I went to the website and knew immediately I wanted this. I bought one for myself and one for a family member. When I received it, I put it in an upstairs bedroom and partially opened the blinds. I plugged it in and set the timer to dusk + 7 hours. Other settings are dusk all nite, dusk + 4 hours, dusk +7, or always on. That evening, I was outside and was amazed. It looked like there was a tv on in the bedroom. It changed light intensity and colors like a real tv. My wife was appreciative because it gives her an added sense of deterrent which means a lot to me. What is impressive is that the lighting of the faketv can be extremely bright like any tv would be. However, the fake tv utilizes intensely bright LEDs that hardly uses any electricity but is a lot less than a regular tv or the high energy consumption that high definition tv uses. During the day, about 3 blue leds are always on to let you know that it is operating and will turn on at dusk. I am going to order another one for my mother because I know she would appreciate it. I would suggest for the best location would be in a window that is not near a street light.
We live on a private road with several summer cottages. While in Florida the neighor across the road (full time resident) and the one next door (summer cottage) got broke into. Our house was not bothered! When our neighbor came to check on our house he said the Barking Rex scared the crap out of him. I credit my passive security measures as keeping us from becoming a victim too.
The Fake TV and 1 Barking Rex was passed on to my son. So this year I bought 2 Fake TVs and 2 more Barking Rex alarms while we take an extended vacation. The new Fake TV now has a timer installed, new and improved. It can be on full time, come on at dark and stay on for either 4 hours or 7 hours. There is no need to hook it into a timer. Nice touch.
As a retired police officer I strongly recommend this to anyone that wants to imrove the impression someone is home. Set it up as instructions indicate to get the best benefit. Add Barking Rex and some light timers and only your neighbors will know you are not home. We are trying to keep the stranger from breaking in, we trust our neighbors. The stranger will see the lights coming on and going off, see the Fake TV lights in the window, and if they approach the doors hear a dog barking at them. Enough to make them move on to a different house.
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When you unpack it, it is deceptively small. Aim it at a window and it does the trick! I have stood for quite a long time watching this thing in my window and my neighbor watching a real tv. The flashing behavior looks completely real. It screams "someone's home!!"Read Best Reviews of FakeTV FTV-10 Burglar Deterrent Here
I read about this product a number of months ago, thinking this is a great idea in night time home security. If it truly worked, as claimed, it would be a great devise to deter someone looking to break in while you are away from home overnight. I just couldn't see how such a small devise could pull off the illusion quality of a television at night convincingly enough to be accepted as real.Taking the plunge, I purchasing one locally and set it up at home. My son and wife were also present when we did the first round of testing. Baseline was our 27" color TV (what the company claims FakeTV is designed to replicate) on in two different rooms. We went outside and watched for about 5 minutes to see the patterns and brightness of the television coming through the window shades.
Next up was FakeTV. To our amazement, we couldn't tell the difference! The brightness and patterns looked just like a television being on at night. The best part -almost NO power usage, since FakeTV uses hi-intensity LED's for light power. The timer mechanism of selecting its use are:
1) Off totally
2) On at dusk (photo-eye operated) for 4 hours
3) On at dusk for 7 hours
4) On continuously (24/7).
I have mine aimed away from the windows, bouncing off a white wall, so there is no way to see the actual unit in operation. Stealth is the name of the game with this unit.
I highly recommend this unit to anyone. It works so well, I'm going to buy a second unit for a different room in the house.
*******
4/6/2011 Update
I have owned these units for just over a year. Between my neighbors and myself being out of town for extended periods of time, we have clocked up well over 200 days of use. The longest was 4(+) months straight this past winter.
In a nutshell -they worked flawlessly. In fact, my neighbor drove to their house from their extended vacation when fake TV was on and commented to his wife "Did you leave the TV on the whole time we were gone?" He forgot all about setting it up in the front bedroom. They are still that bright, even after all this use.
BTW, my neighbor just bought 2 units for themselves.
If you are concerned about durability, our long term test has shown that they will last for the duration. My FakeTV's are just as bright today as the first time we used them.
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Bought this to keep the house 'occupied' while away on a trip and the unit seemed surprisingly well made. What I found though was that it didn't seem as bright as I thought it might be. Perhaps this was due to the fact that I tried to use it in my living room instead of a bedroom as pictured on the packaging and that we have fairly thick curtains as well. I think this would be highly effective in an apartment in conjuction with some audio.PS It always makes my day to know that people find these reviews helpful. So, please vote (The "Was this review helpful to you: Yes or No" buttons) and leave a comment if you'd like, even if it's just to say, Hi!") When you leave a comment, I can go to your reviews and pay you the same courtesy.
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