Re: online DMP dealers?

[blueman <NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx>]

"Russell Brill" <russwbrill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> "blueman" <NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:m2bqk5qi2m.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > "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
> > :)
>
> Then you should have installed the whole system yourself if you wanted total
> control over it........ I see a Honeywell panel in your future :-))

I am learning and doing this more for the fun and challenge. If I had
the choice to do it over again, I probably would have chosen a more
DIY-friendly panel. But overall, I am satisfied with the alarm and the
service.