I had a Bel 936 but I returned it for the Bel 980. I picked up the 980 for $205 which I feel is a great price.

Ordered from Xtreme Shopper.

 

I have a Bel 980 and a V1 and I believe the Bel is as sensitive and selective in all modes.
Bel is a project to program, but has many features.
V1 has location arrows which are a plus.
Bel is smaller.
Bell costs less that half as much.

I tried to run them side by side for comparison but they interact with each other.

 

yah id want one too, no money

 

I might be a retard but what is a bel 980 ? is it a radar detecter? if so how is it against false alarms(grocery store automatic doors.etc)? I got the radio shack 9 1/2 ...it still works pretty good though..Ive always read/heard that the Valentine One is the best,but for $500 and up it better be!!

 

Yes, the Bel 980 is Bel's top radar detector. It has been benchmarked at several sites such as http://www.radartest.com
http://www.speedzones.com and MotorTrend to be among the top 3 radar detectors on the market. On radartest.com, the Bel 980 scores a 94 out of 100, the Passport 8500 scores a 97, and the Valentine 1 scores a 77. But both the Passport and the V1 cost much more. Anyway, I went Bogey hunting tonight to test it out on a heavily monitored piece of highway. It worked very well.

Well now you know, but you may still be a retard.

 

I think your probably right!

 

Bel 980 is the best for the money. I had one. I was just as good as the Passport 8500 in senstivity. The only reason I went with the 8500 is the slightly better falses. Not by a lot though.

 

I am not too sure where you guys are from. But I am currently in Texas... a real lousy place... . worse of all lots of police here uses laser instead of radar. The detector picks up laser way too late. I have a passport 8500 and well, when it beeps, thats it for me. I installed a K40 laser deflector... Wow it works. Somehow, it managed to save me a few times. But I have heard that there are some cheaper way to prevent being hit by laser and one of them is to apply a coating on the car. Is it true? and where can I find out more about all these?

 

won't help u in virginia...i know. ggrrrrrrr.

 

I would have bought the Passport 8500 if I could find a good deal on it online. Nobody seems to be selling the 8500 cheap. When I found the Bel for $205 I could not resist. I heard that Bel and Escort have merged so they probably share some technology. The Escort is built right here where I live in West Chester, Ohio.

 

I’m in TX too (and love it)… have a Bel 870. I’ve only been clocked on laser twice, and both times it was with instant-on, meaning if it were K or KA band and I was speeding at the time I would have been just as screwed. Really no defense for instant-on unless your detector picks up the cop clocking somebody else. Other than that, keep your eyes peeled and know where the cops are.

95% of the time cops are too lazy to use instant-on. My BEL has saved me at least 5 or 6 times in the last year… at LEAST. That’s worth it to me.

 

It is very nearly impossible to pick up a laser hit on someone else. At 400 yards, the laser is something like 1.5 feet wide, while radar might be 40 feet wide! That is why laser uses an aiming device and the operator must be stopped. If your laser detector goes off, you can be 99% sure you are being clocked, and it is too late! It is kindof like an idiot light. It comes on, you are cooked. It is nice to know at least that you are going to get stopped before he pulls out and lights you up!

 

Where can you get the Bel 980 for $205? Is Xtreme Shopper on the internet? What's their web address?

Thanks!
-Nick

 

http://www.xtremeshopper.com/xtreme.storefront/

 

I got my bel 980 recently in prep for a holiday drive down to sacto. I've only had one hit from a cop so far. He was driving down the road and must have had/left his radar on. Kinda weird. No speedtraps yet so I dunno if the cops around here do instant on or not.

On a side note I got a ticket in Alysia's car on the 5th of July and I'm in the middle of fighting it. I go to court next wednesday to settle it.

 

From what I understand the use of radar detectors on roads in Ontario, Canada is illegal. Do any of you Canadian maxima.org enthusiats still go ahead and use one anyway? Have any of you had your radar detector taken away by the police? Were you able to mail order you detector? Also how prevalent is use of laser by police in Ontario? From what I have read it would seem that if laser use is very common radar detectors such as the BEL 980 and the Escort Passport are not that useful.

Regards,
Rudy

 

I saw that the Bel ships with a 6 in power cord -- is that long enough to mount it high on the windshield ?

Sounds like a cool buy anyways

Hope the are kept out of the party !

 

My Bel 980 does not come with a 6 inch power cord. That would be ridiculous. It comes with a 4 foot straight power cable and a coiled power cable. Either one would work for mounting high on the windshield.

 

I used to live in Toronto, and ya, they use laser a TON. I don't know if detectors are illeagal, but if they are chances are the police are using something called VG-2 to detect your detector. Most detectors now have a VG-2 alert and it shuts the detector down so the police cant detect it! Lots of detecting going on huh? There is NO radar that effectively combats Laser, the $500 one will work like the $50 one when it comes to laser. Radar is a completely different story. How do I know all this? I am a reserve police officer (not full time) in my community!

No haters please! They give me a semi-fast car, a gun, and tell me to go look for trouble, and i work when I want! What better job is there?!!

 

Yeah - but this was mentioned at the xtremeshopper site
http://www.xtremeshopper.com/xtreme....oduct/View/980

Go the "specifications" section and see "in the box" - it says 6-in power cord !!!!
No mention of the 4 foot cord - wondering if they changed stuff since you got it - that's all !

 

Its a 4' straight and a 6' coiled I believe. I just mounted mine mid-windshield. The xtremeshopper site has to be wrong. No cords in the box were 4 inches, I guarantee that. It also comes with a visor clip and pads so you can mount it on your dash. Lots of options. I suggest middle of the windshield. Mount it high with no obstructions.

 

The nice thing about the Bel 980 is that it is VG-2 immune. It does not use the VG-2 guard like cheap models do which just shut down when VG-2 is dectected. It is totally immune to VG-2 and remains active during the presence of VG-2 detectors. Bel calls this Shadow Technology 2. This would be a great benefit if used where detectors are illegal.

 

That's a typo. They meant 6 foot. Your're right, the site does not mention the 4 foot straight but it is in the box. By the way, the Bel 980 from Xtreme Shopper is packaged in the original Beltronics packaging.

 

My friend told me it's illegal to use radar detector in Toronto. OR I just buy it without any suggestions?

 

well is the Bel980 worth it.. how is it indetecting, cause i know nothing can block radar..
Thats my next MOD also. I got pulled over going 95 in a 50, but the trooper was mad cool because i was my army uniform and i showed him my military ID.
Roger

 

Not true that nothing can block radar. Ever heard of radar jamming? Highly possible... and highly illegal (get the FCC on yo ***).

All radar detectors can only do so much. They can't really protect from ladar, instant on, pacing, vascar, aircraft, etc. However, if you travel near the flow of traffic they should keep you covered.

 

I heard that scanners would be able to inform us of police presence in the area. But I do not know it well it will work. Does anyone knows more about scanners? Back home in singapore, we have scanners ,which are illegal, to detect police presence. Does anybody have experience in that? Also where can I get an effective scanner?

 

The only scanners that I know of are receivers that scan the police radio ban so that you can hear police voice transmissions. That would be useless for radar protection. It may be that detectors are called scanners in Singapore and are the same thing.

 

how does a radar detector work ?? does it jsut warn you when your being clocked ?? or does it warn you when radars are neer you ? and how does it do it ?

Thanx

 

http://www.radartest.com/
http://www.speedzones.com/

 

I surprised you actually got the radar, check out this link: http://www.resellerratings.com/cgi-b...meShopper.com. I was going to buy something from this company once because of their "GREAT PRICE" but i passed on it since of it's history.

 

I did not have any of the problems that this site suggests. The product was delivered in original packaging, in a timely manner, and they notified me via email when the order was received and when the order shipped. I would buy from them again.

 

heehee... not to gloat.. but i got my Bel980 a couple days ago for $149.50 shipped!

can't wait to get it... heheh....

 

where did you get it?:OP

 

amazon auctions! li'l known place with good deals!