Money well spent on the Bel 985
Written: Dec 01 '02 (Updated Feb 17 '03)
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Pros: Good range, low number of false alarms.
Cons: Hard to read display, poor bracket design.
The Bottom Line: This radar detector excels at what it is supposed to do - alert you of police radar. Has a few drawbacks, but it's been worth every penny.
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| turbosaab's Full Review: Beltronics Vector 985 Radar Detector |
This radar detector excels at what it is supposed to do - alert you of police radar. I've had the 985 for about 6 months and 10,000 miles of driving, and overall I've found it to be a good unit. I bought it after owning the very similar Bel 980, which this model replaces. The major differences between the 980 and the 985 are a different windshield bracket design (both bad designs), and a great reduction in false alarms.
SENSITIVITY/RANGE
Very good sensitivity and range on K and Ka bands - I've detected up to 2 miles away, but 1/4 to 1/2 mile is typical. Here in, I have never seen a cop use X-band or laser, so I can't comment on the range. Tests I've read indicate that the X-band range for this unit is good. Laser is typically undetectable until you are already hit.
FALSE ALARMS
In my opinion, a good radar detector is one that detects police radar with enough warning for you to slow down, but a great radar detector is one that does this without giving false alarms. This is why I feel the 985 is among the best on the market - it is very good at filtering out non police radar signals.
DISPLAY
The display is a red LED that is very hard to read, especially in sunlight. I would expect a better display on an otherwise supurb unit, but it doesn't really make a difference since the audio alerts tell you everything.
WINDSHIELD MOUNTING BRACKET
The 985 comes with a metal bracket with suction cups for windshield mounting, and velcro sticky pads for dash/visor mounting. I use the windshield mounting bracket, and for something so simple, it is a very bad design. It is hard to adjust to be completely level, and the worst part is it rattles whenever you go over a bump.
OTHER FEATURES
The detector has a wide range of options for various features. One convenient feature is that it allows you to choose which individual radar bands to detect (I turn X-band off because in Maine no cops use it, but it is used for traffic light control signals at every intersection). I use the voice alert feature, which says out loud what kind of radar has been detected, and the auto-mute feature, which mutes the sound to a subdued clicking after a couple of seconds.
If you choose to buy a radar detector, it is worth the extra money to buy one that does the job well. I have used less expensive Cobra models, and I find they give a false sense of security as their sensitivity isn't good enough in some situations. Also, the natural tendency with any radar detector is to start to ignore it after a while. This is ESPECIALLY true with one that gives frequent false alarms. I have found that I still pay attention to the 985 after a long period of use because of its low number of false alarms - when it goes off, it usually means something. For me, this detector is worth every penny.
UPDATE:
The unit is now 6 months old. The speaker and sound stopped working, so I've sent the unit to Ohio for warranty repair. I had to pay postage out, and there is a 10 day turnaround time. I'm a little dissapointed about the speaker problem (and the associated inconvenience), but I'm otherwise satisfied with the unit.
UPDATE:
I've recieved the unit back from the repair center and it's as good as new. Bel returned it on time, and even included a little card saying what they'd repaired (the speaker). I'm happy as long as it doesn't break again in another 6 months!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
turbosaab
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Reviews written: 9
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