A good detector for the price.
Written: Sep 23 '02
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Pros: Text display, stylish appearance, loud warning, digital compass.
Cons: False alarms, sometimes not as sensitive as it should be.
The Bottom Line: It's a good detector at a reasonable price and from what I've read, Cobra is a trusted, reliable brand. I'd recommend it.
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| bowesc's Full Review: Cobra Electronics ESD 9550 Radar Detector |
I've had the Cobra ESD9550 for about 2 years now and it has done a fairly good job. I have received one speeding ticket while it was plugged in but I think it may be a cause getting caught as I came over a hill and the Cobra didn't pick up the radar from the other side of the hill. I hope that's the problem at least.
It seems to get a lot of false alarms from sometimes unknown causes and often times something about the automatic doors at grocery and department stores causes a false alarm. This can get obnoxious but really I don't mind much because at least I know it's working and picking up a signal. Another nice feature about it in this regard is that you have a couple options with sound control. First, you have a dial to turn up the sound as much or as little as you want. Then, when it does go off you can push a button to allow it to continue beeping at the same noise level or make it so that it will beep at the selected noise level 3 times and then automatically quiet down to a quieter level while still beeping. Personally, I like to have it on the highest setting and let it go without the auto-mute in case I have my radio on loud and don't hear the first 3 loud beeps.
If you move it from car to car, the compass usually doesn't need to be calibrated again. It should be able to sense the direction on its own but in case it does need to be reset, you only need to push a button and drive in two complete circles to set the compass again. I think the compass itself is also a great feature. I find myself using it often. If you don't have a built in compass in your car already this can come in handy if you're in an unfamiliar town and know which direction you need to be heading but aren't sure which direction you are facing. And it's also just interesting to watch at times.
Also, it is a 9-band detector which means it can pick up 9 different types of radar. I have only had it show 3 different ones in my state: X, K, and Ka. But it also has VG-2 detection capability and Laser detection. These two things have never seemed to be helpful to me. I believe VG-2 means that it can tell you when a cop might have a detector to detect your radar detector. I'm not an expert so I'd check into that but I think the only times it has gone off on my Cobra have been false alarms. What causes them, I don't know. And the laser is also a common false alarm. I don't see how it would ever work anyway. I believe that cops use laser on a per car basis. So the laser is not constantly on, like a radar may be. It also is a direct line to your car and does not produce an easily detectable field like a radar. I have been driving and seen a cop pointing laser at cars, and my detector did not go off. Luckily, I was not speeding at the time but I think that feature is a bunch of bull.
Finally, one nice thing about it is that it also has Emergency Vehicle detection. If an emergency vehicle like an ambulance or fire truck is equipped with the technology to transmit this signal, the Cobra ESD9550 will warn you with a text alert and audible signal that tells you an emergency vehicle is approaching en route to an emergency. It is nice to know in case your radio is drowning out the sound of their siren. Also, each band or alert has a different kind of beep so you know which is which by the sound. It kind of has a cool look with it's black and silver casing and purple buttons but of course that isn't what matters most.
Most radar detectors are prone to false alarms but when I did my research I found that Cobra and Uniden are good brands to purchase as well as the Valentine One (although that one is very spendy). I think it's well worth the purchase but I advise still being cautious when you drive and don't expect it to be so reliable that you will never get another ticket again.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bowesc
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Location: Eugene, OR, USA
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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