Radar Detectors

Just wondering if anyone had a radar detector. If so do they work well? or are they a waste of money. thanks


Cobra Radar Detector - XRS 9845 - 15 Band Ultra Performance Digital Radar/Laser Detector with Cool Blue ExtremeBright DataGrafix Display

this is the one im looking at.



About this Product:
The XRS 9845 provides total protection and peace of mind with Xtreme Range Superheterodyne® Technology, detecting all 15 radar/laser bands with its super-fast lock-on detection circuitry. The unit provides extra detection range and the best possible advance warning to even the fastest of POP mode radar guns. Other features include Cobra exclusive Cool Blue ExtremeBright DataGrafix® Display, an 8-point electronic compass, Voice Alert™, car battery voltage display/low car battery warning and much more.

 

I have an Escort Passport 8500... Works great, saved me hundreds in tickets... I dont know much about the one you have listed but when I bought mine the reports confirmed that you get what you pay for. The Passport was pretty expensive.

 

I'm gonna think outside the box here...



How about driving the speed limit?

 

They can come in handy but take it from me....with a lot of my friends being cops....sherriffs....and state troopers....they dont work all the time. Law enforcement has ways around this so the detector cannot pick them up.

 

After mine quit working I didnt buy a new one. Been pulled over in the past a few times with it. It just told me I was getting a ticket.

 

Valentine 1. 'nuff said.

There is not another device on the market that can beat it.

Some good reads regarding the unit (along with tests and comparisons)

http://www.xr-underground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31287
http://www.xr-underground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30393

 

I have the Escort Passport 8500, works awesome, best I've ever owned. Picks up radar so far away you have plenty of time to slow down. Laser is a different story and very difficult to guard against. I've haven't got a speeding ticket since 1992, heck for that matter, I haven't got a ticket since 1992.

 

I don't know about other states, but here in NC a Trooper/officer can only turn the radar on after they already estimate your speed. I have stopped many people with radar detectors. Once they beep its to late. And those people never get a warning b/c they already have one on thier dash.

 

I have a Bel Vector 940 I've had for about 7 years. Works great but starting to error out when its really hot outside. It Does K, KA, X and Laser. Around town i'm usually not excessively speeding but it comes in handy on trips out of state where I dont know the speed traps. When i'm in the market for a new one I will buy a Valentine 1.

 

i dont see myself every getting one, but if i did, it would be the valentine 1. my room mate has one and it works great. just keep in mind, if you are tagged by a laser, you're screwed no matter what. the valentine 1 will pick up signals from far away and over hill and in valleys and stuff. its pretty impressive

 

My Bel picks them up from pretty far away. Back when I got it, it was ranked next in line behind the V1. The only thing the V1 did better was tell which direction the signal was coming from.

 

Best detector I've ever used! (saved me MANY, MANY times)

Just installed a QI45 (same platform as the 8500)

Highly recommend either

 

I like this one as well. I've found it much easier and cheaper to leave early and drive the speed limit. Maybe because I'm getting older?

 

drive the speed limit....blah blah... they don't work.... blah blah blah...

For the OP and the question asked; I have had a couple. I like having one. If anything, it is a reminder for me to keep my speed in check.

To say that they don't work is not speaking the truth. They are fallible, but just because it goes off does not mean that your speed has been clocked. Laser, yeah, you are pretty much dead in the water. Radar on the other hand reflects much more readily and the detector can pick up what has reflected off of other objects in front of you.

 

I am quite likely to be driving UNDER the speed limit, and I still have a Valentine One. It has left one cop stumbling for an explanation when he demanded how I knew exactly when he fired his radar gun at me, and I countered that he could not have logged any speed due to our relative positions. He left in a huff.

 

I disagree. I literally picked up one cop using laser from a mile away. The guy was hiding behind a guard rail under an overpass, and I literally could not see him until I was practically on top of him. The only bad thing is that Infiniti uses the same light frequency for their adaptive cruise controls, so they cause a lot of false alarms.

 

i know they will pick up laser reflection from other cars and objects but if a cop gets you in his cross hairs and turns on the laser, there is no way your detector can warn you faster than the speed of light, which is how long it takes for him to get the reading

 

The same is true for instant on radar. If you are the target, you are done as soon as the thing goes off.

A radar detector is not a license to speed.

 

thats exactly why i wont get one. i know htey have saved my room mate quite a few times, but they lure you into a false sense of security and cause you to speed more

 

I find it to be just the opposite. When mine begins to alert, and I'm not using the cruise control, I instinctively double check my speed.