Customer Reviews

GE 45132 Choice-Alert Wireless Motion Sensor Alarm System

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

First of all, to use this you need a Control Center GE 45129 Choice-Alert Wireless Control Center.

A few things to note that were not apparent until I bought this and a Control Center:

- the motion sensor can connect to the Control Center in two ways, either in one of the first three Zones (1, 2, 3) or in the fourth Zone (4) and the Control Center has a different behavior in these two categories.

- In Zone 1, 2, or 3: the motion sensor can only operate in Alarm mode, not in Monitoring mode. Other sensors apparently can be setup to either Alert, Chime, or just show an indicator light for its assigned Zone based on a switch on the Control Center (the switch has settings of Alert / Chime / Off); this setting is applicable when the Control Center is disarmed (not in AWAY or HOME alarm mode). But the Motion Sensor DOES NOT work in this way - it ONLY WORKS in AWAY or HOME alarm mode, when assigned to Zone 1, 2 or 3.

- When assigned to Zone 4: the motion sensor triggers an Alert only, which ignores the Alert / Chime / Off switch. The Alert cannot be silenced, only muted once it starts.

Since the alarm is overkill for what we want (monitoring our sleepwalking child), we plan on keeping it in Zone 4, and unplugging the Control Center without batteries in it to shut if off during the day. The Alert itself should be sufficient to wake us up.

The motion sensor was not capable of transmitting a signal to the control center which was located only 60 feet away and only one exterior wall in its path. The wall consisted of vinyl siding 2 windows and a fiberglass door with glass in it. My advice is to buy a more powerful motion sensor which undoubtly will cost more but will be dependable.

this motion detector works really well at detecting any movement but then doesn't set off the alarm for about 30 seconds, all the while beeping as if to give an intruder directions to the home unit so he can destroy it before the alarm actually sounds. the time between activation of the motion detector and the alarm needs to be shortened.

I bought two of these motion sensors. After initiating communications between the sensors and the base unit I found two disturbing things. First, they do NOT communicate up to 150 feet - I was lucky (after moving the base unit around a dozen times) to get about 35 feet with fresh batteries with nothing more than two drywall walls between them. Not very useful and this forces you to put the base unit in potentially awkward places. Second, as far as being weather-resistant? I found that they stopped working when their temperatures dropped below 35 degrees. So, unless you live in Florida, my observations indicate that these are not useful anywhere but in a nice, dry, warm environment. I did find the construction of the sensors to be adequate. But I must take issue with the base unit... it's cheaply built and does not function exactly like the manual states. Further, YOU CANNOT USE THESE motion sensors in ANY mode except for "Armed When You Leave The House Mode"... so I have to question, what's the point then! Final opinion: not a well thought out product, cheap, doesn't work well, and well, you get what you pay for and I'm upset I wasted my time and money on these. They're pretty much JUNK.

I purchased this product, the base unit, a remote, and a supplementary alarm. This product did not work at all. To start out, the base unit would not let me program a new code. I programed zones 1 and 2 for the motion detectors and tried the alert and chime settings. They went off whether or not the unit was armed. After about an hour, neither the chime nor alert worked and could not be reprogramed. The supplementary alarm worked because the remote panic button set it off but the motion detector would not set it off.

The red flashing test light does not work and the device does not work properly. The whole line of GE home protection units have one defect of another. Very cheaply made.

When setting up motion detectors, continued to get out of range/ low battery indication on new install. Discovered that poorly manufactured 9v battery connector failed to make tight connection. Hard to believe something this simple could be screwed up, until you note the country of origin. Complete lack of quality control. I'm sure GE was assured this part was made to spec. There is no telling how many of these have been returned, due to such a simple flaw. Wrap the 9v battery and connector once around with electrical tape to secure connection, and it works like a champ.

This security system works well. Sometimes difficult to get programmed, but once programmed it works great and gives some relief of security and a good night's sleep. The motion detection works great and the other accessories go great with the unit. All accessories I added only made the system better.
You can't get by these things... but the best part is, couple this with door and window sensors... and you will sleep fine. in the summer with the windows open and the motion sensors turned on. No one will get by or through the window without you knowing it!

I bought this with the intention of placing the motion sensors throughout my house and having the receiver unit in the bedroom so that I could be alerted if someone came in the house at night. The system is described as having a "Home" mode with an instant alarm and an "Away" mode with a delayed alarm. What they don't tell you (until you open the product and read the owner's manual) is that the motion sensors don't work in the "Home" mode.

Make sure you have enough time to set this up. Do it during the day because it's a very loud set-up. Also you must purchase the "Control Center" to arm this detector. There was no mention of that when I made my purchase.