No compensation was received for this post. Complimentary product was provided for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.
As I mentioned in my review of the
MyQ Universal Smartphone Garage Door Controller review, we weren't able to make it work with the builder installed opener that we had. We had the opportunity to receive a Chamberlain HD930EV Ultra Quiet Belt Drive Garage Door Opener, which we had installed over the holidays.
We elected to have someone install the opener rather than do it ourselves, but the installation seemed straight-forward and did not take long.
So far, this new opener is such an improvement over our old opener in so many ways.
First, the Chamberlain HD930EV is a ultra quiet opener. It used to be that I could tell when my husband was coming home because I could here the opener operating from many corners of the house. I always worried about disturbing the sleeping family when I would head out early to work out or head to work.
Second, the light on the opener unit comes on when motion is detected. The light on our old opener was one that you had to turn on from the control panel and sometimes, it would come on and flash. The control panel for this opener does have a light button, which you can use to turn the light on or off, but since it comes on when we enter the garage, we haven't had a need to use it (other than to shut it off when the light is not needed). In addition, this opener has two lights, one on either side of the garage. It provides a brighter light than our old opener.
Third, the control panel is back lit and features a time and temperature display. We have a clock in the garage, but I like that there is a clock on the control panel.
Fourth, the range on the opener is better than my old one. I can push the button on the remote from the corner and the garage door will begin to open. With the old one, I almost had to be in the driveway to open it.
Fifth, the opener comes with a battery back-up. We live in an area with underground power wires, so we generally don't have too much issue with power outages (at least relative to other places that I have lived), but it is good to know that if we did have an outage that we could still get in and out using our opener.
Sixth, the opener came with the wireless keypad for outside of the garage. With our last one, we had to buy it as an add on, so having it included was nice.
There are some draw backs to the opener though too.
The biggest being that it is not compatible with the HomeLink that we each have in our car. The cars we drive aren't that old (2006 and 2011 Toyota), so I would have expected that it should work. You can purchase a repeater to allow you to operate the opener using HomeLink, but I don't see the benefit in that. So, for now, we are back to using the remotes that come with the opener or using the MyQ app on our iPhones. It works, but old habits die hard and I continue to reach for the HomeLink button, only to remember that it doesn't work.
The opener is much slower than our old one. Not a big deal, but when I am running late, a little frustrating. Plus, in the morning (especially when it is cold or dark), I tend to get in my car before opening, so I have to wait a little longer to start the car.
The opener comes with the MyQ Internet Gateway, but to use the MyQ Internet Gateway you have to plug the unit into your router and into the wall. As such, we stuck with the wireless gateway that we had already installed, since it was also compatible. It would have been nice if the opener used the same wireless technology as the MyQ Universal Smartphone Garage Door controller. Again, it works, so it's not a big deal just a preference.
Overall, I am pleased with the opener and find it to be an improvement over the opener we used to have.
No compensation was received for this post. Chamberlain provided the HD930EV opener, so that we could share our experience with the product. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.
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