First post!

[goochie]

HI all,

I'm a student who's drive home is a 750mi trek from Ohio to New England, so I've gotten pretty good at keeping aware of my surroundings on the highway...until I picked up my first ticket a few months ago. I don't think my insurance will like me picking up another within the next few years, soo I've come here to learn about RDs and which one I should pick.

[OldGoat]

Welcome to the Forum

do you have a budget ?

[snoopyc4]

Welcome to the forum

[fire65]

Welcome to the club. There should be a question sheet for newbies to fill out. Where are you from, what do you drive, how do you drive, what is your budget?

[category4]

Welcome, tell us your budget, driving style and where you do most of your driving.

If laser is a major concern a RD is not going to really help, jammers will be required for that.

[thx1138]

Here is a Radar Detector excel spreadsheet that gives you some criteria you can vary. Based on the weighing of your criteria, it shows you the detectors that you may want to look at.

Again you need to look at your budget, your driving habits and personal preferences to make the criteria weights realistic to you.

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of experienced people here.

[goochie]

A little more about myself...

I'm a Case Western student (Cleveland) and home for me is on Cape Cod in Mass. I drive a m/y 2000 black VW Jetta with a 2.0L. It's not the fastest thing in the world but it's a pretty simple and reliable engine, so I'm happy with it. I've modified it a bit with a sound system, a stiffened suspension, and euro-code headlights. I may post up some pictures of it when I have a chance to give it a good cleaning.

Driving style is "spirited," given what I have to work with. I don't really speed in cities, especially since you need reaction time with the way people drive in Clevleand The highway is another matter, I'm more of a lead foot, especially since on my long drive to and from school, an extra 10-20mph on the highway can shave a few hours off total driving time.

Thanks, thx1138, for that Excel spreadsheet. My budget was $200 and I just ordered a Bel 955, but at least your spreadsheet backed up that decision. I figure it's a good starting point, and depending on how things work out in the future I'll look into something to give laser protection. On the bright side, my car isn't that big, is black, and the only reflective bits on my e-codes (aside from the lenses) are the bulb reflectors.

[category4]

A little more about myself...

I'm a Case Western student (Cleveland) and home for me is on Cape Cod in Mass. I drive a m/y 2000 black VW Jetta with a 2.0L. It's not the fastest thing in the world but it's a pretty simple and reliable engine, so I'm happy with it. I've modified it a bit with a sound system, a stiffened suspension, and euro-code headlights. I may post up some pictures of it when I have a chance to give it a good cleaning.

Driving style is "spirited," given what I have to work with. I don't really speed in cities, especially since you need reaction time with the way people drive in Clevleand The highway is another matter, I'm more of a lead foot, especially since on my long drive to and from school, an extra 10-20mph on the highway can shave a few hours off total driving time.

Thanks, thx1138, for that Excel spreadsheet. My budget was $200 and I just ordered a Bel 955, but at least your spreadsheet backed up that decision. I figure it's a good starting point, and depending on how things work out in the future I'll look into something to give laser protection. On the bright side, my car isn't that big, is black, and the only reflective bits on my e-codes (aside from the lenses) are the bulb reflectors.

Congrats on the new detector. Glad to hear the spreadsheet worked out for you. When I tried it it picked the 3 detectors I own also, so I would say it's pretty accurate.