Honeywell VISTA-20P Ademco Control Panel, PCB in Aluminum Enclosure

Just received this panel today (4/15/2014), and ordered from NuWave AV based off of one of the reviews below. I needed Revision 9.16 or higher to work with the keypad that I ordered. I received Revision 9.12 from them. I will be returning this immediately as it does not work with the keypad that I ordered. On top of that, the battery was shipped with it inside the panel box, and was loose during shipping. It moved around inside the box and shockingly didnt bust, but who knows how much damage it did to the panel itself. BEWARE OF ORDERING FROM NuWave AV. I will not order from them again!!!

In todays world of Alarms its kinda old school but it does exactly what it was intended to do. Not to mention low price and programmable with the 6160 keypad.

I replaced my Vista10Se that was doing weird things. This model is very close in layout but the wiring was slightly different. If you are switching from a different model the resisters they ship with the panel are likely different from your old one and you will need to swap all of those out. What you could put on each port was more flexible than my 10SE, but there was a restriction on what you could put on one of the ports on the 20SE. I switched to two 6160 key pads with my upgrade so I have full text on both keypads. One of those keypads is a 6160RF so I can use things like key fobs. Make sure you copy all of the setting out of your old panel if you have access to the programming... otherwise just fill out options sheet as to what you may want to change from the default. You can likely just call your security company to get setting like the dial in number and responses if you need. Each company will vary. All of my wiring went back in without a problem. I like that I can put real words on my zones now so you dont need a chart to see what is open. The relays are a little louder. I can hear them clicking as I lock and unlock the system. The messaging off this unit is much better than my old one. I also saw some after market devices to have the messaging go direct a phone w/o the need of the monitoring company to forward it. Those devices and the app can let you remotely arm and disarm as well. Keep in mind that some monitoring companies just bundle all that in to their offering now so you may be able to get it that way. I was able to keep my old cellular backup and the IP adapter that allows my monitoring to work over the internet as well. If you have not programmed these before they can be a little frustrating... and understanding resistive loops might have you scratching your head. There are a lot of online videos for these panels. I have to say the programming my first RF device was a task even with the videos... I probably should not have started with trying to customize it to my desires and gone with the defaults as a starting point for the RF (as that would have worked). In the end all is good and as I want it.

Works as advertised. Additional zones and features.

The items were as advertised. I would buy from this seller again.

Perfect product!!!

Takes some technical know-how to wire up and program correctly. Very reliable hardware. Up-to-date EEPROM on Vista board.

Nice alarm system, very configurable and works well.

Received the latest 10.23 version. Works perfectly. I upgraded an older version 1.4 Vista 20P to this without any problems. I moved the wires one by one from old to new. Then I simply went through and read all of the configuration information from the existing unit and then programmed it into the new unit; all of this work is done through the alpha numeric keypad on the system. No issues whatsoever!

Works Great: Ive tested every zone with both resistors and actual sensors, have not experienced a problem. Very Sturdy: The delivery man dropped it HARD on the way to the door, still works good. Choose the 6160RF Keypad to program: Avoid any package deal that does not include the 6160RF keypad. Lots of feedback out there was that the 6160RF was a waste of money...but without a clear explanation of WHY & WHEN. Heres the thing: if you have only one keypad on your system, and you want some wireless capability, it is CHEAPEST to go with the 6160RF keypad. If you need two keypads, then choose the 6160RF and then a very cheap second keypad. Before you complain that the emphasis of this review is on the keypad instead of the alarm control panel...you cant do anything, test anything, wire anything, program anything, or use the control panel without a keypad to program it & test it. I initially bought the 6160 to program it, but then realized my mistake & ordered the 6160RF / returned the 6160. This control panel only has 8 ea. wired-zones, and the expert-consensus leans towards an expansion panel instead of Zone-Doubling. I havent expanded past 8-wired zones as of yet, except for experiments with wireless sensors via the 6160RF (just to confirm it works.)