While most purchases for car
electronics are purely for entertainment purposes, an alarm's sole purpose is to protect your investment, not only in your automobile and your mobile electronics, but in your personal safety as well.
Alarms have evolved from the ones that merely sounded when a door was opened. They now flash your lights, unlock doors, defeat the ignition system, and some even use a computer interface to completely customize their performance.
Alarms use a combination of techniques, the most common being motion sensors and dome light detectors. When the door opens, the overhead light comes on, triggering the alarm.
Today's security systems offer multizone protection, which lets you decide what you want the alarm to protect and selectively arm and disarm individual components.
Security systems come with an array of features. Some systems will let you turn off the sometimes-annoying chirp or honk that signifies arming or disarming. Some systems add a safety feature that will turn on the interior car lights when the system is disarmed, allowing for safe entry.
Dual remotes are handy if the car has more than one driver--one can go with each set of keys. A field-disturbance sensor sounds with any movement inside the car. A back-up battery keeps the system armed even if the car battery dies or is disconnected.
While many car electronics could be installed by a handy do-it-yourselfer, security systems involve things like ignition and starter defeats. This is one installation area that we must strongly suggest leaving to the professionals.
---ConsumerGuide
