Quick shipping, product as described.

I installed mine (got it with the M1 Gold kit) in April 2010. All but 3 of the keypad LED's (back lighting) have failed since then. They failed 1 by 1. There are literally 10 failed LED's on my unit. I took it apart and even reflowed the solder on the LED's with a hot air reworking station and that did not fix the problem. Next step is buy some replacement LED's and replace them. These are surface mount so you can't do this unless you have the right equipment / skill. Either the manufacturer sourced the LED's from a shoddy supplier, or they are supplying too much voltage on the LED's which cause them to fail prematurely. I think you can adjust the brightness level of the keypad. I recommend doing this so you don't burn out the LED's. Here's the photos to show what happened.

Easy installation.

This company seems to be divided between two divisions, Hardware and Software. There is nothing negative to say about hardware, it is good, looks very professional and it is reliable.In the case of Software, it seems that they revive the very old IBM programmers to produce a non-friendly and non-reliable program interface to have access to the basic functionalities of your security alarm system from your PC. When I was deciding what to buy the alarm system, I give lot of importance to the promise of having access to the system anywhere from internet. Up to this days, it is not possible to have this feature available. If you read this for a recommendation, buy another brand of security system (a company that understand that reliability is a basic ingredient for security devices). Even kids know that Microsoft will upgrade the operative system computer worldwide, but no body advice ELK, so nothing works in Windows 10. What is the solution, ELK sell a software to have access to the alarm system from your mobile, but I do not trust enough in this company to buy it. I have the impression that I will lose more money to buy something that will not work. But in the case that the mobile software work, this talk a lot about the company principle and customer orientation.

My review covers Elk Products. In 2009 we wanted a home automation system for a fully pre-wired 6500 square foot house, Literally every door and window was pre-wired for alarms and thoughout the house cat 5 cables were installed to support integrated cameras and other devices. The Builder's choice of installers was recommending HAI products or Elk products. We chose Elk. Big mistake. First, the contracted installer went bankrupt before we purchased- no harm there. To find an installer we called Elk, Elk referred us their local Representative. The representative gave us a few names. We selected one. They purchased most of the product from a company called Smart Home. Now Elk refuses to acknowledge Smart home purchased products, same with Amazon purchased. But don't worry, that's not why you should avoid Elk with a 10 foot pole. We spend over $10,000 on our idiotic system. It was 100% Elk but with lights controlled by a different provider (i've since forgotten) and thermostats were HAI, because ELK didn't yet have a smart thermostat. Our installers ultimately went out of business. And only licensed installers have access to the brains of an Elk System. We had modest level of control through the M1 but no where near enough. Nor did we have authority to update the software, Elk requires the authorized installer handle it. We called Elk, they were helpless in finding us a replacement installer. I reached the original installers and they provided me with the codes for my system and wished me good luck. I actually successfully installed updated software and figured out how to re-program, change priorities etc. Then we had a power problem, I couldn't resolve it. I called the local representative. She told me she had many reports of the same problem and replacing the battery may resolve it. I replaced the battery and it did. By now several years had gone by and we wanted to add some wireless smoke detectors. Wireless devices requires separate programming. The representative offered me classes. Ultimately the only solution was to go to Elk college. They have online seminars etc. But I didn't have the time. Next the power unit went out. Changing the power unit requires a level of security deeper than I had access to. I called for service. My local security company that monitors and maintains many systems said they would be happy to help, but they had no experience with ELK. They were going to charge me hourly. I was literally looking at nearly a $1000 just for them to learn how to take-over a system since they didn't have access to the installer's codes etc., plus i had to pay for new power units and who know what else. Meanwhile the lighing controls were failing so badly, that we had to re-wire all switches and "de-automate" them.Being on a budget, I called around. I found out that Time Warner could take over my system for $200, effectively replacing the power unit, battery etc and providing future maintenance.Today I see that Elk says they won't honor the warranties of products sold through Smart Home, yet they are ultimately the ones responsible for my purchasing from Smart Home. By the way, Smart Home is equally unsupportive. After I spent literally 200% of the estimate, the installers left several unused ElK products; I asked if Smart Home would let me return them for a credit; even with an email from the installers saying that it's o.k. that they bought them for me, Smart Home refused to accept the merchandise.

Item arrived on time, just as described.

I needed to add a keypad to the garage for my Elk M1 Gold, and used this one. You can choose to surface mount it which has the advantage of only needing to put a very small hole in the wall, or you can buy a flush mount kit that means a bigger hole cut in the wall but a cleaner install. The surface mount is so low profile that it almost looks like a flush mount. So far, I've surface mounted one and flush mounted the other. There's a few other keypads available for the Elk -- there's an older M1KP1 that in my opinion looks a little clumsier but includes 6 function keys, and there's a M1KPAS which is a smaller keypad (fits a decora plate) but has no LCD display and fewer buttons. It does have a beep capability that will sound a tone to let you know the alarm needs to be disarmed, but it does not include a speaker for audio announcements. For audio, you can get an ELK SP12F speaker, pop it off its faceplate, and mount it right behind the keypad.

Works great. Audible notifications such as key press feedback and alert notifications sound much better than the ELK M1KP. Also the blue / white LCD display looks nice.