Good Radar Detectors??

[Heller]

i usually spend $75 bucks on a radar detector that brakes within 8 months... usually the cobra series...

is there any decent radar detectors under $150 their are reliable? usually what happens to me is i guess the sun ruins the speaker box on the radar detector and it sounds like crap when it goes off for a couple months until it finally dies, no sound at all.

the mute is not on btw.

what do you guys use?

 

[JoPh]

what about valentines?

 

[Heller]

the only valentine i know is feb 14

 

[uli2000]

I was doing some research on this recently myself. It seems like a couple of years ago, Bel made some detectors under $200 (one under $100) that smoked alot of more expensive detectors. Then Escort bought them and they stopped making cheap detectors that beat their $300+ models. It looks like the best cost v. performance detectors are the bel rx professional series, which can be found for $200-300. Anything less than that, you're taking your chances.

 

[JoPh]

Originally posted by: Heller
the only valentine i know is feb 14

http://www.valentine1.com/

 

[zig3695]

Originally posted by: Heller
i usually spend $75 bucks on a radar detector that brakes within 8 months... usually the cobra series...

is there any decent radar detectors under $150 their are reliable?

absolutely. dont buy cobra anymore! terrible brand, really. i like beltronics for the best bang/buck. high quality, they work as good as escorts but they dont have as nice of display. i like the escorts because they have multicolored lites, so its green when all is good, goes yellow when its questionable, and red when youre being tagged. it was very easy to notice even when you have music cranked. on my bel, its all red display can be hard to see out of the corner of my eye sometime, but i have gotten used to it anyway. the detection on my bel is amazing, you REALLY dont need the valentines! too much money, way too much.

 

[zig3695]

Originally posted by: uli2000
I was doing some research on this recently myself. It seems like a couple of years ago, Bel made some detectors under $200 (one under $100) that smoked alot of more expensive detectors. Then Escort bought them and they stopped making cheap detectors that beat their $300+ models. It looks like the best cost v. performance detectors are the bel rx professional series, which can be found for $200-300. Anything less than that, you're taking your chances.

damn, i didnt know bel was bought out. mine is about 3 years old, and i paid $160 at circuit city for it. is that why i love it so much? because it really does work better then my old old escort that came with my truck....

 

[vrbaba]

I would try an Escort or find an older Bel on ebay maybe. I had a cheap whistler (i think) which worked (i guess it did, since i never got pulled for speeding but who knows) until the voice thing cracked. So it works without the alert now, which is useless. It broke because of the heat, im sure, as I never took it down from the windshield.

That said, iirc, from my research about a year ago, the Escort had good reviews for under $200 detectors. I dont have one currently, as im just driving in austin, and cant speed even if i wanted to. but moving out in a month or two, i will be looking to buy one also. I would love to have a valentine if I could afford it.

 

[jjryan]

Just fyi before you spend your money I'm a police officer and by the time these things go off you've already been detected. Radar detectors go into standby mode and can't be detected until we transmit to check your speed. Thankfully my department doesn't go after speeders. Having a radar detector will probably make you more likely to get the ticket as well and if you do some research you'll realize the amount of money you spend in gas for going that extra 5-10mph only saves you a few seconds to a minute or two in a trip.

 

[OpenThirdEye]

I recently picked up the Escort Passport 9500i and I absolutely love it! Granted, it costs around $450, but I find it to be money well-spent!

The nicest feature is that you can record all of your false readings via GPS so you get no false positives on your commute!

I have quite a lead foot and this little device has saved my butt (and my driving record)!

Link to EscortRadar.com

 

[JoPh]

Originally posted by: jjryan
Just fyi before you spend your money I'm a police officer and by the time these things go off you've already been detected. Radar detectors go into standby mode and can't be detected until we transmit to check your speed. Thankfully my department doesn't go after speeders. Having a radar detector will probably make you more likely to get the ticket as well and if you do some research you'll realize the amount of money you spend in gas for going that extra 5-10mph only saves you a few seconds to a minute or two in a trip.

its not the time saved or money. its the enjoyment of going 90mph or faster.

 

[spidey07]

http://www.escortradar.com/x50.htm

Just get one. They're incredible. I can spot/hear a copper from miles away. And it has prevented me getting a ticket at least a few dozen times per year.

 

[Sunrise089]

Originally posted by: jjryan
Just fyi before you spend your money I'm a police officer and by the time these things go off you've already been detected. Radar detectors go into standby mode and can't be detected until we transmit to check your speed. Thankfully my department doesn't go after speeders. Having a radar detector will probably make you more likely to get the ticket as well and if you do some research you'll realize the amount of money you spend in gas for going that extra 5-10mph only saves you a few seconds to a minute or two in a trip.

Whoa - BS alert!

Good radar detectors (NOT $20 Walmart specials) can literally detect a mile down the road. Of course if you're the only car on the road then the cop won't be using his radar, so there will be nothing to detect. For the huge number of speed trap type radar setups though, a detector will be ideal.

Now, as to "a few seconds to a minute" - considering a worst-case-scenario of a 75mph speed limit (which is rare here in Florida) and only a 5mph speeding, for that speed to save you less than a minute you would have to only be driving 11 minutes or less. On a typical 1-hour commute only going 5 over a 65mph speed, you're saving about 5 minutes. On my old college-to-home two hour drive on 55mph roads, 10 over would save me 19 minutes. The longest drive I've driven in one sitting was 990 miles. 10 over on that trip saved me an hour and forty-five minutes. To me, that was well worth the extra gas.