The Radar Detector DO NOT'S That You Should Know...
Oct 03 '03
The Bottom Line Read the review...
It's a complicated world out there... So many cops giving out tickets which make your average person MAD... So then people turn to radar detectors to save themselves from the cruel enforcers of the speed limit. Then when it comes to buying a detector, there are so many to choose from! Here are some pointers so that you can avoid buying a piece of junk...
-DO NOT Assume They Are All The Same-
*Many people think that if a $50 Whistler can pick up X/K/Ka/L, then what's the point of buying a Valentine One for $400 that also picks up X/K/Ka/L. Well, the features and sensitivity are completely different. A Valentine One can pick up radar significantly more effectively than the cheap ol' Whistler, so you have a much lower chance of getting pulled over.
-DO NOT Buy A Radar Detector For The Features-
*Some detectors have so much to offer these days. They have voice alerts, compass, GPS, etc... But you need to ask yourself, "Do I really need these?" or... "Am I willing to completely give up radar and laser sensitivity just so I can get a certain feature?" The point of a radar detector is to detect police radar... There we go, that's it! I'm not willing to have a digital compass for example but then have to worry about getting pulled over every-so-often. Back in the day, radars were bare bones, and to this day, I use a radar detector that only has the essentials, but it does offer the best sensitivity on the market, which I'd take over any pointless feature.
-DO NOT Believe It's A Worthless Chatterbox-
*I have heard countless people comment on how they believe radar detectors are worthless and very annoying. Some even refered to me as being "stupid". I beg to differ, most of those people get speeding tickets on a regular basis, and I have had... NONE since I bought my Valentine One. Many detectors false because of other sources, but yes, there are muter buttons, and also driver-selectable features that allow you to shut off X-band which almost always proves to be a nuisance.
-DO NOT Use An Out-Dated Detector-
*Many people assume that all detectors are the same, whether it's the newest model Escort or an anctient Escort. When I sat in my aunt's car, what I noticed was an out-dated Micronta Road Patrol X/K/Ka radar detector. I was thinking it was definitely from the mid-1990's. So I asked her if I could borrow it, and then she said I could keep it. Well, what she didn't know is that I already have a new Valentine One in my car. Well, this was my opportunity to test out the two. The Valentine One obviously did what it's supposed to do. The Micronta managed to pick up X-band decently, but too bad there aren't any X-band guns in use in the suburbs around Chicago. K-band was nearly non-existent on the Micronta, it managed to pick up mobile K-band on police cars right as they were passing me. I did a drive-by past a stationary cruiser with a K-band gun pointed at me, and yet again, the Micronta failed miserably. Ka...? Well, that was non-existent. I encountered three Ka-band sources on the North Shore and then another area in the suburbs, and the Micronta didn't sound once! Other detectors of anctient age would most likely perform the same. So if you are sifting through old junk in the garage and find an old detector lying around, best not to take it.
-DO NOT Believe Everything You Hear-
*If I didn't know anything about radar detectors, I would've owned a Rocky Mountain product and would've definitely been screwed over. They misleadingly advertise their products and claim that they can jam radar and laser. And also, one site was speaking as to how one of the detectors and how it completely annihalted the Escort Passport 8500. When I found one and compared it to a Valentine One which has nearly the same performance as the Escort Passport 8500, the Rocky Mountain radar was completely outdone. It was practically worthless! So if you want to be safe and if you're serious about all this, stick only to Beltronics (Bel), Escort, and Valentine One. Avoid Rocky Mountain and K40.
-DO NOT Judge A Detector Based On Looks-
*I decided to try something interesting... Now where would there be a lot of radar detectors??? Ah yes! A high school parking lot full of cars that are driven by lead-footed teenagers. As I strolled along a high school parking lot, 9 out of 10 radar detectors were clearly Cobra, there were a few cheap Whistlers, and I believe I saw only one Escort Passport, Bel 9##, and Valentine One. Most people tend to think that a really cool looking silver detector or one with a large LED will be awesome. Well, the Cobra ESD-9### models are cheap and look good, but they are no where close to getting good performance. Go up to just above $200 for an "ugly" Bel Vector 985, and then you'll have real performance. Many times I see hot sexy girls in hot sexy sports cars, and guess what most of them drive with??? A Cobra ESD-9###!!! Ok, and now I've got an interesting story...
-A Story...-
*About a couple weeks after I purchased my Valentine One, my ex-gf bought her first car. Then she told me that her brother gave her a radar detector. She said, "Yeah, it's a really cool one, it's like $400 I think." I turned red, I was so jealous thinking that she go a V1 for free while I spent $400 of my hard-earned cash on one! Then I said, "So, you've got a V1?" And she's like, "I don't know." I asked her what it looked like, and she said, "Silver and really pretty." I thought it could've been an Escort Passport 8500 then... A couple weeks later I saw her car, and guess what?! It was a $79 Cobra ESD-9110!
-So What's The Moral Of The Story?-
*She ended up getting pulled over a few days later in Ka-band territory (Wilmette, Illinois). An innocent and average consumer who doesn't know about radar detectors assumed that their cheap and horrible detector was "awesome". A cheap radar detector is definitely not a ticket to speed. Pretending that there is no lidar or instant-on, only a higher-end detector that can deliver satisfactory Ka performance is a true ticket to speed. But in reality, with lidar and instant-on, please don't be a stupid driver.
-In Conclusion-
*I really hope that this review has helped you in learning about what NOT TO DO when buying a radar detector. Good luck with your radar purchases! Cheers! Here are my three top choices though:
1. Valentine One
2. Bel Vector 985
3. Escort Passport 8500
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Member: Soup Enthusiast
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