Excellent Product, but Website Could Use a Smart design of its Own
Written: Jan 27 '04
| Ease of Ordering: |
 |
|
| Customer Service: |
 |
|
| Selection: |
|
|
| On-Time Delivery: |
|
|
|
| Full Review |
The best way to describe Smarthome.com is that it is an electronics paradise for gadgeteers (like me), but at the same time, a wholly confusing and frustrating visit for novices (like my wife) who want to venture into home automation. That said, it is also the website where we found a convenient, easy-to-install solution to an exasperating problem with lighting our dining area.
Okay, I admit it. We goofed. A few years ago, my wife and I purchased a new home, and we neglected to ensure that the builders created hard wire access for a chandelier over our dining area. As you might imagine, we soon discovered the oversight after a couple of dinners in the dark. In an attempt to bring forth light without the expense of calling in an electrician, we went to our local lighting showroom and purchased a chandelier that could be corded, swagged, and plugged into an outlet. No hard-wiring needed.
We soon found there was one major difficulty we hadn’t considered. In order to turn on the chandelier, you needed to walk around a large table and bend down to reach the switch at the bottom of the cord. In the great scheme of things, it’s not the world’s worst problem, but it was almost as annoying as not having any light at all. After all, if mankind can heave a robot millions of miles away onto the surface of Mars, surely we must have the technology to install a wireless wall switch in a convenient location. Due to my busy work schedule, my wife agreed to get online and research a home automation solution to our lighting problem.
My wife is not particularly fond of electronics and she still longs for the days when the only function of a telephone was to make and receive a phone call. Still, she was up for the challenge and quickly found Smarthome.com via a search engine query.
In ten short years, Smarthome.com has established itself as the largest home automation retailer/distributor worldwide. This award-winning retailer carries over 5,000 ready-to-ship products in a 60,000 square foot warehouse. In addition, they offer an on-line knowledge base, the ability to order by phone 24/7, and customer service and free technical support available 6 days per week.
As a novice, my wife found the Smarthome.com website confusing in its overall layout, maddening in its use of jargon, and unhelpful in its “Design Store”. The “Design Store” is a guided interview where you are asked a series of questions and then provided with a results list of (supposedly) relevant products. Unfortunately, she didn’t feel the script asked the questions that pertained to our situation, and therefore, the product suggestions she received were useless.
Giving up on the “Design Store”, she focused on the menu of options on the left hand side of the home page. These were some of the choices:
Lighting/X10
Security & Cameras
Home Entertainment
Wires, Cable & Jacks
Temp Control & Sensors
Computer Interfaces
Gadgets & Smart Products
From that list of options, where do you suppose she found the wall switch? If you guessed “Lighting/X10” or “Gadgets & Smart Products” then you guessed wrong! After much searching, she found “Wall Switches” improbably located in the “Wires, Cable & Jacks” category. This is particularly noteworthy because the wall switch in question is…wireless! How it ever ended up in this unrelated category is anybody’s guess. The non-intuitive nature of Smarthome.com’s website could use a smart design of its own. Navigating it is a frustrating and time consuming experience.
At any rate, once the proper category was found, my wife easily located her desired product. The description for the “Wireless Plug-In DecoraŽ Switch” said it all. “Add Attractive, Wireless Switches Anywhere in Your Home, Without Complicated Installation and Wiring.” In addition, there was an easy-to-understand diagram on the page that laid out exactly how the product worked.
This “no-install” wall switch was the perfect solution for adding instant lighting control for our chandelier. Here’s how it works in three easy steps. First, you plug the cord into the base unit. Next, you plug the base unit into the outlet. Now here’s the cool part: you can then mount the switch anywhere you want up to 50 ft. away, and that’s it. Flick the switch, and your light turns on. It works for incandescent lights up to 300 watts, and runs on 4 AAA batteries.
Since this was exactly the solution we were hoping to find, we easily placed the order for $29.99 and shipping charges of $7.90. The product arrived as expected and in good condition, and was incredibly easy to install. I simply put the batteries in the switch, plugged the chandelier cord into the base unit, popped the base unit into the outlet, and screwed the switch into the wall right next to the entryway. Now, when we walk into the dining area, we simply “switch” the light on or off just as if the lights were hard-wired to the receptacle. So far, it has worked perfectly for us, every time.
Conclusion
While Smarthome.com maybe paradise for the average electronics buff, the site through use of industry lexicons can be a wholly confusing and frustrating visit for novices who want to venture into home automation. But as I stated at the beginning of this review it is also the website where we found a convenient, easy-to-install solution to an exasperating problem with lighting our dining area. So I would recommend it, but caution the novice to have patience.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Romote Lighting Switch
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
vemartin
|
 - Top 50 |
|
Member: Vincent
Location: Aurora, IL
Reviews written: 1361
Trusted by: 548 members
About Me:
...A Great Empire cannot be Conquered from Without until it first Destroys itself From Within...
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.