Yes, plenty of other methods. MortiSafe is not necessarily better than any of them, you should choose whatever system meets all your needs. But I do think that MortiSafe is the most sophisticated system of its kind for the price.
The buzzer is only there for your convenience, you can turn it off just by unplugging the 9v battery. Everything else will work just the same. You'll have to push buttons on the safe to check if it's powered or not.
If you want to make it quieter, just muffle it. I put the buzzer into one of the bags used for sending out the MortiSafe parts, which makes it quieter.
The only times it needs to be in a computer are when you're configuring a lock code, unlock code or self-bondage setting.
If you're using self-bondage or using a lock code which has a time setting, then for the time while the safe is locked and the time is 'ticking down', the MortiThingy needs to have power. It will not 'tick' while it's unplugged (so if you have a week to go on your lockup time, you unplug it for a month, when you plug it in again you'll find you still have a week to go).
You can get that power either from computer or you can buy very cheap USB power supplies (they plug into the wall socket and have a USB socket to plug the MortiThingy into) in order to let it tick.
When you switch from one power source to another, you may gain some of the remaining time, but it should be at most 0.4% of the full time. So if the system is locked for 1 day, each time you unplug and replug the MortiThingy it may increase the time by up to 6 minutes. This is because the device only periodically records the current time in a way which will survive losing power, but shouldn't cause a noticable difference to your lockup.
The two talk to each other using a low power radio signal. This has a limited range which is further limited by the fact that the MortiReceiver is inside a metal safe. You can increase the range by pulling out the aerial on the MortiThingy, pulling out the coiled aeriel wire on the MortiReceiver, and perhaps letting the MortiReceiver aerial come out of one of the holes in the back of the safe.
The only time the radio signal is used is when the 'Control' button is pressed on the MortiThingy (and automatically when the lock code or self-bondage time runs out). If any time you push the button and it doesn't have the required effect, you can move the safe or computer and try again. Similarly, once the tiem runs out on a lock code or self-bondage, even if the safe doesn't become uncontrolled automatically, the lights on the MortiThingy will change from secured (flashing red) to unsecured (blue) so you can push the 'Control' button.
The 9v battery only powers the buzzer, which is a convenience but not an essential part of the system. If it runs flat, you can still use the safe in the normal way.
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