Customer Reviews

SentrySafe DA3930 1.2-Cubic Feet Fingerprint Electronic/Tubular Key Fire Safe, 138-Pound, Charcoal

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

 

 

Pros:
Packed very well
No lag on key presses
Heft
Length of password
Backlit screen

Cons:
Difficult fingerprint scanner
Cheap feeling handle
Hinge located on exterior
Cheap quality battery carriage
Confusing instructions
Common locking key
Master password

Congratulations on deciding to research safes. The main thing is to look for something that is quite heavy to deter someone from picking it up and walking away with it. It's mainly a deterrent, as any safe can be opened.

I purchased this safe a few days ago and received it in great condition. The box was a bit scratched and torn but the contents were unscathed.

You will need a rather nice box cutter to cut away the bottom of the box.
It makes things a lot easier.

On to the meat:
The first part of the instruction manual states that you can use the master key to unlock the safe without the password. IGNORE THAT, as it doesn't work that way. Which you will find out as you read the additional material inserted in the middle of the manual. What the key does do is add another layer of protection in the event that someone figures of the master code or your code. Whenever you are not there, you can lock the safe so that no matter what, no one may access it without your approval.

There are two ways to open the safe: numerical password or finger swipe.

A successful finger swipe takes two tries for me. I'm sure it's different for everyone. If you have dry hands or shallow/odd swirl patterns, then the scanner may not work well if at all.

You can either program in just a code and/or two different fingerprints.

I have yet to try the honeywell version, but it has a full pad that does not require a swipe, which seems more efficient.

About the key:
The model I looked at in a store used the same key as the one I have in my house. You may not believe me, but I have compared the serial number on the keys firsthand.

Having a master password is sometimes a good thing, but for people who are security minded and don't tend to forget passwords, it's a bit of a risk. Especially if you are the type of person to file everything away and forget about it. I'd suggest starting a new password and shredding the master that is located on a sticker.

Otherwise the safe is rather decent. I wouldn't store watches, floppy discs or anything else that is rather sensitive to heat and/or moisture.
The safe does come with a moisture absorbing packet, but it only starts working when the heat is on. I recommend buying moisture absorbing packets that work all the time (i.e. the kind used in gun safes), as the safe is sealed with a thin gasket which keeps in a bit of moisture. OR if you are cheap, you can just open the safe every couple of days and equalize the humidity.

Thanks for reading my long winded and poorly written review. I hope that it helps someone in making a decision to purchase a home safe.

I mainly purchased the safe so I can have multiple people to simply swipe their fingers to unlock the safe, without having to worry about losing a set of combinations. Unfortunately, the biometric reader is flaky at best. If you try three times to log in unsuccessfully, it will then make you wait 2 minutes before you can attempt again. While that's great if you want to deter someone from guessing the combo, it is unacceptable when you try to use the highly unreliable biometric reader. I don't even try to swipe anymore, as I have registered multiple fingers and it still does not work consistently.

When I received the safe, it was missing the battery holder. I made the mistake of calling Sentry Safe and was placed on hold for 25 minutes, only to have the phone hung up on their end. So I made an employee call. They were on hold for 30 minutes and they gave up. I did get a response via e-mail right away, and was sent the missing battery holder.

As described above, the fingerprint reader does not work. I tried e-mailing. They said to call them! So again, I called them. I was on hold forever. I would try again (I do have to run a business), and the line would be busy. I try again. Busy signal again on their customer service line. I gave my personal cell phone over the e-mail for them to call. NO RESPONSE!

Don't buy this safe if you want to utilize the biometric feature. Get a plain one with a touchpad instead.

As far as being a "safe", it is heavy, feels sturdy, and serves as a good deterence. I keep cash, data tapes, and legal documents inside without any problems.

I got this safe on a super-sale for $200, shipped. At that price this this as a total bargain. The reason I bought it was so I have a safe place to keep my gun. Usually I read hundreds of reviews before buying a products, for some reason I didn't before I bought this safe. While it was being shipped to me, I did read reviews. Lets start with the delivery, I was really surprised with how big this thing is. Luckily I'm pretty big too, so I was able to unbox it and slowly roll or slide it inside and up the stairs by myself. Installing batteries was straightforward. When I put in the pin and opened it for the first time, I saw what people mean about the handle feeling cheap. It's really doubtful that it'll actually break during normal use, but I feel like I could break it if I leaned on it. Next comes the big issue, the one everyone is complaining about, the biometric scanner. It's nearly identical to ones that have been on laptops for years now. It's probably easier/more forgiving than the one on my laptop. If you're not old and shaky, I don't understand how you'd have a problem. If you spend five minutes practicing you could pretty easily master it (I'd call 9/10 successes mastering it). The trick is to lay your finger flat, don't try to scan your fingertip and go slowly. Inside the safe is about what you'd expect, it's got key hooks and a sliding tray. I would definitely recommend it.

I agree with other reviews that the safe itself is fine. I much prefer key entry to rotary combination locks. However, what is supposed to be special about this safe is the ease of operation using your finger print.

It turns out I was not even able to complete enrollment of a single finger print, which requires three successful swipes. The maximum I could achieve was two successes, using my thumb. It took at least 25 to 30 swipes to get even that far. In consecutive enrollment procedures I tried different fingers of both hands, and every conceivable variation of finger pressure, angle, and speed. I tried with dry hands, with newly washed hands. I cleaned the sensor. I totaled at least 100 attempts. The finger print portion of this safe is to me a true disappointment. The biometrics were the only reason I bought this model.

I own a (much smaller) "Inprint" safe whose finger print scanner works flawlessly for me. That scanner is of a different design. One simply rests one's fingertip on the sensor; no sliding. I did not find a large enough unit by the Inprint company to fill my need. Therefore my taking a chance with the Sentry.

A great letdown!

Andreas Paepcke

My husband and I bought this item from Costco. Thankfully they have a great return policy.
We returned this product for these reasons- (1) The key does NOT manually open the safe. It is only for an extra locking push button. (2) If the keys are lost and the key button is pushed in, there is NO way to access the safe (the fingerprint scan and key codes will be useless). (3) The fingerprint scanner worked okay for me, but not for my hardworking husband's rough hands.

In short- lose the keys, push in the locking button, and you get to try dropping the safe off a tall building to try to get your valuables out.

The product I received was good but the safe was delivered damaged. Tried to send it back but way to much trouble. The return policy was developed in a way that you just don't have time to deal with it. Last time I purchase big ticket item thru Amazon.

Sorry I didn't read these reviews B4 I bought one. They were "drop dead accurate about the fingerprint scanner!" I couldn't get it to register ANY of my fingers even though I washed them, dried them & put on moisturizer lotion & waited 10 minutes.
I bought it so I could make things easier for my spouse & kid to get into when I wasn't home; now I see buying the business class model with the USB back up cord & you (insert your own back up drive into the safe) is the better one with only the keypad in the front and a pin lock requirement.
Luckily I sold this to a client, I got the Bigger business model 2.0 Cu ft Fire Safe that only has the electronic keypad & not all this other mumbo jumbo that doesn't work 95% of the time.

I bought this safe in 2008 and it's worked flawlessly for years now. We use it to keep our financial documents and important credentials. I've had to replace the batteries in the keypad once or twice, but that's it (it's been three years since I bought it).

We put in a custom 6 digit code on the keypad and we put the extra key in a safe place.

I bought this safe thinking that it would be very handy for my wife to get into using the fingerprint scanner, if I was out of town. I have had the safe for over a week now and still haven't been able to use the fingerprint scanner. The same thing happens that everyone else complains about. Over 100 tries and will not take 3 consecutive fingerprint readings. Worthless. As far as the safe is seem solid, but the locking mechanism and handle are very cheap. This is not a cheap safe and it has a $2 plastic handle with very sloppy locking pins. The battery holder is loose and doesn't really fit well. Sentry Safe does not make good quality safes anymore and this one is a new low. I have a Honeywell and a comercial gun safe with a fingerprint scanner. Both were less expensive than this safe and both are better quality. Save your money.