I would have put them on the perimeter aimed toward each other with some overlap from sprinkler to sprinkler. Actually I would much rather use a hose and oscillator sprinkler than in-ground sprinklers, but if I had to do in-ground, that' what I would have done.

There is actually quite a bit to irrigation design. To insure you have hired the most qualified irrigation techs, ask to see their credentials. Companies that are serious about it will have staff that have either IA (Irrigation Association) or similar association (such as IIABC Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia) training and certification. you will be looking for people with at least certified irrigation tech 1. tech 2 is better. Certified irrigation designer is even better (but probably unnecessary for small residential :)

I agree with chiflipper in both opinion and design suggestion. 30 years exp. say what you got was a cheap, simplistic design.

While it depends on the heads, most sprinkler heads can be adjusted both in the height of the spray and the angle. For example, you can probably adjust one head to spray in 45 degree area, rather than 180.

Usually, the sprinkler people do the adjusting and they should do it for free if you aren't happy, including replacing heads if they gave you heads that are not adjustable and hit the house.

If you want to adjust something in the future, you can often find instructions on-line and buy an adjustment key. For my sprinkler system, the adjustment key cost a couple bucks and my sprinkler guy charges at least $50 for a call-out.

When the system was in, your sprinkler guy should have shown you it. He probably programmed your box, too. You can look on-line and figure out how to do a test run, where each section runs for a couple minutes. If you don't know how to do a test run, just watch the system when it comes on.

You want to watch your system at the beginning of each year, to make sure all the bits still work.

I think what your guys did was the most economical setup. Have them come over to adjust spray pattern and TEACH you how to do it yourself. Mower, foot traffic, digging dogs, natural erosion, etc will affect sprinkler heads and change the flow pattern. you’ll need to redirect every couple of years or so. Easy and no biggie.

Have you ever noticed how some sprinklers hit the street where there is no plants or lawn. You can blame installer but thats unfair. Would be easy to correct but many homeowners don’t realize this and think it’s poor installation.

In Florida, where everyone has irrigation, many people have the set-up that is shown here .... because it is the cheapest to install and most people want to save money. It is basically the tract house scheme. It's best to find out the scheme before install and pay for upgrade if one wants better. Changing after install costs more.