In your opinions, what is the cheapest but best radar/laser detector for the money. Thanks.

I've got the Escort Passport 8500...."The World's Best Radar Detector." As good or better than the Valentine One (depending on who u trust...everyone except C&D picks the 8500). Its $100 less than the V1, and I love it. Its saved me a bunch of times.

I have the best radar for the buck and it's garbage, Get a jammer...
Look for the black widow jammer, It's the best and it's way better than a radar detector.

Also the one i have is the Bel vector 970, I payed 210 for it.

The jammer runs for about 230, But it's really worth it.

If he’s talking about a RADAR/LIDAR jammer (not some brand called Jammer), then you might want to check with the state laws and FCC regulations regarding them.

I've been out of the market for a few years, so don’t take my word on the information that follows, as it may not still apply:
RADAR/LIDAR detectors are legal everywhere except VA and DC.
RADAR jammers are illegal everywhere according to the FCC.
LIDAR diffusers are legal, but I don’t see very many cops in my area that use LIDAR.

I've read that police officers have no jurisdiction over FCC regulations. Since state laws and even local laws may further restrict the legality of these devices, though, there may be enforceability.

Call around (the state police might be a good place to start) and find out.

If he is referring to a detector brand called Jammer, then I apologize for making you read this long post.

-Sryth...
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
'98 SE 5spd, Pebble Beige, PRCAI, Stillen Y, Stillen FSTB, ACT clutch.
Pacesetter STS to be installed this week!

I say get a Phantom III radar/jammer on ebay for $220 Damn good price.

Hey, Listen to them but you get what you pay for, I say black widow jammer for the buck and also, I live in NY and we have no laws against that.

valentine one is the best radar... if you are going to buy a radar detector get the best. It cost $400 from their website.
Jules

It's also the biggest ugliest radar on the planet

lol, you're right.

And was anyone else amused by the subject line?

Cheapest but best?

I wish we had that combo for anything!

The way I understand it is that the Valentine one is the absolute best, the BEL 8500 is a very close second but is $100 cheaper which makes it a serious contender and, C&D did a test on several active and passive jammers and found them all to be total crap. I personally wouldn't go that route.

I think a better question is:

Who speeds excessively but has yet to get even PULLED OVER because they used a radar detector to avoid the 5-0? And what is the cost of your radar? (from there you pick the one that costs the less but has great results)

Well I don't speed that much except on the highway, and my Passport 8500 has saved me twice that I can remember. I've had it for about a year and a half. I got it for ~$300 shipped on eBay. I really love it. It can track up to 9 sources of radar at once. With a few exceptions, *cough cough Valentine One*, you really get what you pay for in the radar detector market.

If you want a better detector but a lower price get the 8500. But if you have an extra hundred to spend get a Valentine One. I had an 8500 a year ago and sold it after 2 weeks because I wanted a V1. Four of my other friends have V1's and have never gotten pulled over. Two had Passport 8500s and sold them to buy V1s. I have had both and think the V1 if far better, that it what I still use today. Once you use a V1 once you will never be able to go back. Just my opinion.

that's a contradiction...cheapest but best??? the best will cost you the most...V1 for $400, then 2nd best is passport 8500 (or Bell equivalent - basically the same company) for $300, then it goes dramatically down hill

I got a Cobra 6200 or 6300. I will give it to you for 20 bucks. It works perfectly and probably saved me a million times but you never know.

The cheapest "good radar detector for the money" is also the most expensive radar detector available. The V1 is the only one worth buying, and anyone who has one will tell you so. Once you drive with the arrows, nothing else cuts it. I used to have a $300 Bel....garbage. The V1 makes it so much easier to identify falses it's ridiculous. The bogey counter is ****ing indispensible and has saved me a bunch of times. The way it flashes the arrow when there are multiple radar sources works frighteningly well. What Car and driver said about "once you drive with the arrows you'll wonder how you ever lived without them" or whatever is 100% true.

Really cheap radar detectors are ****, don't even bother buying one since it will just give you a false sense of confidence which will be eroded by constant falses.

Do yourself a favor and just save up for a V1.

I've been driving now for around 16 years. I've owned the Valentine, Bel's, escorts, etc. I even made my own laser jammers (out of military surplus IR filters and really large/hot offroad driving lights.)

I still got tickets, lots of em sometimes. Instant-on radar in the middle of the night with noone in front of you means your screwed. Cops pacing you in unmarked cars still get you. Once you depend on that little beeping devil you will get more tickets. Publicly available laser detectors don't work well enough to bother. My laser jammers were seriously unsafe since they got so hot. Real radar jammers are essentially microwave oven innards spewing lots of raw EM radiation forward and back. Most cars couldn't even power a real radar jammer system. They would certainly cost more than a few grand and are also highly unsafe and very illegal.

My V1 died 5 years ago. I didn't replace it. Since then I've gotten NO speeding tickets, couple close calls but...... And I drive faster now on highways, but have slowed way down on backroads(probably a good thing).

The best detector in the world is the person in front of you and their brake lights. On the highway always try to egg someone on to fly past you (the rabbit) and pace him a 1/2 mile or so. Or just watch. Paying attention is your best weapon.

And it's free.

-RMB

wow! i bought a $100 radar from best buy and i thought it was pretty good, but now after listening to how V1's are like 300 buck and all that i think mine is sh*t. although it has saved me a few times. but i agree with rmb in a sense. dont ever become to dependent on your radar detector. they are good to have and can save you now and then, but dont ever let that little beep give you false confidence, or you will get nailed.

hey, just wondering what the difference between the active and passive jammers are????

I can tell you one thing, I speed all the time and my Bel vector 970 has saved me alot of times and as for the stupid testing of jammers from C&D, Those test were bull and they only tested the bullsh*t jammers anyway, Phazer and that otehr garbage one.

The best jammer to get is the black widow and it's better than a radar, I can tell you this about radars.

V1 is the best but to have that thing on your windshield is just crap.

Passport 8500 is the second best but it's also type long and it gives you more false alarms then the Bel 980

The bel980 has been tested because it's the most expensive one they offer and it's good but not worth the money.

the best radar is the Bel Vector LR 970, IT's the same thing as the 980 but with-out the annoying talking crap and they put a better wave antenna for longer Range I.E. LR

If you want to speed with-out tickets is impossible cause cops can pull you over by just thinking your going fast and there's nothing you can do about that but if you want protection get the black widow jammer. If you get a ticket with-in i think it's the first 2 years or something, They will pay it anyway.

i have had a Bel 890 for a while, its great. fewer "voice" commands than the more expensive Bels, but same radar tech.

Couple more things...

You guys who are saying about not relying on the detector are totally right. As soon as you start relying on it the ticket is on the way. Radar detectors DO help though. It's like a sliding scale: the usefullness of the detector pretty much goes up with the price until you get to the V1, which gives you the most info and therefore the best protection...still definitely not perfect though.

As for having it on the windshield...I have mine mounted above my rear view mirror, where it is TOTALLY out of the way. Then I have the cable run down through the cracks, and the remote display is mounted between the steering wheel and speedo/tach. That way you can see the display perfectly but you're not broadcasting the fact that you have a detector to every cop (having detectors mounted mid-windshield is retarded). You can't even see the thing in the day or night. I imagine that the windshield blue tint is ****ing with the laser detection, but since laser detection is nearly worthless anyway, who cares. Mounting it real high like that also has the advantage of giving you the longest possible range. I swear the thing can see over hills now that it's mounted up that high. There was one of those stupid signs mounted just over a hill in my town and the V1 would pick it up before I would ever think that it would.

The V1 is friggin incredible, if you want a detector it's the only one to buy.

Definitely have to agree, you have to use them as a supplement to your own senses.

If I ever get around to buying a V1, that is exactly the way I was going to mount mine. Do you have any pics of your setup? I'd love to see how well it *hides*...

I will try to post a pic tommorrow