I actually purchased 2 two of these - one for my wife as a birthday present - the other for myself.
I paid full price for both sets. I have not been offered any incentive whatsoever for my product review. That said...
Shipping was fast and on time.
Packaging was quite adequate and totally intact upon arrival.
Straight out of the box both sets purchased were complete, and included all advertised components, instructions, batteries (button cells only -1 each for the fobs. You must supply 2 AAA batteries - as clearly stated in product description - for the locator unit).
I checked all the batteries sent with both sets before installation and they all pegged a strong charge. Set up was quick and VERY easy.
I tested all the components from both sets. Everything worked fine - both in close range and with distances of up to approx 20-30 meters. Using the locator I could clearly hear the beeps from fobs placed in one corner of my house while I stood "catty corner" in the house with several walls, electrical wiring, some electronics, plumbing, furniture, etc., between the locator unit and fobs.
Remember - while searching for lost items you need to press the appropriate colored locator button once (firmly, but not too much!) then let off the button. Then listen for the beeps from the fob - just give it a couple or 3 seconds to respond.
One quick firm press gets you 2 short bursts of maybe 10 rapid beeps from the color coded fob. If you press and HOLD the button on the locator you will still only get 2 short bursts of beeps. So you need to press, let up, listen, follow your ears, rinse and repeat until item is found.
The good news is the locator is portable to the extent you can greatly extend the "range" of the system as you are able to wander around - in and outside your house, garage, car, yard, office, etc., pressing the locator intermittently until you find the fobbed item.
In testing all the fobs in both sets - some fobs emitted louder beeps than others, but even those having the lowest volume were still acceptably loud.
Both sets I purchased are still working great - though only a little over a week since getting them. Wife LOVES her set and has enthusiastically shown it off to everyone who will listen - they too are impressed. The fact there are 4 fobs allows her to put 1 on her keys, 1 in her purse, 1 on my son's keys, and another 1 TBD - but I know it will be put on the very next thing that she loses!
Wife's system has already saved my son's butt. He - like his parents - is a chronic key loser, so it only took a day or two for him to NEED this product! The very first time our system was used in all out PANIC! mode - my son very quickly found his keys that were very well hidden - way up underneath a recliner - just in time to make it to work on time for his first day on a new job.
I cannot yet attest to the durability nor longevity of this product but my initial perception is that it seems sufficiently well built to take normal, intermittent use for a reasonable period of time.
That said, I / We would - and in fact already did - recommend this product to family and friends - without any other reservations.
Recommendations for improvement:
The fobs are small enough to work well on key chains and the like - about the same size and shape as the remote lock fobs for your vehicles - maybe even a bit smaller. But placing one on a TV remote, on your billfold or similar item - even with the supplied adhesive dots - is not as convenient. In a set of 4 locator fobs - one or two should be MUCH thinner, smaller to overcome this minor inconvenience.
The two sets I purchased both use the same RF frequency. I DO NOT know for sure - but is my understanding - this product only uses ONE frequency on ALL units. Not a BIG problem if you have 2 sets with same frequency in your location (as we do) - especially if you lose one of the locator units - you have a spare to keep on locating fobs. But still - If you plan to use more than one set in one location - it would be BETTER if units could be purchased with the option to get each set on different frequencies. Then you could avoid one user's locator also setting off and beeping the other unit's fobs while locating. In our case, I travel out of town frequently and will ALWAYS take my set with me so for us - this is not a show-stopper by any means.
One final weakness we noted is that - being Professional Item Losers - there is ALWAYS the chance we WILL lose the locator device (in our case we really could lose BOTH locators at the same time - we're just that GOOD!). Of course losing your locator(s) would always happen at some, probably VERY inconvenient time and at the very same time you've lost some other VERY important item - and you NEED that locator - REALLY bad. Unfortunately, despite the fact the locator comes with a neat little stand to put it somewhere safe and known to all who may need it - if that locator is LOST - you're screwed. It won't do any good to put a fob on a locator unit (unless you have a spare locator as we do) - else how would you trigger the fob to beep? LOL.
I recommend the manufacturer add a feature to this set so that any one of the fobs could "FIND" a missing locator unit with the press of a button on the fob. Yes - I know there are products out there on the market NOW that have such a feature - at what cost I don't recall. But a "Locator locator" feature would be an awesome addition to this product, indeed.
Bottom Line - You KNOW you lose stuff all the time - GO - Get yourself one - or two - of these. Given how stressed out we ALL get when our keys and similar IMPORTANT, usually time-critical items are missing, it will only take one or two QUICK FINDS to get your return on the small investment.
The JTD branded sets (versus the look-alike knock-offs on Amazon and elsewhere) "seem to be" the best as per the reviews and ratings.
When I purchase again it will definitely be this brand - none other.
Thanks and Good Luck locating !!
The Wilson !
| Manufacturer | J-Tech Digital Inc. |
|---|---|
| Brand | JTD |
| Item Weight | 4.2 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 4.1 x 1.7 x 1.2 inches |
| Item model number | JTD-KF4 |
| Batteries | 6 Lithium Metal batteries required. (included) |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Size | 4 Receivers |
| Manufacturer Part Number | JTD-KF4 |
