into ... last questions before purchase

[Armadillo Soup <louispoint@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Like a lot of people that pop up in all of a sudden, I was just broken
into last Thursday. They stole my digital camera and my headphones.
Apparently the guy broke into 6 places within a few block radius.

Anyway ... I realize all security is a balance between cost and
convenience. Just how much money, time, and effort are you willing to put
into being secure ?

I live in a crappy apartment and probably will continue to for a long
time to come. Basically I have a TV, stereo, and computer. Anything that
was small and valuable this thief took last Thursday. So in short, it
wouldn't make a lot of sense to spend a fortune on securing my place ...
it obviously makes no sense to spend more than your stuff is worth !

As far as the threat model I would like to defend against ... I think the
most realistic scenario is something like what happened last Thursday. A
realitively unplanned, fairly random break in. I can't see burglars
spending a lot of time and energy planning for an eleaborate breakin
where I live.

I am almost 100% confident that had ANY alarm sounded last Thursday, I
would still have my digital camera. This guy didn't want confrontation,
and he didn't want a lot of razzle dazzle, bright lights, or loud noises
I can tell you. If he is breaking into 6 places in a day, he doesn't have
time for sirens.

So ... considering all that, I was thinking of getting the Powermax+,
partly because it comes all ready to go, and I don't want to mess with a
monitoring service. The Paradox Magellan looks really cool but seems to
be a bit out of my price range. Also, it looks harder to set up. As for
the PowerMax+, I'd like to add one of the hardwired sirens to the unit if
I could, simply to add confusion and throw off the crook, in case he has
the nerve to try and disarm/yank it off the wall. I am confident
(considering I live in a cramped apartment complex) that the siren will
immediately scare off 80% of intruders in this area. Like I said, I do
not live in an area where carefully planned burglaries really make much
sense.

My only reservation is relying on wireless completely. The Powermax+ says
it can connect to 2 hardwired devices. One will hopefully be a siren. It
would be ideal if the other was a motion detector, but I don't see a
hardwired motion detector as a module.

Are these wireless units that easily jammed and disabled ? You think an
amatuer "crackhead" style thief would have the means to do so ? Some of
these crackheads are more talented than you might think ! Breaking into 6
places in a day shows at least some talent.

Anyway, if anyone has any last minute recommendations for me, I'll take
them. Right now my only security is a radio I left on today when I went
to work ! Far from Ideal.

Things I consider important:
1) No monitoring service required.
2) Ability to disarm via telephone ? I think I'd like to do this. I'm
considering setting up a camera that can post images/video to an external
website via my Linksys wireless router.
3) Cost and ease of use ... proportionate to what I am trying to protect:
$600 TV/DVD player
$400 stereo
$1500 computer
These are the only things I own of value in the world. All my clothes are
from the thrift store.  :)

Lastly, just how common/frequently do you get false alarms ? Is this from
flakey units ?  Wild exotic radio transmissions on your units frequency ?
I will be using 3 door sensors and 1 motion detector. I am a little
worried about the false alarms.

Cheers, and thanks for any final advice.