Little known player impresses where it matters.
Written: Feb 10 '03
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Pros: User friendly design, exceptional selectivity, rock solid detection capabilities, and 1 year ticket guarantee.
Cons: Few extras like compass, voice alerts, safety warning messages, or text display.
The Bottom Line: The portable K40 RD650VG-2 offers exceptional value to anyone looking for a top rated radar/laser detector. It has continually provided me with advanced warning to police without unnecessary distractions.
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| fryercracker's Full Review: K40 RD 650 VG2 Radar Detector |
Like many of you, before I make a major purchase I do a fair amount of research to make sure I get the very best value for my hard earned money. I do most of my research by reading magazines, talking to neighbors and co-workers, and most importantly, searching the Internet. Sometimes I think my wife believes I should work for the FBI or IRS with all the time I spend looking up statistics and testimonials on the products I want to buy. It may seem excessive at times, but as the old expression goes, “a fool and his money are easily parted.”
This type of dedication paid dividends recently when I was in the market for a new radar detector. My initial instinct was to narrow the possible field to well publicized makers such as Escort, Valentine, Bel-tronics, and Cobra. My thought process changed, however, when a good friend of mine suggested I take a look at the radar detector called the K40 that his car dealer had recommended to him for his BMW. Having never come across this brand of detector in a magazine review or seen one at a store, I was more than a little skeptical. I generally stick with brands I’m familiar with, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to do a little detective work about the product.
Most of the information on the Internet seemed to offer varying opinions. One testing site in particular seemed to really push the new Escort model over anything else out there. I was almost sold on the 8500 when I found out that the individual who owns the site is a paid consultant for the company – which basically negates anything he says and really kind of soured me on Escort in general. With that said, I still had some options to consider.
The final nominees are …
The field was eventually narrowed to four possible candidates. The aforementioned Escort 8500, the Cobra ESD 9860, the Valentine 1, and my friend’s recommendation, the K40 RD650VG-2 (side note: K40 also makes a really cool looking remote installed system with laser jammer which I was not considering because I drive leased vehicles. This is the system that my friend’s car dealer had recommended. I was able to find information on K40’s portable piece by visiting their website at www.k40.com).
And the winner is …
In the end, I purchased the portable K40 radar / laser detector. What sold me on this product was its relative cost (under $300 – I was able to get a nice deal from a friend of mine who knows one of the dealers in my area that sells these), its guarantee to pay speeding tickets, and the feedback I got from other K40 owners on various BMW forums I frequent – most had purchased the custom remote K40 for their cars and couldn’t say enough about them.
So did I like it?
At first glance, the detector doesn’t seem like much to look at. It comes with all the traditional mounting hardware you’d expect from a good detector including, brackets, plugs, suction cups, and two different power cords – coiled and straight. Only four buttons are needed to program the features (Auto Mute, filter, dim, etc.), and like the detector I had used previously, no text display is present in the front. While this is far from being the most important feature on a detector, I think it would have added to the K40’s overall usefulness.
Since you can’t always tell a book by its cover, I decided to give the K40 detector a thorough road test before making a final judgment. My daily commute to work each day is about 55 minutes, traveling on both the interstate and local roads. Each month I can usually expect to encounter police radar a minimum of a half dozen times, which I felt would provide more than enough opportunities for me to base a sound evaluation.
During my first month using the K40 detector I counted about eight different legitimate radar traps. Each time, the detector worked flawlessly and gave me ample time to adjust my speed when it was necessary. The warning distances seemed to vary during different encounters, peaking at well over 2 miles once or twice, but always providing a minimum amount of time for me to hear the radar source ahead before my car was in direct view of the police officer. Overall, I’d rate the sensitivity of this detector on par with any of the other high-end detectors I’ve used previously, and only slightly less than the V1 I had once used (a friend of mine had loaned it to me to use on several trips). I find that extremely impressive seeing as the V1 costs over $400.
While the sensitivity was a nice surprise, what impressed me right away about this detector was how quiet it was on the way to work and back. I have never owned a detector that I didn’t eventually want to throw in my glove compartment because of the unnecessary beeps, buzzes, chirps, etc. generated by non-police transmitters. While this product was not flawless, I found it an absolute pleasure to use. For the most part, it only went off when it was supposed to. What a novel concept huh? To give you an idea, I estimate that the amount of false alerts I was getting was less than 25% of what I was getting with my friend’s Valentine unit. That to me is what sets a detector apart. Any of the top models today can give adequate time to react to most radar encounters. I want one that doesn’t cause me to hit the breaks every 5 minutes. The K40 has delivered that every day for me. That’s enough to win my loyalty for a long time.
Recommended:
Yes
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fryercracker
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