idMicroDot - Home and Office Assets Kit product reviews

As some of the site blog readers will remember, about 10 months ago the workspace was invaded by burglars, and a lot of equipment and review stock was stolen. Had we known then about this product, I think it would have turned out a lot better off.

The pack comes in a modified VHS cassette case, and upon opening, you are presented with a small vial filled with a milky-white adhesive gel, and a thousand or two microdots, plus a pile of little pink cousins, bearing no information, but simply providing 'marker spots' to allow faster locating by law enforcement officers. under the foam bed is the support gear.

A range of stickers for home and contents, ranging from the larger outdoor-facing window stickers, to the mob of smaller stickers suitable for the VCR or PC Monitor... and a manual on suggested 'safe application methods' with a series of logs in the back, for you to list item locations you have marked. But the real powerdrive of this product is...

The website. Log in, register your idMicrodot unique ID and some basic contact information, and you are set. If any goods ARE stolen and later recovered, the Police need only look for the pink marker dots, scan the area with a UV light to highlight the identity-carrying microdots, then zoom in to find the code. After that they can look up your contact details, connect the gear with the incident report, and call you with some good news.

They are very easy to apply, the milkiness of the adhesive faded to transparency within about 10 minutes, and unless I knew what to look for, I would have had a lot of trouble locating the dot-swarms... yup, that's right... you get 1000 dots, but you can easily apply anywhere from 2, to 30 in a side swipe of the wiry little brush applicator. This, however, still leaves you plenty of swipes!

Overall, though I had a little trouble with the idmicrodot.co.nz website, I found simply jumping to the Australian site proved just as effective, since they both feed the same database apparently... This may not stop a clumsy newbie burglar stealing something, but it sure would reduce the chances of a pro taking the risk... the pro haven't survived this long by taking stupid risks that would land them in possession of clearly-marked stash. This is cheaper than a home alarm system, but if all you want is a way to deter the thieves, this is a very affordable option, which is known to the crims as real, and not a fake sticker from the novelty shop.