Bottom Line. Cheap, sufficient security against the opportunistic thief. Mediocre instructions, probably useless anti-theft warranty.
This security kit is basically designed for locking down a desktop system to something stationary (a piece of furniture or a part of the house, for example). It provides two smaller plates and one larger plate that can be glued on to the computer & peripherals. Run a cable through these plates, and lock the end to foil the thief. Don't expect the kit to stop someone with time and the proper equipment.
Note. (1) This kit is not for laptops. (2) The cable is long enough if all the system's pieces sit on one desk, but perhaps not if they don't.
Pros. Cheap, quick and easy. (The supplied cyanoacrylate glue ( Krazy Glue) requires 24 hours to set.)
Areas of Improvement. (1) The lock isn't the greatest. Again, it will stop the opportunistic thief probably, but you could pick up a better one at the local hardware store easily. (2) This kit supplies a small tube of cyanoacrylate glue, better known as Krazy Glue or Superglue. This sort of glue has a shortcoming. One wonders whether an epoxy might be more secure. (3) Get rid of that stupid glow-in-the-dark sticker.
Cons.
-- Less-than-ideal instructions. Belkin provides only a few lines to explain the installation process, and the drawings are misleading. (Incidentally, do not simply wrap the cable around a table leg and lock it, as one of the drawings seem to suggest. Other than the fact that you may be able to slip the lock out, it is generally better to lock the computer to a part of the house such as a sturdy pipe, rather than to a piece of furniture.) The kit isn't hard to install, and most can probably figure it out intuitively. But Belkin really ought to do a better job on the instructions.
-- So if Belkin devotes only a few words to the actual installation instructors, what does most of the text actually say? The terms of the anti-theft warranty, of course. And these terms make me feel rather hopeless about getting any money from Belkin. Belkin basically reserves all rights to determine whether the lock was properly installed, used, etc. If you are filing a claim, you may have to have the lock inspected at YOUR expense. My suspicion is that the $500 anti-theft warranty is just a gimmick. Incidentally, one part of the text says the you must send in the warranty card to get the anti-theft warranty, but the card itself says you don't. This is sloppy on Belkin's part.
