From Issue #4 , Page #76

=== Attention holiday shoppers! Here are 5 places to buy unique gifts while steering clear of seasonal crowds.

=== Looking for that extra special something this year? Nothing says love like home control and other technology-related gifts. Even the most inept recipient can't say "no" to comfort, convenience and that cool factor that lasts all-year-round.

Even better, most of the best gifts are available right in your living room. That's right—some of the best home control, or "automation," products can be found at a bargain online. But how do you find the best bargains for your holiday dollar? We pulled out our credit card and took a look at five of the best sites on the Web.

We took a look at the site overall, the inventory, and the ordering process. We also placed orders on each site, taking note of the overall experience, including how long it took to receive the product. And although we loved all of the products that we ordered, we also rated the returns experience, including how long it took to get our money back as well as what type of refund we received. Finally, we must note, while all of these sites ranked relatively well, this was just one person's experience; your results may certainly vary.

X10
www.x10.com
Surely everyone knows of X10 by now. Even if you don't know one thing about how this powerline-based control technology works, you've probably come in contact with one of their pop-up ads at some point in your Web travels.

Without a doubt, X10 (both the company and the technology) is probably the first name that pops into our heads when we think of inexpensive home technology. If you are interested in starting a home control system, but don't have a lot of money or the knack to tap into walls, X10's site provides all of the products you need to build a big-budget system without breaking the bank.

Navigating through the X10 site was a bit like watching Pokemon—there's a lot of in-your-face graphics and enough things popping up to possibly cause a seizure. If you've got any anti-pop-up software activated, you're going to have a hard time navigating through X10's site. Turn off the software and enjoy the show.

Once you get going, the product selection is truly mind-blowing. After all, these guys are X10 so they're going to have almost any type of X10 product your mind can dream up. If you are strictly looking for X10 products, you certainly won't be disappointed here.

We were a little disappointed, however, with customer service. On two separate occasions, we emailed customer service, and never received a response. We did, however, get added to their email list, which sent daily emails with various offers. X10 does tell you that your email gets added to their list (under Privacy Policy), but since they never answered our questions, we felt kind of cheated. If you can't wait forever, you can opt for live support via their online chat feature.

We like that X10 offers free Fed Ex shipping for orders over $49.99. Our Lola Music System arrived in excellent condition within two days (but it might have been one if we hadn't ordered on a Sunday night). When you place an order, a little box pops up to offer other items that might go great with the products you ordered—sort of a nice touch. X10 only accepts credit cards, but we found it a bit odd that they also asked for the credit card company's phone number.

Of course, we wanted to keep this great new toy, but alas, we had to send it back to the manufacturer. X10 promises a full refund within 30 days of your purchase. We called their 800 number and in about two minutes, they sent an email with return shipping info.

Once the return was received by X10, it took them about two days to refund all of our money. Not too shabby at all. We did have to pay for the return shipping costs, but that was the case with all of the companies reviewed in this article. Although customer service wasn't the best, if you know what you need and are a fan of X10, you can't beat their speedy service.

Site Navigation: *
Product Selection: **
Customer Service:
Delivery: **
Return Process: **

Smarthome
www.smarthome.com
Smarthome is one of the largest e-tailers of lighting, security, and everything else you could imagine to totally connect your home. They started out with a very nice catalog, which they still produce, but the online site should get you everything you could possibly need in one shot.

The site is extremely easy to navigate, branching everything out on its home page, and even provides a peek at New Products, Popular Picks and Project Ideas. If you're just starting out, take their Guided Tour, which should spark more than a few ideas on how you can start adding technology to your own home.

We were extremely pleased with the wealth of knowledge this site provides. Tech Support takes you to a nice library of information, if you seek instant gratification. When we submitted a question via email, we were offered a few subjects that might provide an answer; and when we pushed for a personalized response, it took customer service just under an hour to get back to us. Nice work!

Smarthome offers a variety of ways to get your order, including will call, if you're in the Irvine, California area. They offer no free shipping, and ground prices are based on your total order cost. Upon placing your order, you are invited to sign up for weekly specials, and you can also receive a free catalog with your order, which was a nice perk. We placed an order and received our email confirmation immediately.

Our PowerLinc II showed up in five business days, which might be a little too long for the over-anxious or last-minute shopper. However, we opted to have the order shipped via Fed Ex ground, our slowest, cheapest choice, and since the company is located on the opposite side of the country, we can't really complain.

Once again, we needed to ship our product back. We dropped an email, and within 24 hours, we had our all of our return information delivered right to our email in-box. Again, we paid for shipping, but the company did refund our complete purchase price within one week of receiving the product.

Site Navigation: **
Product Selection: **
Customer Service: **
Delivery: *
Return Process: *

SmartHomeUSA.com
www.smarthomeusa.com
SmartHomeUSA.com is another name that has been around for quite some time. Just like Smarthome.com, this company provides a wealth of tech products to both the professional and do-it-yourselfer crowds. Although they boast that they specialize in X10 powerline-carrier products, we were pleased at the overall selection, which included top brand names including Leviton, Z-Wave, and Channel Vision.

The site's presentation was nothing to write Santa about, but there was definitely something extra special behind each mouse-click. Aside from the large selection of lighting, security, and other tech products, almost every page offered a little "guide" to what we were looking at. For instance, there was a Lighting Control Planning Guide, a Smart Switch Planning Guide, and even some lists of common problems, FAQs and more. It was a nice touch, without making the site seem cluttered with information overload.

Of course, we had our questions, and customer support was more than helpful, responding thoroughly to our email in less than three hours. We were sold, and ready to place an order. The ordering process was very easy. Shipping charges are based on the service you choose and how much you spend at the site. For big spenders with over $250 in purchases, shipping is free.

The company is located in Smithtown, N.Y., just a few hours from our Massachusetts-based location, so UPS ground service put our order in hand in just under three days. The site offers its return process via an email address, but we didn't have so much luck with that. After two emails and about four days, we opted for the old-fashioned method—we called them. Our first call found their computer system down, and we were asked very politely to call back in one hour. We decided to give them a day, and were greeted very nicely when we called back. Within 15 minutes, we had the return shipping info emailed to us. Again, paid return shipping fees, which didn't bother us, but as time passed, we didn't see a refund. We dropped customer service an email, and within a few hours, they sent us an extremely nice email apologizing for the delay, and issuing the cash back to our credit card. If that isn't snappy service, we don't know what is.

Site Navigation: **
Product Selection: **
Customer Service: **
Delivery: **
Return Process: *

Home Controls
www.homecontrols.com
HCI boasts an inventory of over 3,000 products for the home, and supplies them to dealers and homeowners alike. At first glance, the site is very attractive and is easy to use for the person that isn't quite sure what they are looking for, and just wants to browse various product categories, such as Home Controllers, Pet and Household, and much more. The site does have a lot of products, all ready to be purchased, and has a nice user-friendly layout with great photos and little tidbits about each of the various product categories.

However, when we went digging for information about ordering, things got a bit complicated. For instance, it took us a long time to find info about returns on the site. After multiple clicks, we found the info under the Site Help. But when we emailed customer service because we were just too lazy to look on our own, they responded in a very professional manner, in just under two hours.

When we placed our order, we were a little shocked that we never got an email with a confirmation number, or any type of order confirmation, for that matter. Not sure if it was just an oversight, but it reminded us that you should always copy down your confirmation info when you place an order, just in case. The order arrived via UPS ground in excellent condition within four days.

We went back to that returns page and found that those of you trying to return test equipment, wire, books, or software are going to be out of luck. There is no credit or refunds on any of them; that seems pretty reasonable though. Our return, however, was lightning fast. We gave them a call, received all of our info, and had our money back on the same day as when they received it.

And we just have to note: During the entire HCI experience, we dealt with the same employee, and he was the most professional, nicest person we've ever dealt with during any online shopping experience—and not just the ones for this article. We're going to leave him nameless in case he wants it that way, but the guy definitely deserves a raise.

Site Navigation: *
Product Selection: **
Customer Service: **
Delivery: *
Return Process: **

Worthington Distribution
www.worthdistribution.com
Worthington has been providing dealers and installers with equipment for over 10 years now. However, they never turn their backs on the average-Joe-consumer, providing information and products aplenty. That's why we felt bad reviewing this site at this time.

In May 2004, Worthington began designing their consumer site, and at press time, wasn't finished with the process. We saw a sneak peek of the new design, which looked pretty good, but at press time, all of the links reverted back to the old site. There are areas for dealers and consumers, and before you try peek, you should know that the dealer area is password-protected.

Worthington doesn't have the greatest product selection (although maybe that will change with the new site), but they thrive on quality, not quantity. And they definitely have quality products, including offerings from Leviton, X10, Channel Vision, HAI, and more. The prices are fair, and they routinely run specials, so it's worth stopping by on a regular basis if you're looking for good stuff relatively cheap.

We are going to cut the company some slack regarding their customer service. We emailed a few questions and never heard back. However, when we emailed that we couldn't place an order through the site (that function was down when we placed our order, but has since come back up), we did receive a quick response offering us the option to order via email. Two emails later, our order was placed.

Within seven days, we had our order via Fed Ex ground service, which was a little disappointing since they were only a few states over in Pennsylvania. We were happy with our order though, which included their great catalog and a neat Worthington notepad. We kept both of the freebies, but the X10 signal meter had to go back. We dropped them another email, and shortly after, we received a form that had to be filled out and emailed or faxed back. Within a few hours, we got our complete return shipping info. It was a fairly long road, but the company refunded our money within a decent amount of time: 7 days. A great effort considering they were in limbo; we can't wait for the new site!

Site Navigation: *
Product Selection: *
Customer Service: *
Delivery: *
Return Process: *
- Rachel Cericola