I know this is a little off topic but i have been shopping around for a good radar detector. I have been on the circuit city website and have read several reviews on many different detectors. I was just wondering what kind you guys use and trust. Is there any brands that i should stay away from. Any information will be greatly appreciated.

 

If you could afford it, I'd get the K40 "undetectable". I've also heard the Valentine One is very good.

 

i just ordered a valentine one radar detector and i am getting it on friday or monday... and it was $405 with s/h...

 

group deal anyone?

 

Valentine one is real good. I would get this over anything.

 

yea i have heard the Valentine one is the absolute best and i am debating whether or not to save some money and go for it or to find a cheaper one that is still decent. If anyone has had good or bad experiences with a certain one let me know. Thanks

 

Yeah I think it goes for $400.00

 

I'd get one, but I have no use for it and they cost tooooooo much

 

ive had the valentine one for the past 2 years. i absolutely love it. i highly recommend it.

Laly

 

quick question: if your radar detector recieves a slip or hit by a radar, doesnt it mean the signal has already been reflected back? IMO i'd rather spend $350-$400 on a scrambler that works than on a radar detector that tells me i've been busted.

http://www.jammersstore.com/p_viper.htm
.02

lophix

 

Scramblers are illegal in a lot of places.

I spend about $150 on my Cobra. Works just fine. I just cant see spending $400 on somthing that is supposed to SAVE you money. I think my Cobra has paid for itself already. Dont forget, a cop could flip on his radar as your going by....making a detector useless.

All (or about 95%) of radar detectors now come with VG-2 protection. It makes your detector undectable to radar detector dectectors.

 

http://www.jammersstore.com/p_blinder.htm

Tha Bomb!

lophix

 

If you are going to spend money on a radar detector then I would get the valentine one or nothing. I had a good Uniden for a while but it didn't really have all that much warning. A few months ago I upgraded to the Bel 980. This was partly to do with some reviews that seemed very favorable such as:

http://www.radartest.com/DS4HEM.html

The detector was silly and didn't seem like that much of an improvement over my last one. It's hard to gauge differences as the time/distance relationship at 80/90 mph makes it hard to really notice improvements. I got the V1 about half a year ago and I can say it far exceeds any other. The directional readout kicks ***. When you know the direction that the warning is coming from it makes it easy to determine if it is a legitimate threat or not. There have been times where a cop has been behind or in front of me in heavy traffic in an unmarked car and I was able to pick him out because I knew the direction he was in. Check out this review:

http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caran..._detectors.xml

The V1 is an investment, no doubt, but it will never be obsolete because when they update the internals (they never really do much to the outside) they notify past customers to give you the option of having yours upgraded. I don't know anything about this process because I haven't had mine that long, but it's cool to think that with periodic upgrades my radar detector could be useful for a long time to come.

-MP

 

I have the passport 7500, it's one level below the top of the line passport 8500, and about a hundred dollars cheaper than the Valintine one. IT'S SAVED MY A$$ enough times to pay for it twice...If money is no problem, Get the Valintine One.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jeff91SE
[B]Scramblers are illegal in a lot of places.

I spend about $150 on my Cobra. Works just fine. I just cant see spending $400 on somthing that is supposed to SAVE you money. I think my Cobra has paid for itself already. Dont forget, a cop could flip on his radar as your going by....making a detector useless.


I was hoping to find a decent detector in this price range seeing that i dont have much money right now. Jeff, where did you purchase yours and are you completely satisfied with it. I heard cobras are pretty decent but maybe i should save up for the V1....but that is quite a bit of money.

 

its not about how much range..its how you use it.
you cant possibly expect a radar detector to save you from a ticket all of the time. i get hit with instant on constantly when i drive home late at night, its usually full-lock---off---full lock---off---full lock on different band (Ka or K, depending on what i was hit with first)---off. i never, EVER speed in areas that may hide police from sight. outsmart the cops, drive smart. when i'm in an area i'm not familiar with, i treat every pickup like the real thing (except X).
i'm not saying get a $49 cobra or something, i'll soon be upgrading my BEL 880 to a precision navigation traveler (spectre and VG-2 immune, detects Bee III, better range than what i have), i'll drive faster when i feel its "Safe" to.
as long as you aren't ignorant with your detector, you won't get a ticket. what really makes me unhappy is when people i know have cheaper detectors and they set mine off, then i almost get a ticket because i ignore the pickups....
do your homework, you wont get a ticket.

 

Its easier (and cheaper) just to slow down. I've done it after getting my first (and only) ticket, it works pretty well.

 

i would have to go with the bel series i have had one for three years and no speeding tickets, its works in 360 degress and i only paid $150 dollars, it also tells you when there is accidents, and it picks up radar, i forget the model, but it was rated as the best.

 

visit www.beltronics.com, they even have cordless radars

 

Only their cordless model was rated best, simply because Valentine One does not make a cordless model; thus enabling Bel to win by default, not by merit.

 

i'd never get a cordless for the fact that as the batteries lose power, so does the detector..
also, enough with how good the V1 is. its obviously worth the money if you have the money to spend..if you dont, you obviously cant get it. personally i'd like to know why the "best" detector wasn't spectre immune..also, why didnt it pick up BeeIII (according to the new detectortest.com or whatever)?

 

That detectortest.com site seems like a scam, who knows which company gives them free crap to claim that these other detectors are so great. Car and Driver did yet another detector test and guess who won? Thats right the V1, and I don't have a radar detector, doubt I'd ever get one, but I'd trust their opinion better than this site.

 

news flash...radar detectors provide a FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY. don't get one. cops' use of 'instant-on' w/ their radar guns is a pain in the ***, and pretty much impossible to avoid. save your money for the tickets you're gonna get, with or without a radar detector. slow down.

 

may be a false sense of security , but mine has more than paid for itself, but i got if for free (hand me down from dad), it has saved me many times, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but for the times it does, i'm thankful that i have it, so get one if you'd like, it could help, but it can't really hurt anything but your wallet, your choice!

 

or the fact that if you ever do get pulled over with a radar detector, and can't get it off the windshield or dash fast enough, there is absolutely NO WAY the cop won't give you a ticket. ian.

 

i have gotten pulled over numerous times with my radar detector right in front of me on my dash, i've had it there since the day i got my license, never got a ticket for it, and the cop has never said anything about it. the only time i've ever gotten a ticket was on the pike, unmarked statey in a taurus, and he never even said anything about the radar detector, now with your driving record, i would recommend you re-buy the one that you returned. nick.

 

first off the bat, these cops that pulled you over w/ a radar detector and didn't immediately give you a ticket were probably smoking the pot they took from your ashtray, cuz that's pretty weird. and second off the bat, my driving record is just fine; theres nothing wrong with being a step 26 driver at age 20.

 

range isn't a big factor for me...if its better than what i have, its good enough (currently i have a bel 880). as for the car and driver test...did they hit the V1 w/BeeIII? did they test its ability to not be picked up by spectre? is it completely VG2 immune? some people think that range is the only factor in buying a detector, these are the people that get tickets while using detectors saying "this worthless piece of crap didn't save me" as they get hit with instant on.

 

detectors are only useful if you know when to speed. when there are other cars around, when the police in your town drive with their guns on, knowing where they hide. like i've said before, they'll only save you if you know how to use them and when to speed. mine has saved me several times and more than paid for itself.

 

good thread. i graduated from college in june and my parents got me a V1 as a grad gift (great parents huh! ironic cuz i got a ticket in feb and my dad's been telling me to slow down every since.)

Unfortunately, for my daily commute, I don't run into many cops. Plus, traffic's usually moderate, so there's no chance of me speeding unless I'm weaving, which I'm trying not to do (it's how I got my ticket).

I definitely agree that it gives a false sense of protection. Like the V1 manual says, you gotta be smart with it.

My bro's had the last gen V1 for the past year and it's saved him a few times. He tested the current gen V1 I have and says it's even better @ long range detection of Ka.

Who needs cordless design when it can be hardwired like I have it (Thanx bro!)

Jae

 

LOL, I was under the impression those couldnt catch up to anyone.

 

In some state, radar detectors are illegal. That's why cops will give you a ticket for your radar detectors if he sees it. But in other states, they are not illegal. So why would a cop give you a ticket for something that's perfectly legal? My bro was caught speeding once, with a radar detector on the windshield. The cop actually said "Use that thing!"

 

i passed him doin about 90 in a 65 and didn't think anything of it until he pulled out behind me and was keepin up, so i slowed down and , so there was a 92 in a 65 i think, 1 mile before my exit, so he didn't really catch up, i didn't feel like makin a state to state dash to elude him, so i just slowed down

 

just to clear something up; when i said that a cop would give you a ticket if he saw a radar detector in your car, i didn't mean the ticket would be FOR the radar detector; i just meant i feel that a cop is less likely to let you off w/ a warning if he sees a radar detector in your car...you dig?

 

Ah. Well, certainly having a radar detector would make you look like a "habitual speeder"!

 

can a cop hit you with instant on while he is moving towards you head on?