Re: Allegro vs. Lynx for a small student apartment

["Mark Leuck" <m..leuck@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Bill" <lost.beach@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1153539226.628367.89070@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> shady wrote:
> > Allegro - great little wireless system, especially with the DTIM
module...
> > menu based programming in english and nothing too technical... after
> > installing maybe 20 now, it takes about 5 minutes to program without a
> > manual... also everything is lightweight (panel, door contacts, motions,
> > etc.) so you don't need to overdo it with the screws, which will make
your
> > manager happier if you ever move out
>
> What little there is to read about the Allegro online (outside of
> official documentation that GE keeps in their restricted,
> installer-only archives) seemed to suggest it would be a much less
> annoying install than the Lynx.

Worry not about the restricted site, the main dufus here will soon post the
login

I don't quite know what you mean by a Lynx annoying install but I know quite
a bit about the Allegro, Lynx and Simon and the Allegro isn't close to the
other two systems in features or variety of sensors, then again it wasn't
designed that way

> I'm fairly technically inclined, but looking over the Lynx installation
> manual suggests Ademco decided to go with a "good enough" approach to
> making the programming experience friendly to the installer. I kept
> telling myself "There is no reason it should be this way" while reading
> the entire text.

Then I suggest you rethink your "I'm technically inclined" opinion since
what you just said makes no sense, there is nothing about the Lynx that was
designed to be "good enough" in fact it has more features than some of
Honeywell's other conventional systems

> The industrial design of the Lynx is pitiful. It really does look as if
> it should be gathering dust on a Radio Shack shelf circa 1986. The
> Allegro shows what you can do when size and appearance are taken into
> account during the initial design phase. The Lynx (along with the
> PowerMax and Simon lines) are ridiculously bulky and call far too much
> attention to themselves.

Compared to the Allegro they ARE bulky because because they have more
features such as 2-way voice, larger battery backup, terminals for a zone,
X-10 and external siren/speakers. I also know what Radio Shack had on the
shelf back then and no system out today is that crappy

You can't compare the Allegro to the other all-in-one panels, they are each
designed for different purposes, the Allegro is the cheapest way to get a
basic wireless panel, the Simon/Lynx are more expensive and have many more
features

> If it's the former, then I really wish they had bundled the
> control/DTIM together and kept the keypad/sounder separate.

Now you are starting to see the problem with the Allegro, the problem with
it is if you require ANYTHING more it cannot deliver whereas the Simon and
Lynx can.