Fingerprint Silver Finish Deadbolt Lock - Universal

At first glance, this item is of excellent construction - I'm sure that, once installed, it could take a severe beating and still provide excellent security. It's more than adequate for outdoor home use. The problems are with the mechanism of operation and with installation and configuration (primarily the fault of the installation instructions). The instructions are extremely confusing. The first thing to do is disassemble the interior piece to add batteries. I'm an engineer, and it took me 90 minutes to figure out how to do this. Why? Because the picture on the instruction sheet does not match the item! The inside latch isn't a latch like the pictures show - it's another "doorknob"-type thing, the same as on the outside. The instructions keep talking about a "ring" to unscrew using the (included) spanner wrench. What ring? You'll only discover that when you remove the "keyhole cover" that, instead of a keyhole, covers a screw that must be removed. The sheet doesn't say anything about this, and is clearly talking about an older model. So now you've figured out the hard part. The rest should be easy. Just plug the outside battery cable to the inside (BEFORE installing it in the door - you want to test it first, right?) and change the master code. Simple, according to the instruction sheet. Hit a couple keys, enter the current code, enter the new code, and hit another key. BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. What? The instructions say that that means that "the code wasn't accepted". Why not? I followed the instructions precisely. Try it a few more times, still doesn't work. Okay, maybe the master code isn't what the sheet says it should be. No problem. Just hold down the reset button on the back (and aren't you glad now that you didn't install it yet, since you can't get to the reset button once it's installed in the door?) while opening the front fingerprint cover to reset it to the default. BEEP. Fine. Now, try the new master code to see if it'll activate the latch mechanism, to be sure it works. BEEP. Great, that's the right code! Now, back to the code reset procedure. BEEP BEEP BEEP. I give up. I absolutely could not get this to work. I tried 20 times, following the instructions precisely. And given that the default master code is the same for all units like this, you absolutely MUST change it before installation for security. Finally, the kicker. Assuming you figure out the above (which, again, I didn't, but I was so excited to see this thing working that I wanted to get it installed), you put it all together. Register a fingerprint - no problem. Read the fingerprint - no problem (I tested it about 50 times and it worked 100% - no complaints here). Door latch doesn't work. No matter what I tried, it just wouldn't work. I pulled the cover off the back of the outside piece to see the mechanism, and it's actually quite clever. See, when you supply a proper fingerprint, there's a large cylindrical electromagnet inside that gets turned on, which forces a little steel cog-wheel (think of a crenellated castle turret) up to engage the turning mechanism. When the electromagnet is turned off, the cog is forced back into the disengaged position by a spring so it won't turn the latch. Very clever, but it didn't work at least half of the time when disassembled, and it NEVER worked when fully assembled - it always stayed disengaged. Finally, the key override also didn't work. That is, it wouldn't push in the crenellated cog to engage the latch mechanism. It seems that underneath the cog there's another piece that's spring loaded - it only engages when a proper key is inserted. The only problem is, it doesn't work. It doesn't push in this piece at all. So, in summary: master code reset doesn't work, key override doesn't work, fingerprint latch mechanism doesn't work. In other words, this item is a paperweight. Maybe I just got a defective unit. Maybe it wasn't QA tested properly (despite the 5 "QA tested 105 OK" stickers on the back and insides). Thankfully I'm tolerant of problems like this, and am waiting for my replacement unit to give them another chance - I really do enjoy high-tech toys like this that serve a useful purpose in a clever manner. But I would NEVER curse this item on any friends that I would want to keep who aren't of like mind. So: if you don't mind fooling around, deciphering ridiculously bad instructions, and possibly having to exchange for another item, buy this item! Otherwise, save your money and time and use a regular deadbolt and key. This thing is NOT ready for regular-consumer prime time.