daz007's Full Review: Cobra Electronics ESD 9850 Radar Detector
With all the extra features found on the Cobra 9850 how can you go wrong? This being my second radar detector after my first one was hunted down by the VG-2 as where I live Radar Detectors are illegal. The Cobra 9850 is not detectable by the VG-2 and so far I've had no problems.
Its detection capabilities are quite good, in my area X-band is still used and the 9850 can sniff it out from over 2 miles away. The K-band detection is just as good as I've detected K-band radar 1-2 miles away.
We don't have KA-Band radar in our area so I can't say how the detector reacts to that. From what I heard, Its a little weaker on KA band.
The only problem I've noticed on it is Laser Detection & Strobe alert. Very little advance warning given. My detector only went off after being shot with the laser directly, and by that time it would have been to late. But I'm sure even the best radar detectors face this problem as the Laser beam is so narrow.
The 9850 is a very quiet detector as the false alerts are pretty minimal even in the city. This is something I like very much. A buddy of mine owns a Valentine 1, Sure the V1 detects radar from 4-5 miles away but it also falses way to often in the city. I think a mile or two of detection is plenty to react while keeping the falses down so you don't go crazy with the chirps.
I would definitely recommend this product to anyone that does a fair bit of driving. Its not one of the super high end detectors but its the best bang for the buck.
UPDATE: JULY 4, 2001
I wanted to write an update now that I've had a chance to use this Radar Detector a little more. To be honest there are some aspects of this radar detector that are really good and others not so good.
I've had a chance to encounter many Laser traps and NOT ONCE has the Cobra 9850 alerted me, even after seeing the officer point, aim, and shoot the laser gun at my vehicle.
X-band and K-band detection is strong and I've been saved many times. (Still no KA in my area, if anyone knows how good the KA detection is please write an opinion on it)
Another annoying thing I've noticed with the Cobra 9850 is when the DETECTOR is left in the sun in the car for a while IT JUST STOPS WORKING!! This also happened in Winter when the Detector is cold! It runs a system test and says everything is okay but it won't detect a thing! I've even went down to the local grocery store where it always goes off and still NOTHING, even 5 feet from the automatic door opener. I usually take the detector inside to cool down or warm up and it starts working again. VERY WEIRD!
You'd figure that they would make 9850 versatile to temperature changes, seeing that it spends its life in the car.
I've detected coppers using VG-2 a couple of times on the side of the highway, (Usually undercovers use them). I haven't been chased yet so the VG-2 undetectability is working.
9-band radar detector with 8-point digital compass Detects 4 radar signals, 3 laser signals, and 2 safety systems 6 visual alerts and 10 audio alerts ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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