ELECTRONIC DOG DOORS COMPARED




POWER PET ® Fully Automatic Electric Dog Doors,
In a Class by Themselves


A Side by Side Comparison of
Electronic Dog Doors

C onsidering that there are only five basic models of electronic pet doors available today, we are surprised at the amount of misunderstanding and miscommunication there is regarding how they operate and how they perform. To help you better understand how each of these dog doors work and which is best for you, we decided to present you with a side by side comparison of features, performance and quality. Of course, we hope it will lead you to choose our amazing Power Pet door but, we really want you to choose the electronic pet door that best fits your needs and budget and we want to make sure your choice is based on solid facts. Now, some of the information we seek to get across is a bit technical. Unfortunately, we are engineers used to talking in "engineer-speak". However, we will do our best to explain as clearly as we know how.

Electric Dog Door Models: The five basic models of electronic pet doors are

● Power Pet Door     ● Plexidor     ● Solo     ● Passport     ● Smart Door

Each model comes in various sizes except the Plexidor which only comes in very large. The charts below gives you our "At a Glance" comparison of features and quality. Additionally, we have a description that is admittedly, lengthy and perhaps gives you more information than you ever wanted to know about electric dog doors. But, before you spend your hard earned money on an expensive electric doggie door we want to make sure you have all the details. For the complete analysis, Click ""READ MORE"" at the bottom of the chart.





Most Popular: We estimate that of these five basic models, the Power Pet line sells more (by dollar volume) than all other electronic pet doors combined with the Power Pet models accounting for over 50% of the entire electronic dog door market. The two Petsafe models account for about 40% with the remaining 10% divided among Solo and Plexidor.

Aren’t There Other Kinds of Electric Pet Doors? There are some other so-called electronic pet doors such as the Petsafe magnetic cat flap, the Cat Mate Electromagnetic Cat Door, the Dog Mate Electronic Dog Door, the Ideal electric pet door and others. We are excluding these type of products because they represent little, if any, advantage over conventional, hard flap doggy doors. We think it would be a waste of time to say too much about them except that typically, these units use a magnet worn on a pet collar that triggers a magnetically sensitive latch. The latches can be opened by any magnet and are not secure. They are easily overcome by human intruders and animals and don't provide much better draft or weather resistance than a conventional flap. We have chosen to limit this review to the more advanced, higher performing and yes, more expensive, electric dog doors.

The Manufacturers: Just as important as the product itself is the company that makes and, hopefully, stands behind it. Here is a brief profile of the companies behind the products.
High Tech Pet (that's us) is based in the coastal city of Ventura, California. We were founded in 1987 and we are one of the nation's oldest electronic pet product manufacturers. We are heavily engineering driven, employing some of the nation's best electronic, mechanical and software engineers. High Tech Pet started by inventing the most power miniature ultrasonic transmitter made. That technology became the basis of the ultrasonic collar used to activate the Power Pet electronic pet door and a host of other pet activated training and containment products. High Tech Pet is now the nation's second largest manufacturer of electronic pet care products including a full line of electronic fences, bark control collars, remote pet training products, and of course, the world's most amazing pet doors.

High Tech Pet is the leading innovator in the pet products industry contributing ideas and methods often borrowed by some of our "friendly competitors".

We focus on the highest level of personalized customer support with trained technicians and even engineers offering direct, on-on-one customer support. We offer an unlimited 90 day refund guarantee, a full, one-year, 100% satisfaction warranty and a limited lifetime warranty. And, you will never pay a shipping charge when returning a High Tech Pet product or receiving a warranty replacement. High Tech Pet has manufacturing facilities in the United States and throughout the world and is one of the two pet door manufactures mentioned here with the resources to develop high level production tooling that can produce products of consistently excellent quality at competitive, high value price points. It's also worth mentioning that High Tech Pet now manufactures the Power Pet door at our automated manufacturing facility right here in Ventura, California.

Plexidor aka Pet Doors USA, is a small company in Bradenton, Florida that manufactures and re-sells specialty pet doors. As far as we can tell, they are pretty good at customer service with an excellent BBB rating.

Plexidor has a lot of experience making conventional flap dog doors and seems to produce some pretty good ones. But, they are not strong in electronic or mechanical engineering or high level manufacturing.

A few years ago, Plexidor introduced its electric dog door after we sent them a promotional sample of our Power Pet PP-2 model (now obsoleted in favor of our new, far more advanced PX series). The Plexidor electronic door appears to be a close copy of our PP-2 which we designed to get into the market quickly with low cost, low production level tooling. It does not appear that Plexidor is in a position to produce the type of very expensive tooling used to produce quality products at high production levels and therefore focuses on low volume manufacturing techniques which may account for the astronomical price of their electric dog door.

Solo Pet Doors: is the smallest electronic pet door manufacturer, named for its owner Henry Solowieg. Solo's website does not list a physical address nor can they be found in any local business directories we tried. The California Secretary of State shows a suspended corporation in Costa Mesa, CA while the Better Business Bureau shows a non-accredited company in Upland, CA. Both addresses are of single family homes, not factories. Well, wherever Henry is, he claims to be the "original inventor" of the electronic pet door. Actually, Henry is right, kind of. The first motorized pet door operated by a remote collar was probably the one Solowieg built in 1992. That model used a fiberglass housing, an AC motor and some kind of a mechanical arm to raise the panel. However, shortly after we introduced our Power Pet model PP-2, which was made of aluminum and featured our patented cable lift drive, by some strange coincidence, Solowieg's automatic pet door completely changed to an aluminum door with a very similar cable lift drive. So, the "original inventor" seems to have abandoned his invention if favor of our basic design. Judging by customer reviews citing a "rude" owner, it appears that Henry needs to be having a good day in order for a customer to get good support.

Solo is focused in the low volume niche of hand built products. This may account for the high price of a relatively low technology product.

Petsafe: is the brand name of Radio Systems, Corp. of Knoxville, TN. and is, by far, the largest of the four electric dog door manufacturers. Radio Systems started in the early 1990s by manufacturing a DIY copy of the Invisible Fence ® after being turned down for an Invisible Fence ® dealership. Having achieved significant success with their electronic fence, Radio Systems was able to purchase the two main pet door companies in the US, Johnson Pet Door and Pet Ease (US Pet Doors). Later, they purchased Staywell. Since then, Radio Systems has become a major player in the general pet supplies market by purchasing nearly everyone and his dog including, ironically, Invisible Fence ®, and marketing the products under the Petsafe brand. Petsafe's size gives them the resources, like High Tech Pet, to produce highly tooled products that can be mass produced to achieve good price points. In our opinion,

Petsafe has impressive sales and marketing skills but, tends to be the follower rather that leader when it comes to new product design, innovation and technology.

Their new products are often hit and miss with a number of notable failures including their first two attempts at creating a working electronic pet door. The Petsafe product line carries an industry standard warranty so, you are likely to get a replacement (you pay shipping) if your electronic door dies within the first year. However, we read lots of reviews stating that it is hard to get knowledgeable and responsive support and technical advice when contacting their customer support group.

Classes of Electronic Pet Doors: We've divided the five electric doggy door models into three classes,

● Fully Automatic     ● Motorized     ● Manual Electronic

Power Pet Door                     Plexidor                     Passport
Solo                           Smart Door

Fully Automatic - Power Pet door

By Fully Automatic, we mean a pet door that is not only motorized, with all the features of the motorized class below, but, also has directional sensing, 4 way access control, auto safety retract, automatic dead-bolt locking and auto recharging battery back-up capability. In short, a door that requires little, if any, help from you during its day to day operation.

Power Pet is the world's only Fully Automatic pet door.

But, the Power Pet door goes a giant step further because its ultrasonic collar may also be used to activate other pet operated products including our Sound Barrier and Yard Barrier sonic fences. Our electronic dog fences and scram mat collars also operate the Power Pet door. So, you can buy the door as a fully automatic pet door or create an entire automated pet environment that gives your dog access to the door, keeps him safely in the yard and out of "Off Limits" areas, all with a single collar. Now, that's an automatic pet door!

Motorized - Plexidor and Solo

The Motorized class of electronic pet door uses a motor to open the access panel so that the pet does not have to push it open. Pushing open the panel is something a lot of pets don't like to do. A motorized door makes it easier to train your dog to use his own door. It also makes it a lot easier and a lot more fun for the pet.

Manual Electronic - Petsafe Smart Door and Passport

Manual electric dog doors use a swinging panel, like a conventional hard flap door. But, the panel is unlocked by a pet-worn collar. Since the door does not open by itself, it requires the dog to manually (or should we say dogually) push open the panel. The lack of a motor drive immediately puts the Petsafe models in a lesser class of electric pet door.


COMPARISON OF MODELS:

Power Pet ® Door:
High Tech Pet introduced the first Power Pet door, the P1, in 1993. We the introduced an improved version, the PP, series whose basic design was copied by Plexidor and Solo in their current models. We then undertook a multi-million dollar project to develop the much improved PX series.

This is High Tech Pet's 3RD generation of, Fully Automatic Pet doors featuring the most advanced, microprocessor driven circuitry, sophisticated mechanical engineering, elegant design and the highest level of manufacturing precision and quality.

The engineers at High Tech Pet invented the basic drive now used on all three brands of motor-driven pet doors. The motor drives spool that winds up a cable. The cable lifts the lifts the access panel. When retuning to its closed position, the panel is lowered using only its own weight. The Power Pet door uses a unique reverse bias circuit that uses the motor as a break during closure, slowing the panel's decent and allowing it to close smoothly, quietly and SAFELY.

The big difference is that the Power Pet door uses a compact DC Gear-motor which is much smaller yet, more powerful than the bulky AC motors used by Plexidor and Solo.

This allows the Power Pet door to have a very slim profile measuring only 1 1/2 inches deep at the top and only 1/2 inch deep along its length. So, why do the other guys use an AC motor instead of a DC gear-motor? One issue is cost. AC motors are less expensive. But, the real reason is control. AC motors are much easier to control and you can buy very inexpensive, off-the-shelf, AC motor controllers and avoid the task of designing your own. DC gear-motors, on the other hand, take some real expertise to control. But, in the hands of a skilled engineer, they give you unmatched performance. Our ingenious "pulse width modulated" drive circuit is microprocessor driven to operate the motor at its maximum efficiency so that it quickly opens the panel in under one second.

Our drive is fast, smooth, quiet and cool running, all in a very compact space. To a mechanical engineer a well-designed DC gear-motor drive is a thing of beauty like a fine Picasso or the Mona Lisa.

Like Plexidor and Solo, the Power Pet door uses a panel that moves vertically within retaining grooves. These grooves provide much better sealing than swinging panels but, the Plexidor and Solo depend on the groves alone for their sealing and, when closed, do not seal the top (non-grooved) edge of the panel, allowing a path for air to flow from the outside to the inside of your home. The Power Pet door uses a continuous, industrial quality, wear resistant, felt seal around the entire perimeter of the access panel. It also has a compression seal at the top of the panel.

When closed, the Power Pet door creates a hermetic (absolutely air-tight) seal even in hurricane force winds, resulting in the best sealed pet door made.

The Power Pet door casing is constructed from an injected molded, high strength ABS composite. Our competitors may try to call it "cheap plastic" but, at the same production levels, it is actually more expensive than the extruded aluminum and cut Plexiglas they use and it performs much better. This type of highly tooled casing is actually stronger than the aluminum casings of the Plexidor and Solo because injection molding allows us to engineer a profile with high moments of inertia exactly where necessary to create a structure that is both more rigid and more resilient. We are also able to create an internal profile that nests the moving panel perfectly as well as creating a high strength anchor system for the motor and perfectly sized cavities for the electronics and battery.

Tooling to create the Power Pet door's large molded casing is extremely expensive but, it produces a pet door that is stronger and more dimensionally precise, resulting in parts that fit better and move more smoothly and quietly.

Speaking of quiet, the Power Pet door's motor is mounted on vibration absorbing grommets making it operate much more quietly than the other motor-drive doggie doors.

The access panel is made of polycarbonate (sometimes called Lexan). Polycarbonate is among the strongest plastic materials made and is actually (as we love to advertise) bulletproof, providing excellent security and thermal properties.

Our patented Microsonic TM directional ultrasonic sensing system is a key element that makes the Power Pet door unique and superior. Custom circuitry inside the door reads the coded signal from your pet's ultrasonic transmitter collar and opens the panel in response. Our detection circuitry reads the ultrasonic code with 100% accuracy and rejects all other signals so the panel can't be opened by anything other than the collar. (Don't believe false claims on some of our competitors' websites that the Power Pet door will open by jingling keys or rain falling on a metal roof. Not true.)

Absolutely nothing but the collar will open a Power Pet door.

The directional signal of the collar is used to detect the direction in which your pet is moving so that the door will only open if your pet is on a direct approach, not when your pet is just wandering by. Ultrasonic technology is long range and gives the most accurate distance control. You can adjust the activation distance of a Power Pet door from zero to over 10 feet within an accuracy of just an inch or two. No other sensing system has this range or accuracy. Because the ultrasound won't penetrate the doors or walls of your home, we can isolate inside and outside sensors allowing you to set separate indoor and outdoor activation distances. Only the Power Pet door has this feature and it is very useful because typically, it's more convenient to set a longer outdoor range giving the door more time to open when your enthusiastic dog comes charging toward the door.

Now, our competitors love to criticize our collars claiming they are not waterproof. However, our new standard MS-4 collar is highly water resistant to rain and snow, perfect for most pets. What about the dog that thinks he's a fish?

Our new MS-5 collar is completely WATERPROOF and SUBMERSIBLE to a depth of over 10 feet!

It's perfectly suited to dogs who love to run in the rain, swim in the lake or scuba dive in the ocean. We admit that Power Pet collars are more expensive than the competing collars. But, we think you will find their cost well justified. Because of its directionality, long range, accurate distance control, precise coding and now our new submersible collar,

Power Pet's ultrasonic sensing system is superior to all others providing features not available on any other pet door.

Because the Power Pet door's dual, isolated sensors allow it to know whether the dog is inside or outside

The Power Pet door gives you 4 pet access choices.

  • In Only: Your pet can come in but not go out.
  • Out Only: Your pet go out but not come in.
  • Full Access: Your pet can come in go out.
  • No Access: The door is closed and locked.

Plus, Dual Range Controls for separate inside and outside activation distances.

In addition to all that, Power Pet's ultrasonic collar also operates our Sound Barrier and Yard Barrier area restriction fences and the Power Pet door will open with our RX-10 electronic dog fence collar so, you can integrate the Power Pet door into a complete electronic pet care system all operated by a single collar.

The Power Pet door gives you three power choices.

  • AC Wall Power:
  • AC with Battery Back-up:
  • Battery Only:

  • The door comes standard with an AC wall adapter that powers the unit from any wall outlet. For maximum convenience, we provide two power receptacles, one on either side of the door. (Another unique feature) You can add an optional rechargeable battery to use along with the AC adapter so that the door will remain operational during a power outage. For operation without a wall connection at all, you can run the door on the battery alone by using our optional charger kit. Keep one battery in the charger and one in the door. When the door battery is low (after at least 1,000 operations), just swap.

    The Power Pet door is inherently safe for use with all pets, even around infants and small children. The door panel is lifted by the motor but, returned gently and safely by gravity. And, only Power Pet has our unique Auto Safety Retract (ASR) system. If the panel senses an obstruction while closing it automatically reverses direction and reopens.

    The Power Pet door uses a solid steel, dead-bolt lock. When closed, the dead-bolt automatically kicks in. The panel can only be raised by engaging the motor to release the lock.

    The Power Pet door also gives you a complete range of installation choices for doors, walls and sliding glass patio doors.

    Out of the box it can be installed in a door in an hour or two. High Tech Pet makes a pre-assembled wall tunnel that eliminates the need to frame the opening when installing in walls. So, wall installation doesn't take much longer. Finally, High Tech Pet makes a very high quality, reasonably priced line of patio pet door inserts using heavy duty construction and dual pane e-glass. These units allow installation in a sliding glass patio door in just a few minutes.

    The Power Pet door is the best made electronic pet door you can buy.

    No other electric dog door is engineered to provide the features, design, quality of construction, quality of materials, ease of installation and use, safety, security and reliability you will find on your genuine Power Pet door.

    Built to last a lifetime!







    Plexidor Electric Dog Door

    The Plexidor electronic pet door is basically a copy of the Power Pet model PP-2 that we discontinued in 2005. It uses an aluminum extrusion for the main body with a Plexiglas front panel. This is a clever way to avoid high tooling costs but, it does not yield highly precision fits and finish and will have a negative effect on performance. However, the Plexidor really compares with our old PP-2 model, let alone the newer Power Pet PX series electronic pet doors for several reasons. Plexidor uses a similar drive mechanism to the one invented by High Tech Pet but, it uses a less expensive AC motor which is much larger than the DC gear-motor used on the Power Pet door. In addition to slower, louder operation, this causes the Plexidor to have a awkwardly large motor box hung at the top of the door that looks pretty unsightly. We noted several reviews complaining about the Plexidor's high noise level, stating that pets are sometimes afraid to use it and that it can be heard throughout the house when the doggie uses it at night. But,

    Plexidor's biggest drawback is its price, a whopping $1200.00! We have no idea why it costs so much or why anyone would spend this kind of money when the Power Pet door, at 1/3 the price, performs so much better, looks so much better and gives you so many more features.

    The Plexidor access panel is made of (appropriately) Plexiglas (acrylic). Not the best choice. Acrylic is not as strong or impact resistant as polycarbonate. Thermal properties are also not as good. We expect that the panel could have trouble sticking in very hot or very cold temperatures for that reason.

    When we first saw the RFID sensing we thought it was a clever application of the existing technology. The RFID tag is waterproof, gives you foolproof identification of your dog and does not require a battery. The problem is that to read the sensor reliably you need a large antenna loop. Plexidor placed this loop on the door panel which looks pretty cheesy.

    Reviews state that the door takes a long time to read the tag (about 5 seconds) and that the pet has to stand and wait within a few inches of the loop antenna for it to open.

    There are no access settings. Just on and off. For power, the door uses an AC adapter or can be hardwired. However it is not UL approved for hardwiring. There is no battery power option. In regard to safety, the Plexidor seems to be completely safe around pets and kids. (One of the benefits of copying our basic drive.) The Plexidor is constructed from miter cut aluminum extrusions that are welded together at the corners. They use a Plexiglas front cover. Welded aluminum sounds strong but, it's actually less ridged than Power Pet's injected molded housing. This translates to lesser performance. The unit comes in only one size which is adequate for very large dogs. It is designed for door and wall installations which, other than the fact the frame itself is very tall, should be pretty easy. There are some photos of the Plexidor in a sliding glass patio door but, this looks to be a very expensive, custom affair. The company does not offer a pre-made patio pet door insert.

    Overall, by the extremely high price of its product, the Plexidor electric dog door attempts to position itself as the premium choice. However, without appearing to be too harsh, we'd like to point out that it seems to have been priced by PT Barnum. By all accounts, the Plexidor appears to work fairly reliably and is constructed fairly well. But, it is not the best choice unless you have a very large dog (over 100 lbs.).

    The bottom line is that if you purchase this electronic dog door you will probably be satisfied. But, you will have paid a lot more money for a door that does a lot less than a genuine Power Pet door.












    Solo Pet Doors:

    Each Solo door is hand welded and assembled by Henry Solowieg himself. These doors are very basic in construction and assembly. While we are not criticizing the craftsmanship, more sophisticated tooling and modern automated assembly technology would yield higher precision with better fit and finish. Right off the top, however, the Solo door has a big, big problem.

    Any magnet, even the one sticking on your refrigerator door, will open the Solo dog door - not exactly what you would call secure.

    Solo doors use a welded aluminum frame with a sheet metal front cover. Like the Plexidor, the drive is taken from the Power Pet design using a motor and lift cable with a gravity return. Unfortunately, like the Plexidor, the Solo uses a large AC motor and a rather crude controller. Henry chose to mount this large motor inside the casing. That is what makes over 4 inches deep, making it impractical for any installation but inside the wall studs. When mounted between the studs, the Solo door has a nice, flush mounted appearance. The problem is that

    you have to cut a very large hole in your wall that covers the entire area of the door which is more than twice the area of the flap itself. That makes for a difficult installation.

    And because there is no pre-made wall kit available you are required to build a custom frame to seal off the opening. The Solo door is not designed to be mounted on doors or in sliding glass patio doors. Solo does advertise door and sliding glass installations but, if you look any photos of such installations you see a huge box hanging off of a house door or a patio panel and that ends up looking crude and frankly, a little ridiculous. All this highlights the fact that Solo lacks the engineering skills and manufacturing equipment to produce a first-class electronic pet door. To its credit, Solo does use a polycarbonate (Lexan) panel. And we will say that

    the Solo electronic dog door is basically well built. Just don't expect the level of performance and security that you get from a genuine Power Pet door.








    Ironically, Henry's website, and the site of his biggest customer, Moorepet, tout the fact that

    the Solo door uses a simple, inexpensive magnet as the collar key. This is not a plus. It's a BIG, BIG PROBLEM because ANY MAGNET WILL OPEN THE SOLO DOOR.

    Yes, the collar keys are cheap and waterproof and require no batteries. Great. But, would you want the front door of your home to be accessible with a refrigerator magnet? This makes the Solo electric dog door the least secure of any electronic pet door. Additionally, household appliances like washers, dryers, vacuums and dishwashers, will open the Solo door. Sensing is not directional so there are a lot of false triggers when the dog is just passing by. Range with magnetic sensing is not easily repeatable. So, the door is apt to open at varying distances regardless of the internal settings. Like the Plexidor, there are no access choices, just on and off. Power is hard wired or plugged in directly to the wall socket. Unfortunately, while not required by law,

    Solo Pet Doors are NOT UL Approved.

    We believe these are generally safe doors but, they do not have the auto safety retract feature found on Power Pet doors so, there is the possibility of an occasional pinched tail.

    Overall, we rated this door higher than the Petsafe models only because it is motorized and therefore, in a higher class of pet door. But, even assuming that all the claims of reliability and every other wonderful thing Henry clams on his website are true,

    the Solo door should be your last choice in an electric dog door solely based on its lack of security. Once you install a Solo dog door, any thief with a ten cent magnet has a key to your home.










    Petsafe Passport Door

    Since the introduction of our Power Pet door and its dominance of the electronic pet door market, Petsafe has been under a lot of pressure from retailers, such as Petsmart, to manufacture an electric dog door with more sophisticated technology to compete with ours. This, apparently, is it. Now, as engineers we are always trying to find ways to take complex technology and make it simple. We are amazed, and a little amused, at how

    Petsafe managed to take a rather simple idea and turn it into an outrageously complicated mess.

    There are three swinging flaps (or a flap and two bezels depending on what you call a flap) and two sensing systems that seem to fight each other rather than work together. Although this door does not have a motor, it somehow turns out to be thicker than even the Solo door so, when mounted in a door or wall, it sticks way out from the mounting surface. Now, we would like to find something nice to say about our competitors so, we will note that the Passport electric dog door is a highly tooled, very professionally constructed product designed to be produced in very high volumes. Petsafe, obviously put millions into developing this product.

    The Passport electric dog door really does try to do a lot. It uses a combination of RFID sensing for selective pet entry and infrared motion detection in order to implement a 4-way access system similar to the Power Pet door's. It has a programmable front panel box and a USB data I/O port and can be programmed with your PC. But, it still uses a swinging panel. Now the way we see it,

    You can throw all the complex technology you want at a pet door but, if it uses a swinging flap, it's still a flap door.

    If Petsafe is trying to compete with the Power Pet door, they've kind of missed the point.

    Passport's fancy flap is actually a 3 flap system. The main panel and two bezels that swing with the panel. Each bezel has its own electromagnetic latch. (It's starting to look like a lot can go wrong here.) In addition to being mechanically complex, the triple flap system makes the unit stick out from the mounting surface several inches more than any of the other electronic dog doors. The size of dog that can use this door is limited since the larger size uses a 9 5/8" x 13 1/4" flap. The Passport operates with an AC wall adapter or custom rechargeable battery that is sold separately. However, access to the battery is difficult. The pet access panel is ABS plastic, a good, tough material. Another positive is that when closed, the flaps seal better than the Plexidor, Solo or Smart door but, not air-tight like the Power Pet.

    Perhaps because High Tech Pet's ultrasonic sensing patent is still in force, Petsafe chose to borrow Plexidor's RFID sensing concept. But, here's the strange part. They also use motion detection such that the door must sense the RFID tag and detect the pet's motion in order to unlock. Our guess is that they did this in order to detect on which side of the door the dog is standing so that they can mimic Power Pet's 4 way access control. Now, we don't really mean to tease Petsafe's engineers (okay, we do) but, there is much simpler way to achieve this mechanically but, we are not going to say how.

    The motion detector is problematic for two reasons, First, since the door is slow to respond, the dog tends to go up to the door and stop. Now that he's not moving, the motion detector can't tell he's there and therefore, won't allow the RFID sensor to open the lock. This is particularly true with smaller animals. Second, the motion sensor produces blind zones when the animal is close to the door. Since the detection range of RFID tags is short, actual activation range on the Passport door is more like a little activation spot where the dog has to be trained to stand. Not surprisingly, we've seen a number of reviews that claim the motion detector doesn’t work very well, especially with cats and smaller dogs. Some pet owners complain that they are required to wave a hand in front of the door to make it unlatch. That kind of defeats the purpose of a pet activated door. Another common complaint is that the latch activation is very loud and scares the pet away. As far as safety, you'd expect a Petsafe product to be pretty safe right? Actually, we'll give them one here. Although, Petsafe has had serious safety issues in the past, we don't see anything inherently unsafe about this pet door. The product is designed primarily for door-in-door installation. Petsafe claims there is a wall install kit coming in the future. There is no provision for installation in a sliding glass patio door.

    Overall, there are just a lot more minuses to this product than pluses and, even given Petsafe's dominance in the in-store distribution realm, we will be a little surprised it this new electric pet door will be successful with pet owners in the marketplace. Frankly, given the resources available to a company that is pushing toward a billion dollars in sales, we really expected something better from Petsafe.











    Petsafe Smart Door

    Although not particularly successful in the marketplace, this is Petsafe's first electronic pet door to remain on the market for a sustained length of time.

    The Smart Door is a non-motorized electronic pet door that unlocks when it senses the pet worn collar but, the pet still has to push it open.

    This eliminates a lot of pets as potential users since, again, a lot of pets don't like pushing open the hard flap. The panel sits in a trapezoidal shaped groove and uses a mechanism to lift the panel out of the groove to all it to swing open. This, presumably, makes a better seal and more secure latch than a conventional hard flap door. However, there are many problems reported where the panel doesn't seat correctly when closing and prevents movement in one direction locking the pet inside or outside. This door will give a little better wind resistance than a flexible flap door but, is not air tight. Panel material is ABS plastic. The sensing system is conventional RF (Radio Frequency). The pet wears an active radio transmitting collar that requires a custom battery and is not waterproof. Radio waves are not directional so the door theoretically opens within a certain radius. In practice, the distance varies widely and is affected by environmental RF noise.

    Access choices include the ability to turn the locking system off to allow it to work like a conventional pet door. You can lock the door to prevent the pet from going in or out and you can use is as an electronic locking door. You can't select "In Only" or "Out Only" modes since with RF there is no way to tell whether the pet is inside or outside. The Smart door uses a non-rechargeable battery that needs replacing every so often. As with the Passport door, we don’t see anything unsafe about this unit, nor have we heard about any safety issues. Security of this door, in our opinion, is a little better than an unlocked conventional flap door. But, a flap door with a lock-out slide is more secure at night than putting the Smart door in locked mode.

    As with the Passport door, this is a highly tooled unit. So, Petsafe spent some money to produce it. However, the electronic and mechanical design and the resulting performance, in our opinion, leaves a lot to be desired.



    POWER PET Rules!

    Now, you may think we are just trying to slam the competition here, and we admit, we don't much mind doing that, especially since our competition seems to have made it so easy. However, we've made our analysis completely factual and those knowledgeable in this field will be hard pressed to find any factual error or omission. The fact is that, try as they may, no one has yet been able to match the engineering, performance, or quality of a genuine Power Pet door. Though we have to say we are flattered that they seem to be trying so hard. Power Pet continues to reign as the premium performance pet door at a price that offers the best value for your money.

    High Tech Pet has been manufacturing electronic pet doors since 1993. We have continuously updated and improved our design and manufacture by intensely field testing our products, listening to, and learning from, many thousands of customer comments. All that we've learned, plus a multi-million dollar tooling and development program, has gone into the creation of our new, improved PX Series Power Pet Doors. Power Pet doors out sell all the others combined and are sold online everywhere by nearly every major retailer including Petsmart, Petco, Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Sam's Club and many others. If you purchase a genuine Power Pet Fully Automatic, Electronic Pet Door you are guaranteed the highest level of technology, performance, features, quality and most of all, reliability. You will also get the most supportive customer service in the industry, both before and after the sale.


    Please note that Petsafe, Radio Systems Corp, Smart Door, Passport Door, Plexidor, Solo, Invisible Fence and Lexan are all trademarks of the associated companies. We are not affiliated in any way with those companies or brands. We do not sell or represent any of the products represented by those trademarks, companies or brands. We are High Tech Pet Products, Inc. Makers Power Pet, the Amazing Pet Door on the Planet!

POWER PET DOORS

New! WiFi Enabled POWER PET DOOR - Large
PX-2 POWER PET DOOR, World's Most Popular Fully Automatic, Motor Driven Door. Size: Large, For Pets Up To 100 lbs
New! WiFi Enabled Power Pet Door - Medium
PX-1 POWER PET DOOR, World's Most Popular Fully Automatic, Motor Driven Door. Size: Medium. For Pets Up To 30 lbs
New! Power Pet WiFI Enabled Automatic Patio Pet Door
Reg: $659.99
Today's Sale Price:
$549.99
New! WiFi Enabled POWER PET DOOR - Large
Reg: $539.99
Today's Sale Price:
$449.99
PX-2 POWER PET DOOR, World's Most Popular Fully Automatic, Motor Driven Door. Size: Large, For Pets Up To 100 lbs
Reg: $599.99
Today's Sale Price:
$499.99
New! WiFi Enabled Power Pet Door - Medium
Reg: $479.99
Today's Sale Price:
$399.99
PX-1 POWER PET DOOR, World's Most Popular Fully Automatic, Motor Driven Door. Size: Medium. For Pets Up To 30 lbs
Reg: $959.99
Today's Sale Price:
$799.99
New! Power Pet WiFI Enabled Automatic Patio Pet Door
PX-SE SERIES POWER PET DOUBLE PANE, LOW E GLASS, FULLY AUTOMATIC PATIO PET DOORS
MS-5 DIGITAL WATERPROOF EXTRA-RUGGED ULTRASONIC PET COLLAR
RUBBER BOOT for MS-5 COLLAR
POWER PET ALUMINUM WALL TUNNEL - LARGE
POWER PET ALUMINUM WALL TUNNEL - MEDIUM
Reg: $879.99
Sale Prices Start at: $729.99
PX-SE SERIES POWER PET DOUBLE PANE, LOW E GLASS, FULLY AUTOMATIC PATIO PET DOORS
Reg: $55.99
Today's Sale Price:
$49.99
MS-5 DIGITAL WATERPROOF EXTRA-RUGGED ULTRASONIC PET COLLAR
Reg: $15.00
Today's Sale Price:
$9.99
RUBBER BOOT for MS-5 COLLAR
Reg: $79.99
Today's Sale Price:
$59.99
POWER PET ALUMINUM WALL TUNNEL - LARGE
Reg: $69.99
Today's Sale Price:
$49.99
POWER PET ALUMINUM WALL TUNNEL - MEDIUM

WiFi Controlled Power Pet Doors

New! WiFi Enabled Power Pet Door - Medium
New! WiFi Enabled POWER PET DOOR - Large
New! Power Pet WiFI Enabled Automatic Patio Pet Door
Reg: $599.99
Today's Sale Price:
$499.99
New! WiFi Enabled Power Pet Door - Medium
Reg: $659.99
Today's Sale Price:
$549.99
New! WiFi Enabled POWER PET DOOR - Large
Reg: $959.99
Today's Sale Price:
$799.99
New! Power Pet WiFI Enabled Automatic Patio Pet Door

POWER PET DOOR ACCESSORIES

MS-5 DIGITAL WATERPROOF EXTRA-RUGGED ULTRASONIC PET COLLAR
MODEL B3V1A BATTERY 1-PK FOR MS-4 AND MS-5 DIGITAL ULTRASONIC PET COLLARS
MS-5 COLLAR BATTERY 2 PACK
MS-5 COLLAR BATTERY 6-PK
MODEL B3V1A BATTERY  12-PK FOR MS-4 AND MS-5 DIGITAL ULTRASONIC PET COLLARS
Reg: $55.99
Today's Sale Price:
$49.99
MS-5 DIGITAL WATERPROOF EXTRA-RUGGED ULTRASONIC PET COLLAR
Reg: $8.99
Today's Sale Price:
$7.99
MODEL B3V1A BATTERY 1-PK FOR MS-4 AND MS-5 DIGITAL ULTRASONIC PET COLLARS
Reg: $15.49
Today's Sale Price:
$13.99
MS-5 COLLAR BATTERY 2 PACK
Reg: $43.00
Today's Sale Price:
$39.99
MS-5 COLLAR BATTERY 6-PK
Reg: $83.99
Today's Sale Price:
$74.99
MODEL B3V1A BATTERY  12-PK FOR MS-4 AND MS-5 DIGITAL ULTRASONIC PET COLLARS
RUBBER BOOT for MS-5 COLLAR
RX-10 RECHARGEABLE ELECTRONIC DOG FENCE ULTRA COLLAR
BATTERY CHARGER for RX-10 <br>MULTI-FUNCTION  RADIO COLLAR
B12V-1.3 RECHARGEABLE POWER PET DOOR BATTERY
 POWER PET BATTERY CHARGER KIT
Reg: $15.00
Today's Sale Price:
$9.99
RUBBER BOOT for MS-5 COLLAR
Reg: $99.99
Today's Sale Price:
$89.99
RX-10 RECHARGEABLE ELECTRONIC DOG FENCE ULTRA COLLAR
Reg: $39.99
Today's Sale Price:
$34.99
BATTERY CHARGER for RX-10 <br>MULTI-FUNCTION  RADIO COLLAR
Reg: $49.99
Today's Sale Price:
$44.99
B12V-1.3 RECHARGEABLE POWER PET DOOR BATTERY
Reg: $75.99
Today's Sale Price:
$59.99
 POWER PET BATTERY CHARGER KIT
 POWER PET 2 BATTERY CHARGER KIT
MODEL WA-1 MEDIUM PLASTIC WALL TUNNEL for PX-1
POWER PET ALUMINUM WALL TUNNEL - MEDIUM
POWER PET ALUMINUM WALL TUNNEL - LARGE
Reg: $131.99
Today's Sale Price:
$109.99
 POWER PET 2 BATTERY CHARGER KIT
Reg: $35.99
Today's Sale Price:
$32.99
MODEL WA-1 MEDIUM PLASTIC WALL TUNNEL for PX-1
Reg: $69.99
Today's Sale Price:
$49.99
POWER PET ALUMINUM WALL TUNNEL - MEDIUM
Reg: $79.99
Today's Sale Price:
$59.99
POWER PET ALUMINUM WALL TUNNEL - LARGE