Wait, i'm confused here, are you posting up pictures of remotes and the price of the remotes? If i remember correctly most the systems that you're looking at (judging by the remotes pictured) are in $200-300+ range.
Don't buy a system based on how cool the remote looks.... thats just silly. You can have one of these LCD remotes and still have a craptastic system... then again you can have a basic three button remote and have a crazy array of sensors and detectors...
In my first car, I had installed a Directed (DEI) Python system, and I thought that was pretty decent as a standard alarm and keyless entry.
Here is what I know about alarms:
No matter the system, make sure you have the right sensors and triggers for the car:
Tilt/Motion sensors - detects tilt (from a referenced angle when the car is first armed), which is useful if someone is trying to tow your car (for legal and illegal reasons), same goes with the motion detection. This also proves useful if someone is trying to jack up your car to steal the wheels. Do not buy the old mercury type ones because if broken they pose a serious health hazard
Shock Sensor - This is a pretty standard sensor, built in to some systems, which detects a sudden impact to the car, usually someone trying to take a hammer and chisel to smash out your lock. THIS BY NO MEANS SHOULD BE USED TO DETECT GLASS BREAKAGE, because it is not. If it was set to the sensitivity level of detecting glass breaking (impact of the blow), it might be too sensitive and cause false alarms...
Ultrasonic/Radar detectors - This is typically used on convertibles, where if the top was down, it can detect someone getting too close or getting into the car. This car also prove useful if you don't want someone getting too close to the car, as it usually has two outputs, a warning signal to the person or animal getting close to the vehicle, and a second if they came too close and sets off the main alarm.
Glass breakage sensor - This is basically a microphone hidden inside the car to detect glass breakage, by listening for specific sound frequencies associated with glass breakage, this needs to be adjusted properly as you don't want the alarm going off when rain drops hit it or so...
Cabin Air Pressure sensor - This is a interesting sensor, as it can be used almost in place of a glass breakage sensor. This too is a microphone sensing the air pressure inside the car, if the pressure were to suddenly drop, because a door is opened or if the glass is broken, causing a air pressure change in the car it will sound the alarm. This won't work if you left the sunroof open or ajar on a hot day or so...
Door/Hood/Trunk pin switches - This is basically a switch that is triggered when either the door, hood or trunk is opened, this is standard on all alarms and the most basic form of protection.
Make sure the alarm that you buy has a false alarm circuitry (also refered to as NPC), because if one of the sensor fails, and keeps setting off the alarm, neighbors or people nearby might get irritated and call the police on your car if it keeps sounding off constantly at night or so. So, most alarms have a detection circuit, that within a certain amount of time, that if one sensor keeps setting off the alarm, it will shut that sensor down and keep it from setting off the alarm unnecessarily. Usually this is three false alarms within a hour. Depending on your location, your car can be towed if the alarm goes off too many times or recieves too many complaints of false alarms, so make sure the alarm that you choose supports this false alarm circuit...
If the alarm system that you pick has remote start, make sure you read the manual on proper operation and safety precautions. You do not want to accidently start it and let carbon monoxide build up in your garage and house and possible harm or kill you or your family members. Most alarms will have a remote start kill switch in the car. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE SAFETY AND PROPER USE OF REMOTE START SYSTEMS IF YOU HAVE ONE... and keep the remote out of reach of children
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Also, when you are at the installer or if you plan to install it yourself, have them (or you) use the car horns instead of the siren provided. It would cost a tiny bit more (they will have to install a cheap lil relay), but the effects are so much louder! The DEI siren that came with my alarm before was pretty wimpy, compared to my car's horn. I find that people tend to ignore a wailing siren, because it so typical of most alarms and its not that loud under the hood (which is where its placed). I find that sounding off the horn instead of a siren, is more effective because if the car is honking wildly, people look over, because one its down right annoying, and two its usually much louder than any siren (because car horns are placed optimally to be heard).
Also remind yourself to clean out your car and do not leave valuables in the car, because you still do not want to invite anyone to your car to steal something, even if you have the best alarm out there. For all you know, they can just smash your window, don't give a crap about your alarm, and take whatever they can. Also remind yourself to look and understand the system status LED mounted on your car (the blinking light), because it can provide some useful information about what happened when you were away (like if there was a alarm triggered), and this information is wiped when you start the car.
Posted 03 August 2007 - 07:37 PM
