Why have your bell sound a chime, when it can play one of your favorite MP3's?

With the Swann MP3 Doorbell you can forget about the boring “ring-ring” or "ding-dong" normally associated with a doorbell. This doorbell not only comes with a large variety of built in songs, (including ‘Happy Birthday’), it also lets you add your own favorite music. Yep, it comes with software, which many people, me included, find a bit confusing. But it lets you add your own MP3 music or sound bytes to the bell’s library. I by-passed the software entirely by downloading some music on an SD card and putting in to the unit. A switch inside the bell is placed on “in” for the built-in music, or “SD” for the music you add yourself. You supply the SD card. A 2GB card holds approximately 600 songs or you expand up to a 32GB card, which stores up to 10,000 songs. Why you would need or want 10,000 songs in your doorbell library escapes me. But in case you have that many tunes, the speaker unit can also be used as a portable MP3 player via the built-in speaker. It has MP3 functions on the front too: forward/reverse song volume up/down and pause. The Swann MP3 Doorbell is easy to install. The box contains two components: a very tech looking doorbell/transmitter unit, and the speaker/receiver unit, which blinks blue light when the music plays. You mount the speaker inside your home, apartment, etc. The doorbell can be mounted with double-sided tape, but the speaker unit is heavier, and screens are provided for that. You also might want to get to the SD card slot and/or the battery compartment. Swann says the two units can operate up to 330ft / 100m apart. Both units are wireless and battery powered. The doorbell uses a 23A battery, which is a bit hard to find, but it’s included. The speaker unit uses 3 AA batteries, which are easy to find and are not included. If you buy one remember that the pre-installed 23A battery has a spacer, which must be removed before the unit will operate. By the way, the software supplied is supposed to let you edit your favorite songs and set the doorbell to play any part of the song when pressed. But I didn’t get that far before abandoning it. Remember this isn’t hard wired and doesn’t use any part of your current bell system. But it could be great if you’re in the yard and don’t hear your normal bell, you could bring the receiver out in the yard with you. List price is $59.99, but I saw it on Amazon for half that, $29.99. For that price, I think it’s a good deal.

Company website info: http://www.swann.com/s/products/view/?product=1158