Radar Detector with GPS?

[Ghost]

Doing some online searching, I've found some radar detectors with GPS speed trap detection features. However, almost all of them seem to be for the UK, or Japan. Do these detectors work (and are they legal) in the US? If not, is anything like that available for the US?

I was just about to get a Bel RX65 Pro (barely over the Escort X50 due to its Ku detection capabilities -- planning for the future), but then I came across the GPS/radar detector combos. It would be nice to know when I'm entering a known speed trap, so even if I'm not getting any active alerts I know to be extra watchful.

Or, should I just forget about the GPS speed trap functionality?

[sethy]

How accurate are those GPS tracking things anyways? I would vote go with the radar detector....

Welcome to the forum...

[kai445]

I'm more interested in the performance of the Ku detection, not nessicarily that it just has the feature. Heck, escort already said the 8500, X50 and S2 are all upgradable to Ku as soon as the threat is real.

[jimbonzzz]

I'm more interested in the performance of the Ku detection, not nessicarily that it just has the feature.

Ku is very close to X-band, so unless they do something funky with the new gun, you can pretty much expect Ku performance to be similar to X band performance...

Heck, escort already said the 8500, X50 and S2 are all upgradable to Ku as soon as the threat is real.

That is true, but read some of the threads in this forum about some detectors that advertise "software upgrades" etc, and you'll also find that people haven't had very good luck with this in the past. If an actual "upgrade" did materialize, you would also have to mess with sending it back in, and it will be very surprising if it is free.

Jim

[jimbonzzz]

Doing some online searching, I've found some radar detectors with GPS speed trap detection features. However, almost all of them seem to be for the UK, or Japan. Do these detectors work (and are they legal) in the US? If not, is anything like that available for the US?

These are for overseas users that have a lot of fixed radar i.e. photo radar/speed cameras. Since the US doesn't have a lot of this, there really aren't any for the US. Some have been proposed for US use in the past, however the cost was way too high vs benefits.

Jim

[Ghost]

Just asked a friend who had what I was talking about. He says his unit is a Uniden GPSRD, but they seem to not be in production any more. I've also read mixed reviews on it -- he tells me his works fine, but various online reviewers seem to have had problems with it. He also says that he's always had about 1/4 to 1/2 mile of warning vs. lasers too, which the other 2 don't seem to provide (speedzones.com's test seems to indicate only the Valentine was able to detect laser when behind another car that was getting tagged).

I did just find one used for $169 though. So now I have to decide between that, and a new Bel X65. Or the Escort X50 -- the speedzones.com 2004 shootout seems to indicate that the Escort outperforms the Bel in the 1.5 mile instant-on test. It also comes in blue, which would match the coloring on the other displays in my Jetta GLI. Though the Bel's performance vs. RDDs seems to be much better than the Escort.

So here are my options so far:

Uniden GPSRD
Good points: Cheapest option by a fair margin, has GPS to warn of known speed traps, displays your current speed, integrated compass, possibly best at detecting lasers (maybe)
Bad Points: Mixed reviews, would be buying a used model, no POP or Ku, probably worst in performance of the 3 options, no Smartcord type thing, can't detect multiple sources*

Bel X65 Pro
Good points: Excellent performance, Ku band detection, voice alerts, detects multiple sources, Smartcord included, probably best vs. RDDs
Bad Points: Pricey

Escort X50
Good points: Best in performance, optional blue LEDs, detects multiple sources, Smartcord included
Bad Points: Most expensive option, questionable whether it will detect Ku or not in the future, possibly worst vs. RDDs

It's really a tough decision for me at this point. Any words of wisdom?

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* - Though it will remember the location, and the max db and the type of radar it recieves and then on subsequent encounters it'll display the alert but not sound, unless it gets a different band at that location, or the detected db level is over the recorded max.

[happya$$]

X50 and RX65 are identical in performance. The V1 is MY personal favorite and I have tried the RD850, RX65, and X50

[Ghost]

Eh, the V1 is just too pricey. The directional arrows are neat, but ultimately not useful to me. And the majority of the reviews I've read say that the V1 is still an excellent detector, but a bit outdated. Having to pay around $450 for the detector plus the smartcord type thing is just out of my budget range right now though. And I don't really like the look of it, though that's a minor issue (in much the same vein as the blue LEDs on the Escort).

Edit: Though the V1 does appear to perform better than the other 2 on the highway. Which is where I actually received both of my tickets. One was a laser trap though, so what detector I had wouldn't have made a difference. Having Veil would have, but I didn't even know about it at the time.

[lordhamster]

Doing some online searching, I've found some radar detectors with GPS speed trap detection features. However, almost all of them seem to be for the UK, or Japan. Do these detectors work (and are they legal) in the US? If not, is anything like that available for the US?

I was just about to get a Bel RX65 Pro (barely over the Escort X50 due to its Ku detection capabilities -- planning for the future), but then I came across the GPS/radar detector combos. It would be nice to know when I'm entering a known speed trap, so even if I'm not getting any active alerts I know to be extra watchful.

Or, should I just forget about the GPS speed trap functionality?

In many european countries Radar detectors are illegal. However, GPS is not. In most of europe stationary speed cameras are quite common. For the most part, locals know where they are and will slow down. However when traveling in unknown areas you want to know where they are. So with no radar detector allowed, they have begun online databases of speed trap locations. You download it into your GPS/PDA or Dedicated GPS device and it gives you warning in advance of approaching a trap. No radar detection involved.

this would not work great in the US as the cops always move the traps and don't have many fixed cameras.

The uniden model used GPS to help it's ability to detect falses. I belive when you had a false, you could "mark" a location as a false, then in the future falses at that location would be supressed.

But the stuff you see on the internet is not 2 usefull for us.

[compu44]

Eh, the V1 is just too pricey. The directional arrows are neat, but ultimately not useful to me. And the majority of the reviews I've read say that the V1 is still an excellent detector, but a bit outdated. Having to pay around $450 for the detector plus the smartcord type thing is just out of my budget range right now though. And I don't really like the look of it, though that's a minor issue (in much the same vein as the blue LEDs on the Escort).

Edit: Though the V1 does appear to perform better than the other 2 on the highway. Which is where I actually received both of my tickets. One was a laser trap though, so what detector I had wouldn't have made a difference. Having Veil would have, but I didn't even know about it at the time.

I'd stay away from Uniden equipment. The GPS functions of the GPSRD were ok, but the radar-detection was sub par. I currently own an RX65. I like it a lot, it hasn't let me down, but if I were buying again, I think i'd go with the X50, just for the nicer multiple threat display, plus the display angle is more suited for high mounting, which I perfer. These are all just opinion/preference things though, the performance is going to be about the same between the two. the detector test on Veil guy's site might be a good read for you before purchase, he covers more about the features of them then the performance. As far as performance testing goes, speedzones.com is a good place to go, not to mention Roy's own tests.