Not the best but you get more for what you pay for...
Written: Jan 04 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great Features, good range
Cons: The windshield bracket is flimsy
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| Froggmann's Full Review: Cobra Electronics ESD 9550 Radar Detector |
The Cobra 9550 is an extremely useful tool in trying to get to your destination without added costs. It has a lot of great features besides radar and Laser (LIDAR for your techno geeks) detection on all bands. This unit has VG-2 alert and cloaking, which is a feature not all top model detectors have. It also has limited SWS capabilities, a Dot matrix display, 4 display dimmer settings, a 8 direction compass, and what’s called the strobe alert system.
This detector is extremely easy to use with its scrolling text (Dot matrix displays are great) and green display. The display has 4 brightness settings from super bright, which is best in the bright sunlight and when you’re driving into the sun, to completely off. There are three buttons that control what this detector does plus a volume knob. The three buttons control the City/Hiway modes, dimming features, and muting. This unit has the volume knob on the side so you can control the level of volume, has auto mute which sets the volume to low after 2 seconds and a speaker jack, so you can connect it to a amplified or external speaker. The compass shows an approximate setting of where your going, the points it uses are N, NE, E, SE, S SW, W, and NW. While this is a neat feature its not necessary, although if you want the text display you will have to get this feature. This detector also has two safety accessories called Strobe Alert and SWS. Strobe alert detects the white strobe lights most emergency vehicles use and SWS, which stands for Safety Warning System, alerts you to trains emergency vehicles and such. If you want more depth of information on this details are at www.Safetyradar.com . And last but not least I cannot forget to mention that this detector does detect all of the different bands of radar and laser used for traffic law enforcement today.
Back in September of 2000 I had the opportunity to try out this detector when my friend who is a truck driver hitched a ride with me to one of our races we ran in Vegas. I was impressed by its performance during the trip and decided to research and buy my own. About a month later I had decided to purchase a Uniden SWS6599 (You may view my opinion on this unit at http://www.epinions.com/./elec-review-6211-AE3BA58-3A36F4B7-prod1 ) It had simillar features and was abut the same price as the cobra but was supposed to have better range, within 6 weeks I had returned the unit and got my money back, needless to say I was extremely dissatisfied. Fortunately my luck did pull through and my friend who let me borrow his Cobra 9550 ended up selling it to me because having one in an 18-wheeler is a felony.
I am still impressed by this detector’s performance. It’s ability to detect radar at good distances really helps out on the road. In fact its helped me out on a couple of occasions when I wasn’t really paying attention to my speed. It gives me ample warning to slow up a little even on the instant on type of radars “Sneaky Bastards” (Motorcycle cops) like to use. I have yet to come across a LIDAR (laser) site so I cannot tell you how good it is in those cases. The compass unfortunately is somewhat inaccurate it seems to point to magnetic north instead of true north. (Magnetic north is 20 degrees east of true north) But its still a useful feature especially on those streets that have the ability to turn you around. As for the Strobe Alert system, I don’t feel its quite that effective so far I have been near emergency vehicles 5 times while they had their strobes on and the detector never went off. I have a feeling the tint in my windows might have something to do with this but im not sure. I also have yet to see if the SWS feature works on this unit since the only organization that uses it in Southern California is Caltrans and since they are a bunch of flakes anyway I doubt they even know how to turn the thing on. As for falsing this detector only does it periodically and only when I’m near digital cel phone towers. But for it to false I have to be directly in line with the antenna within 200 feet, so it’s not much of a hassle. Especially when they are usually 100 feet overhead.
As for the construction of this unit I would say I’m satisfied, its not like the Uniden I used but its still ok. (I was impressed with the durability of the Uniden) The looks are good a bit flashy but good, the problem I see is the possibility for theft. With its silver exterior its easily seen from a distance especially in sunlight. As for the windshield mount, I’d say it serves it’s purpose not as well as the Uniden but it keeps it on there. The main complaint I have is the fact this thing bounces a lot especially on rough roads and given the fact the mount is a thin piece of metal it will be prone to breaking in a year or three. And while were on the subject of the mount, detaching the detector is a pain sometimes because sometimes the mount sticks in the detector which then requires you to use both hands to release it.
So, in conclusion The Cobra ESD9550 is a good buy and I would recommend purchasing one. It has a lot of good features, and is relatively inexpensive. It isn’t the best out there but unless you’re a fireball with a lead foot I wouldn’t think you would need anything more.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Froggmann
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Member: Ken Pauley
Location: Corona, Ca
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 1 member
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