Newsgroup writes:

What constantly amazes me is that security always seems to be an
afterthought - and then some people think it should be *free*.
Companies like ADT and Brinks have trained the consumer into believing
a "security system" consists of a couple of door contacts and one
motion detector - installed for next to nothing. The problem is
these companies are selling 'paper', not security. All they want is
the monthly monitoring.

Brinks, at least, will put in a fairly decent system if you're willing
to pay for the installation. We have a Brinks system with

- 4 monitored doors
- 8 monitored windows
- 2 hybrid (PIR/microwave) motion detectors
- smoke detector
- something else I've forgotten, making 16 total inputs
- 2 LCD control panels

Some of the switches and wiring was already installed and connected to
an unmonitored alarm system that was present but not working when we
bought the house, so we didn't have to pay for those. We did pay to
add a couple of sensors to the garage, which is actually a workshop.
There are no wireless sensors - everything is hardwired.

Dave