New Detector Recommendation

[fireant]

Well, I realized the other day have not used my detector in quite some time as have been driving my wife's car. I had left it in the truck under my seat. I know not the best place however she now is back driving her vehicle and I am now back in mine. I am unable to locate my detector period. I have torn the truck apart looking. The only thing that I can come up with is that when my truck was in the shop it was taken maybe then. I however have no hard proof, so will not say for sure that they took it.

So I decided to get me a new detector and did not know what was the best out from Whistler now? I had a Pro 78 is the 78SE the way to go? or would the 695SE or 690SE be better? I will continue my search in case its in the house but in the event its not I need to get one soon.

Any recommendations would be appreciated or links that may help me out.

[Divewjason]

The pro 78SE has a blue LED display that everyone seems to like. It is the easiest to see in the sunlight.

The 690SE has a red LED display and also has a compass.

The 695SE has a multicolored LCD display. You can change colors for different bands and it has a compass. The LCD display can be difficult to see in the sunlight.

Factory variation aside, they all are based on the same platform and perform exactly the same.

[MOPARado]

The 695se with its LCD display has useful compass and battery voltmeter features but its extremely hard to impossible to read the display in direct sunlight especially if wearing sunglasses, depending on where its mounted.
Its probably OK if its mounted high up near the visor out of direct sunlight as some claim they have no issues reading the 695's LCD display. If you're gonna dashmount like i do or mount lower on the windshield, i'd forget the 695se and go for the 78se.
I've got both the 78se and 695. The 78se with its bright blue LED digital display is my main detector while the 695 is relegated to back up duty.

Never used or seen the 690's display.
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[stealthfz1]

I agree. PRO78SE is much easier to see. I have both the PRO78SE and an XTR695. PRO78SE has a lot of "KA9" false alerts in KAMAX mode depending on the area you live in. I have had several 4+ mile KA alerts with the PRO&78SE in wide open areas. Very impressive for the price.

[djrams80]

I found the red display of the XTR-690SE just as easy to read as is the blue display of the Pro-78SE. With the top down, the XTR-695SE's display was unreadable.

[MOPARado]

I agree. PRO78SE is much easier to see. I have both the PRO78SE and an XTR695. PRO78SE has a lot of "KA9" false alerts in KAMAX mode depending on the area you live in. I have had several 4+ mile KA alerts with the PRO&78SE in wide open areas. Very impressive for the price.

X2 on the 4+ mile Ka alerts! The best i've got to date was a Ka alert at just about 3 miles.

But then again with the SE's extra Ka sensitivity, the falsies are maybe similar to the V1's false complaints maybe due to its great sensitivity.

I'm not 100% convinced the majority of those Ka falsies aren't real police radar off in the distance, to the side or in back.
Case in point, i kept getting Ka alerts today in medium to heavy traffic. They'd go up to a 6 or 7, sometimes a 9 then stop silent for a few minutes and start up again sometimes only a 2 or 3. This went on for about 15 to 20 minutes. Is this the infamous Ka falses people are reporting?
I suspected a LEO running Ka somewhere behind, so this time i pulled off into a gas station and watched the cars that were behind go by. Sure enough about 15 to 20 cars behind was a LEO running CO Ka.
Not saying there aren't legit Ka falses like the momentary ones that stop as soon as they start but it could be some maybe even the majority are for real-just not visually spotted LEOs.
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[stealthfz1]

But then again with the SE's extra Ka sensitivity, the falsies are maybe similar to the V1's false complaints maybe due to its great sensitivity.

The V1 is noisy on X and K band. Not on KA band. With KA guard ON I get very few KA alerts that are not LEO's on my V1. The PRO78SE can have a lot of "KA9" alerts that are not LEO's in my experience depending on what area I am in. Like for example, going though Las Vegas or Salt lake City. Using Filter 1 or 2 seems to cut these down quite a bit though.

[ipig]

While the blue/red of the 78SE/690SE is more visible than the 695/SE, i've found most of the time the 695's display is fine.

I've enjoyed my 695SE more than the 78SE.

The 695 is less annoying with the added ability to shut off the display when not alerting.

The 695SE's power button does not seem to be an issue like it was with the 78SE.

I was a little surprised the 695SE comes in a (pita) clam shell with less accessories than the 78SE box w/hard wire & pad. Oh well i wasn't going to use them anyways & already had the hardwire kit.

[Freebird]

OOPs

[Freebird]

I would take that V995 off the shelf and put it to use. It will perform as well as what Whistler has to offer on all 3 ka bands IMO and match the Whistlers on x and k-bands without band mis identification. Not bashing Whistler, just my opinion after owning them both.