The Bel Express 795... anyone?

Al · 08-02-2005, 10:25 AM

Hi everyone - a newbie on these forums, but have been using a Bel 985 for the past 4 years or so.

My 985 is on the fritz - too much Denver sun has taken it's toll. I'm not an excessive speeder, just a spirited driver (~10-15 over the speed limit). I am on a strict budget for the time being, so I'm looking at the "cost effective" radars.

I noticed the Bel 795 got really good reviews on another site, so I decided to call Beltronics and find out where that model stands. According to the nice lady at Bel, she told me the 795 is *discontinued*. The Radio Shacks around me have a few left, so before they're all gone, I wanted to ask if anyone on these forums has one, or has experience with one. The X, K, and Ka sensitivities seem like they're on par with the higher end Vectors, just without POP and the nicer displays.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

- Al

**hankd** · 08-02-2005, 11:32 AM

I would imagine it's old technology and not worth your time...

Why not pickup another 985 on Ebay for $100 or so?

**jbird** · 08-02-2005, 01:12 PM

I thought the Bel Express 795 was going to be the new replacement for the Bel Express 925. Now it appears that it and the Vector 895 are specialty units made specifically for Radioshack. This is similar to what I believe Cobra does for Walmart. I have not seen any reviews on the 795 except from someone who may be biased toward Bel; however, the Vector 895 performed very well at SML this year. If the Express 795 has the same performance as the Vector 895 minus a few features, then it would be an incredible deal much like the Whistler Pro 58.

BTW, stay away from Ebay and get a detector that has a warranty from a credible authorized dealer to avoid trouble like getting a stolen detector, a defective detector, a unit without a serial number, etc. Also keep your detector out of the sun as much as possible by keeping it just below the tint band when in use and leave it under the seat or take it with you when you park for extended amounts of time.

**Hessen** · 08-02-2005, 01:12 PM

Why not see what kind of a deal Roy can give you on another detector..... :wink:

**hankd** · 08-02-2005, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by jbird

BTW, stay away from Ebay and get a detector that has a warranty from a credible authorized dealer to avoid trouble like getting a stolen detector, a defective detector, a unit without a serial number, etc.

I've bought hundreds of detectors on Ebay and have only had a few problems...I've gotten some smokin' deals. And you can buy new from authorized dealers on Ebay. Not everything is used, stolen, etc...

The Bel 985 I've been using for the past 8 months cost me a whopping $65...

**boomerman** · 08-02-2005, 02:34 PM

The Bel 795 is going to be sold by Radio Shack.
Here is a test review of this unit.
http://radartest.com/article.asp?articleID=10051
For the money this looks like a great buy.
For those looking for a unit under a $100 this may be better than the Whistler Pro Series.

Al · 08-02-2005, 03:45 PM

Everyone,

Thanks for your replies. Boomerman - I just spoke with a lady at Bel this morning, and her (almost) exact words were "We've discontinued that model. Radio Shack had the ability to purchase any of our overstock on any discontinued models and sell them."

I'll look at Roy's specials and see what I can come up with. I liked my Bel 985 since the falsing was very minimal. I actually tried the Whistler 1744 (Wally World version of 1743) and while it did work, the falsing was annoying to the point that it made me just want to take it down - even in City 2 mode. The elimination of any X signals was nice, though.

I'm a bit uncomfortable with shelling out cash over the Internet for any unit I can't return and get my money back immediately.

- Al

**boomerman** · 08-02-2005, 07:25 PM

Well if Radio Shack is going to be selling what is left of the Bel units then you might wait to see if they put it on sale.

The weird thing about the 795 is it is NOT listed on Bel's site at all, not even on the page that lists the older models and manuals.

If this was being discontinued they should have at least have an owners manual online.
They still have my owners manual online for my Bel 980 and that was made in 2000.

I think Bel is making these exclusively for Radio Shack and by some kind of agreement Bel can not talk about or sale this model and that is why you are not seeing anything on Bel's site.

I think the "being discontinued" line is their way of getting off the subject.

This happens with a lot of products out on the market.

Look at some of the Cobras and Whistlers models that are only sold at certain stores.

RW · 08-03-2005, 08:31 AM

I also spoke to customer service at Bel and was told the 795 was made especially for Ratshack, and the 795 and 925 were pretty much the same. I have a 925 that I am very happy with and was considering another when I saw the new review and asked about the difference and if the 795 was an inprovement. Here's a test from Feb. that also says the low priced Bel is far ahead of the competition;
http://radartest.com/Best%20Detector%20Under%20$100%20rev%201.pdf
I agree with the test that the 925 is the best price/performance deal there is, I'll probably sell a couple of others and get another 925, RW.

**speedy-car** · 08-03-2005, 10:30 AM

Since my last post and after reading the good test-results I've bought the 795 from radio shack. I'm very satisfied with the overall performance, very few false alerts. Very very good on Ka. Before this one I used a BEL745, which was great until I got my mobile phone, which caused laser alerts all the time I was on the phone. Overall this unit is very impressive for this low price and I would buy it again. The LED's and settings are enough for me, as I think the next better performance is withe the RX65, the others in between have only more gimmics but hardly more performance.