As to a handgun safe, I think this one is the one I am getting http://www.ftknox.com/redesign/pistolboxes/. With the pushbuttons it offers the ease of an electronic safe, but the reliability of a combo safe. I have heard bad things about the fingerprint ones. This one seems easy to open, reliable(no electronics or batteries to fail) and pretty beefy.
I own and use one of these, and I think it's a great product. It is indeed easy and quick to operate, and is rather sturdily built for a pistol box (like a V-Line on steroids ). The proven Simplex lock design (same as on a V-Line) is reliable enough to be the sole means of access (which it is in this case), and being completely mechanical it requires no batteries, as you pointed out. In addition, the box is sized with better margins than some others I've seen (without being excessively large), and should be able to accommodate two or more "typical" full-sized pistols handily.
Its main drawbacks are that it is heavy and the lock makes some noise. However, the weight of its lid is compensated for by a gas spring (strut), and I doubt that a few clicking sounds are going to matter much in most scenarios. Normally its price would be a drawback, but it's pretty heavily discounted at the moment.
Not to impugn any choices made by others, but as popular and as well-liked as they are, personally I'm just not comfortable with electronic pistol boxes. I figure that if I need to keep a backup key handy in order to ensure reliable access, then I might as well save a hundred bucks or so and buy a simple keyed lockbox instead, skipping the electronics altogether. And while this has nothing to do with electronics per se, the electronic pistol boxes on the market are typically pretty flimsily built, it seems. A quick-access mechanical combination lock (on a robustly built box) is the most ideal solution for most folks, in my opinion.
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