Re: online DMP dealers?

[blueman <NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx>]

"Mark Leuck" <m..leuck@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
> "blueman" <NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:m2fy9hql8l.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > "Barney" <spam@xxxxxx> writes:
> > > "blueman" <NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > > news:m2wt2uqxxz.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > > Well, the installer/service company recommended the system. Also, when
> I
> > > > did a sanity check by googling for other peoples' experiences and even
> > > > posting the proposal here on this newsgroup, the general response was
> > > > that DMP was high end and one of the best...
> > > >
> > > > Nobody, however, mentioned the restrictive dealer situation...
> > >
> > > if you want to diy you picked the wrong system..  why not go through
> your
> > > dealer?  are you having problems with them?
> >
> > No. My dealer is actually very high quality and high service (and high
> > price) -- in fact, they primarily target the high end/high income
> > segment. Their ideal customer is one who would rather pay them to come
> > change the battery in a smoke detector.
> >
> > They will certainly sell me a new keypad as long as I pay for them to
> > install it. However, that would take all the fun out of it since I get
> > a lot of pleasure of learning things and doing them myself. The money
> > saved by diy is only secondary and relatively small.
>
> How much money will be saved if you screw something up working on your
> monitored system? Have you bothered to let them know you want to work on the
> system?

I'm not doing it for the money saved -- I'm doing it for the
self-satisfaction. I have been building/repairing/designing with
electronics and computers for more than 30 years so I'm not too
worried about causing major damage -- if I do, I can almost always fix
it and if I can't, I am willing to assume the risk of paying for my
screw up.

I have a good relationship with the alarm company (which again is high
quality/high service) and several of their techies. In fact, they are
the ones who gave me all the codes to the system and set me up with
Remote Link which allows me to access and program every corner of my
DMP panel. In fact, their techs like working with me because I tend to
be more leading edge then most of their clients -- for example, I was
one of the first "guinea" pigs to try out the ICOM module for the DMP
system and we learned together how to use it. That doesn't mean that
they know every little thing I do to the system but they certainly are
not oblivious to the fact that I have the keys to do so...

Again, I repeat -- I am not anti-installers or dealers. I like my
dealer and they deliver great service. However, I still prefer the
pleasure of diy with the savings being only a secondary reward -- in
fact, if I valued my time appropriately there wouldn't be any savings
:)