Customer Reviews

High Tech Pet Power Pet Medium Electronic Pet Door PX-1

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

 

 

Pros:
Keeps any animals other than yours OUT.
Can set to only let pets just in or just out.
Cool guillotine style door movement.
3 months of heavy use and no problems so far.
3 pets and none had problems getting used to the door.
Install was easy.

Cons:
Collar adapter is pretty big. Also, prone to water damage (however has not happened to any of mine yet)
A little noisy but not too bad.
Like just about everything now days, made in China and feels a little cheaply made.
If your pet decides to use it as an open window to the world, they can sit in front of it all day and the motor will hold it open. There is no open door time out or delay before next open. It seems this could lead to motor burn out if you do not teach your pets to not sit in front of it. Once I watched as my dog sat in front of it, she looked left, the door closed. Looked forward, it opened. looked right, closed. And so on.


I wish there were more programming options and unique collar IDs so you could only let certain pets in or out. It would also be great if they got with the times and created a micro version of their collar adapters.

I have owned this door for over a year. On one hand, it's the best possible purchase for a home like ours with three small dogs. It has saved me from having to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to let the dogs out. More importantly, it has saved our floors since the dogs let themselves out and back in while we're at work. I thought it would take the dogs a few days to learn how to use it, but freedom must have been calling, because they picked it up in less than an hour. So, the family and the dogs are happy, for the most part.

On the other hand, you have to buy lots of spare parts for this door because it breaks on a regular basis. The motor stopped working on mine within the first year. Luckily, it was under warranty and the company sent us a new motor. During the time that we waited for the new motor (which was back ordered), we had to place a board over the hole in the door. A few months later, the sensors in the door shorted out. We had to order new sensors at our expense, and I had to pay for expedited shipping because the family and dogs are use to the dogs having their freedom, and it's difficult when the door isn't working. For what this door costs, I would have liked to get at least two years of use out of it without having to replace parts.

I've seen numerous complaints about the collar sensors, but I have not had a problem with those. Yes, they come apart very easily. My advice is to buy some black electrical tape and wrap it around the sensor housing a few times. Works wonders in holding it together.

We've had the door for about a year now. No problems at all. Both of our dogs learned how to use it very quickly. Occasionally we have "foster" dogs and they were able to learn from the other dogs quickly (we have a few spare transmitter collars).
We also purchased the battery backup - lost power this week and the door continued to work fine (the lights flash to indicate loss of AC).
The transmitter batteries seem to last about 4 months. We noticed Lucy had to stand by the door for quite some time before it would open. New battery solved the problem.

Noise - not bad (much quieter than this old man getting up from the sofa to open the door for the scratching dog). I know when one of them enters or exits
Safety - very well designed. Dogs cannot get trapped; the door will not come down on them. The door cannot be raised without a transmitter present
Life - one year with two dogs that go out/in 15 times a day or more.
Overall - Awesome! A bit tricky to install (wall mounted through stucco) and I used the optional "tunnel". Key is to ensure you do not overtighten the wall mounting screws.

My Wife and I installed a the hitec dog door. It worked well for a while but within 3 months we started having problems. Alot of times the door gets stuck and does not close. For something with such a high price they should have worked out all the bugs before releasing the final product. Our biggest issue is with the collars. They charge way too much for the accesories like chargers and collars. I beleive we paid over 30 dollars for a rinky dink collar, it looks like a 12 year old put it together in his garage. One of the collars stopped working in the first 4 months. The company claims to have a customer service line but it always goes to a recording and after over a dozen attempts I have yet to get a actual person on the phone. They also claim to have the "world best electrical engineers" these products are obvioussly poorly designed. These products function horribly and appear to be assembled from cheap parts by the lowest bidder.

We purchased a medium electronic dog door. When it arrived, one of the two transmitters did not work but we did not worry about it as the other one worked fine and we only have one dog. The door was very easy to install, and it seals very well, blocking drafts which was a problem with conventional dog doors that we have owned. It worked great for 1 year, which is the warranty period. One month later, the motor stopped working. I opened an online ticket, and also emailed customer service, but received no response. The only thing that I did receive a response to was when I placed an order for a replacement motor at an outrageous price, and also paid way beyond reasonable costs for shipping. Two months after this, the collar transmitter stopped working. Once again, a ticket, an email to customer support, and an email to the company president went unanswered. They were around, though, to fulfill another overpriced order. Within 15 months of purchase I have put over $100 additional into this product. Due to lack of customer service I would not recommend this to anyone.

Item was well packaged in bubble wrap but did not came with directions. If you are a handy person no problem to figure out. Would recommend viewing online video for installation. EZ to install - traced window opening right on door and then cut the metal door with a sawzall, foam on inside of door - recommend having a vacuum nearby to catch the tiny pieces when cutting. place item in hole (no need to frame) and added screws to secure pet unit to door. Then put the collar on the dog. At first when he went up to the doggy door - the motor noise bothered him and he started to bark at it. So we decided to distract him from the noisy motor part every time the door opened.
One person was on one side of the door and another person on other side and then called him. Every time he went through the doggy door without hesitation & barking we praised him. took about two days of training this way. Now, he goes in and out all on his own- I can hear the dog door open while in the kitchen cooking. It's Great!

We have owned this door for three years, when it was a new product. In that time there must have been production/design issues because it was very unreliable. When it was under warranty Hi Tech Pets replaced it with a new one. The latest design seems ok.

For the past three years, it has worked flawlessly for our two cats, who seem to want to be outside when they are in or inside when they are out. The door has saved us a ton of kitty liter as the cats use the yard.

The major flaw is in the collars, that are nylon and allow the cats to scratch through them in a few months. Also, the actual collar electronic device can pop open, since they aren't screwed shut, allowing half to get lost someplace outside. Our major maintenance has been lost collars. If you buy this, buy extra collars. If you are using it for cats, buy durable extra collars at a pet store.

After three years of constant use our door has developed a slow open problem, which is likely the motor. Replacement parts are available.

Overall, the Power Pet door is a compromise. It is as durable as it can be for the price point it is designed to retail. If Hi Tech Pets made it to military grade it would last decades but cost military prices. It's good for what it is and I recommend it.

Wow, the install took about an hour and a half in the middle of winter. Our install was our garage wall and we used the tunnel add in. It was very simple to install. Cutting the siding properly took the most time, but the flange on the outside part of the door helped seal and cover places where the cuts weren't perfect. The dog took to the door very easily. Thanks for making such an easy to install product.