Whistler 1778s for $80

[4pun]

TIP

Look for one of the little Radio Shack stores that will close at the end of this month. Today they are giving 20% off all sales of remaining stock. Since the Wistler is $200 - $100 on sale you get another $20 off for a net cost of a mere $80 for a nice little portable RD.

I bought one and I like it so much I plan to keep it. If someone breaks into the car and steals it I haven't lost anything compared to a detector that cost four or five times as much.

Ki4je

[asianfire]

Do you mean a 1788, and not 1778?

I got the 1788 for $100 a month or so ago and I don't like it. Planning to return it tomorrow and getting the Bel 895.

If the 1788 gets too hot, VG2 goes off all the time. Too cold, will constantly turn on and off.

I looked on Roy's website and it seems that the Bel has much better performance as well.

[bfg9000d]

also bell tends to bring up allot of eror codes. You could get a pro 73. I would wait until the XTR units come out.

[asianfire]

I got the bel today and like it much better then the 1788

The volume is so loud, It hurts (that is what I like)

Range is much better as well.

It doesn't false as much either

Sorry Whistler.

[bfg9000d]

I would have save my money and bought a xtr any day of the week over a bel 895. Bells are not the greatest when it comes to laser pickup. But in the end it boggles me why you didnt just buy the pro 73. Its plenty ear blowing loud. I would have tough it out with the existing model of whistler and when the xtr came out buy that. I got off the phone with whistler a few hours ago. I talk to their lead customer service rep. Yes the one that heads up the repair operations on whistler for atleast this day. I had them do a checkup on my brothers 73 to make sure everything was ok. He wanted to make sure he was getting full range with it. Anyway shooting the breeze with the guy. He revealed some things about the XTR units and the inner stuff in comparrison to the pro 73 platform. Basically after talking with him he said their are gonna be some differences internally between the 73 and the xtr he couldnt reveal what. The other half of the conversation I pretty much already knew about the voice program bands etc. So we have yet to know the full extent of the XTR units. They will be fun when they do come out thats for sure. Also when really thinking about it this will be the most recent release of radar detectors on the market right now. So cheers to whistler.

[boomerman]

The Bel 895 will blow away the Pro series!!
I know, I own both and I have seen both in action.

The bel 895 uses an older version of the bel rx65, I have shown internal pictures of the 895 in other posts and you can see for yourself that the 895 uses the RX65 internals.
NO way in hell is a whistler pro series better than a RX65 PERIOD!!

The XTR will have KU dectection, which is great if we ever have it, used here in the states.
But other than that it is NOT a reason to buy it yes since it has not been tested.

Like I said in another post, all of you people who are talking to Whistler's sales reps are just that, talking to a sales rep that is going to hype the unit, THAT IS THEIR JOB!! They may know some of the technical stuff but not the information we are asking for or know about.

I could sell a Whistler and give better technical answers then most of their sales people. Do not get me wrong, I am sure they have some very knowledgeable sales people who know about some of the internal workings but for the most part it is people like us in this forum who know how these things work because it is our hobby!!


I do NOT talk to Sales Reps from Whistler I talk to their engineer, so when I post information it comes from the man himself NOT a sales rep.

Yes the internals are going to be different in the XTR than what is in the pro series because it now detects KU band. DUH!!!!
That does NOT take a genius to figure that part out. Once again just more salesman HYPE!!

[asianfire]

The Bel 895 will blow away the Pro series!!
I know, I own both and I have seen both in action.


I am glad that you feel that way Boomerman. I have limited experience with RDs and wasn't sure. I am glad that I went with the Bel then. I have been happy just in the last few days with it. It doesn't seem to false as much and on the known falses, I pick them up a lot further now (which I guess is a good thing). I did encounter a LEO today and did really well. I had about a good 30 secs (city) to slow down from 45 to 35.

I haven't been able to travel on the Hwy yet. I wish that I didn't have to go home, cause in VA they are illegal. Besides, my car can't go over 70 anyways...lol

[bfg9000d]

Lets see the last bell 895 I had came up with a error. Guess what i did with my bell 895 I ran over it with my car. Because I got a ticket with a ka gun it didnt alert me in time when going around a corner and no it wasnt instant on either. Also I got a laser ticket with the bel 895 no warning. I decided enough was enough gave it the rd death. Its so d a m n obvious that whistler is better on laser pickup then bell ever could be. Trust me I drive atleast a 100 miles a day plus do a 2,000 mile trip ever year with this s h i t. I have never ever once got slam with a ticket with the pro 73. I have gotten two ticket from using the bell 895. Also just for the record the rx 65 which I gave to my grandad. He was complaining it wasnt picking things up soon enough. I decided to check it out on the freeway I was using that in replace of my whistler for today Luckly i was doing the speed limit the leo was shooting laser no warning until I was right ontop of him. It was either both units are out of calib. or its crap. Infact I saw the officer before the rx 65 went off. So go figure. Also The guy I talked to said he was the head guy that fixes the rd for whistler in Rogers, Ark. So dont tell me who I'm talking to I dont apperciate that. This guy knew plenty of what I was talking about.

Using terms blow away, nobody is blowing away anybody on rd. You dont know if I was talking to somebody that really knew the up and up. Just as I dont know who the h e l l you been talking to. As far as I know you could be talking to a elf on 34 th street in new york about whistler. I feel like fileing a formal complaint with Mr Roy.

Asianfire this post was not directed at you.

[asianfire]

Asianfire this post was not directed at you.

Well, I am glad that you weren't directing that to me...lol

I will probably end up getting a whistler pro series as well, just because I have heard a lot of good things about them. However, I had 3 encounters with LEOs today!!! Each time the 895 alerted me WAY more time then I actually needed to slow down.

I never said I didn't like Whistler, just the 1788 had a few problems. I didn't feel like waiting for shipment and can't afford to get another RD right now. I was able to return the 1788 to the store and upgrade.

One thing that i do miss are all the options that the 1788 had that the bel doesn't. But the Bel has great range and I have to actually turn the volume to half way or my ears hurt. The 1788 as we all know is horrible with the volume. Even with a tuneup, I can't imagine that it gets near the volume that a pro 73(53) or a bel gets.

[bfg9000d]

yeah the pro 73 and the 1788 in my opinion might as well be two different detectors. The pro 73 will blow you out of your seat. I never leave the volume level any more then half. Plus the auto quiet is a nice feature. The bell 895 is a good detector. But it just bugs the h e l l out of me when people say bell is yadda this yadda that. Yeah sure bells detect longer but do they last longer. How many error code plague bells do you have own your shelf is what you need to ask people who are big bell supporters. You might try finding a pro 73 on ebay try to find one new or very very little use. Sometimes you can get one pretty darn cheap. or a refurb one is always a great choice as well. :D

[boomerman]

bfg9000d, let me introduce myself to you, I am the moderator of the whistler forum. This responsibility also comes with having a direct contact with Whistler's Engineer God Michael B. who also posts here from time to time.
I get my information from the man who designed and engineered these detectors. It does NOT get any better than that for correct and accurate information PERIOD!!
The only thing you said yesterday was things we already knew, yes the insides are going to be different in the XTR series vs. the pro series since the xtr now detects KU. Like I said he did not tell you anything that was not already known or should have been obvious since it now detected a new band.
I did not say the guy did not know what he was talking about. I said he seemed to be giving you a sales hype! NO real information.


As for the Bel's error messages yes that is a common issue with some of the models and it does suck.
Bel/escort's customer service is crap!!
Whistler's customer service has been FANTASTIC!! Other manufactures should learn from Whistlers customer service.

You say the Bel 895 did not alert you in time for a KA alert when going around a corner and you say it was not instant on, how do you know for sure that it was NOT instant on?
You did not say how you knew it was not instant on. I am going to guess when you got the ticket you ask the LEO?

I can run my V1 and the Bel 895 at the same time and when I get a KA alert, both of them will alert almost at the same time. The V1 has great range and if the bel 895 can detect it as soon as the V1 does then I have to wonder about your KA alert.
Maybe you got a junk one out of the box, that happens with any manufacture.
You mentioned that the rx 65 that you gave to your granddad did not detect the laser until you were right up on him. Did you ever stop to think maybe it did not detect it because he had not lasered you until you were right up on him?
You may have seen him before the RX65 alerted you but that does NOT mean it missed the alert. Like I said maybe he had not pulled the trigger to get a reading until you were right up on him.

I know the bel rx65 laser detection is NOT that good; others have reported that here many times.
If laser is your primary concern then I would suggest a jammer and veil along with your whistler.

When it comes to all out detection the BEl 895 is the better unit, maybe the laser is not as good as the whistler because the whistler does a good job with laser detection but on the other bands the whistler does NOT compare.

My Whistler PRO falses so much I cannot trust it, I am glad you can feel that comfortable with your unit as your only detector.
There have been many times if I had just been using the Whistler I would have been ticketed due to so many falses I chose to ignore it.
Whistler detection is good for the money but the range is NOT as good as my bel 895 on radar.
If I did not have my V1 the Bel 895 for $200 or less is the only detector I would feel comfortable enough to use by it self.
I cannot say that with the Whistlers at this time.

So now you know that I am not talking to the elf down on 34th st in New York. Well I might be after a few drinks hahahaha

[bfg9000d]

Your last post was much better worded thank-you :D . Hmmm have you sent your whistler in for service or for a checkup. Put in the box send it to Rogers Ark. put a letter in the box to do a full check on it. Whistler no questions ask will do it. Maybe your whistler and my whistler were made by two different people. :| Mine just dont false that much even in highway mode. I get of course the usual x band from door openers. And some slight k bands from wal-mart door openers but not the amount of falsing I think your talking about. I leave my detector on city 1 mode allot. But even on highway mode its pretty quiet. If its really bad you can throw it in city 2 mode. That really concerns me your getting that amount of falsing on the pro series. I would send it in allot of times whistler will replace things on the detector even if it looks slightly worn. Like the face plates etc. Now that I think about it thats sounds like how one of my old whistlers was. It was falsing like crazy I sent it in and they did I think If i can recall a update or something on it and when I got it back it was like a brand new detector.

[boomerman]

Yes the little guy :D (PRO 58) has been back to Whistler and they say it is in specs.
Now I guess I could ask Michael B nicely to detune it a bit so it does not catch junk detectors and radar guns that fall out of thier range.

This is why Whistlers tend to react more to door openers and other things because Whistler tunes them to detect a wider variance in each band to catch the guns that may have dropped out of the spec range.

In theory this is great but in real world sometimes it is a pain!!!

No matter what, I still plan on buying a couple of the XTR series to test out. I am like a kid waiting for Christmas or his birthday.. come one Whistler get those XTR's out!!