Looking to get my first radar detector.

I'm looking to invest in my first radar detector, as the police are beginning to be more and more prone to be sitting around hills and turns where I live, and patrolling the roads I commonly drive to work. It is a mix between country back roads and city, (Upstate SC) but the police seem ever present in both areas. I drive 2 vehicles, so I am looking for something that I could semi-easily swap between the two cars. I have $160 in sears gift cards, so I am looking for something about that price, and at sears. A few that, I think, I've read pretty good reviews on are:

(click for link)

WHISTLER PRO3450

COBRA XRS R7

WHISTLER PRO-78 SE

Beltronics Performance Rules V-955

Avoid the Cobra like The Plague.

The Whistler Pro-78 & the Bel V-955 are solid choices. You could read through the Beltronics and Whistler forums here and see what people are saying about each model.

Some other folks will chime with better recommendations since they will own these. I don't (Escort 8500x50) so I can't critique the other models accurately. I have however had a Cobra in the past. Don't do it! Life is to precious to own a Cobra.

Alrighty, guess I'll do a little more looking around on those two models. Is there any base line of a range to expect with a radar detector such as those?

Take a look at this site.
http://www.guysoflidar.com/radar-det...ctor-test.html

Looked through your article. It seems like the Pro 78 scored close to the bottom on a lot of those, with the 995 scoring a little ways higher. Is there much of a difference between the 955 and the 995?

Use your Sears gift cards at Sears, return the item you buy and get the cash, then buy the refurb escort 8500 off ebay for $150, and donate the 10 bucks left over to Roy when he puts up a donate button for this site.

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Originally Posted by hiddencam

Use your Sears gift cards at Sears, return the item you buy and get the cash, then buy the refurb escort 8500 off ebay for $150, and donate the 10 bucks left over to Roy when he puts up a donate button for this site.

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http://forums.jetcareers.com/images/smilies/clap.gif

Based on the GOL site above, It looks like the V-995 had the best distance on detection range vs. the Pro-78 on Ka band radar as the Ka band freq increased. But it was detectable at a further distance by the Spectre radar detector detector.

So I guess you have 2 major questions to ask yourself based on he GOL site:

1) Do I live in a state where RD's are illegal.
2) What radar freq is most commonly used in the state where I live.

There is a thread around here Radar Bands By Town that may also be helpful to you.

good luck.

/EDIT

sry. I misread your post. thought you were looking at the Bel V-955. sry for the confusion.

Is there a noticeable difference between the performance of the 8500 and the 955?

EDIT:

Radar detectors are LEGAL in my state (SC), so detection really isn't an issue.
Didn't find anything in the town post, however, I live in SC, if anyone else happens to read this that lives there and knows the answer.

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Originally Posted by Schuyler

Is there a noticeable difference between the performance of the 8500 and the 955?

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Yes, the 955 is weaker than the 8500 with 3 things; a) around the curve / off axis 34.7 ka-band b) around the curve / off axis k-band and c) instant on (missed 2 of 3 shots of 2-second duration), whereas the 8500 caught all 3 shots.
(reference GOL 2007)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Schuyler

EDIT:

Radar detectors are LEGAL in my state (SC), so detection really isn't an issue.
Didn't find anything in the town post, however, I live in SC, if anyone else happens to read this that lives there and knows the answer.

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Here is the Radar bands by town page I was looking for. Then compile the data from the on going thread then put it in a single page. I knew it was around somewhere. Obviously it's not totally complete, but should give you a good idea what to expect. You can save it from Google Docs in PDF format (or several others) if you want.

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0A...RxemNjdg&hl=en

Look, I really don't mean to be the ass here, but do we really need another one of these threads? Everyday I come on here, and at least on person, if not three or four have made a new post titled something like this " Ummmm... I'm looking for a detector, but I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm really lazy... so could you guys make my decision for me?". For the love of god.... please learn to search. This question has been asked and answered time and time and time again, covering just about every situation, and every available detector. Please learn to use your mind, and take the time to do the research instead of asking us to tell you what you should buy. Again, not trying to be rude, but spend some time on this forum, and it will get very old to you too.

Schu:

Pay no attention to the elitist A-holes that tend to populate web forums. They are of no help to you.

The Bel and Whistler models that you are asking about would probably fall into the category of "entry level" radar detectors. Either model will probably serve you well. And they may very well be your 1st (but not last) RD. As you use them and learn more about RD's, you may find that you want something with better range of more specific features in the future, when your budget permits. So you could probably flip a coin between the two and end up with a solid entry level detector. Just keep researching through the Bel and Whistler parts of the forum and reading any "comparison / roundup" threads & articles that compare RD's in your price range.

As Hiddencam said, if you can figure a way to cash in your gift cards and walk away with an Escort 8500 or 8500x50 from Escorts eBay refurb sales...that would be your best bet for laying your hands on one of the best RD's for your available budget.

Good luck and keep up with the research. Something will cross your path.

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Originally Posted by fatchick1o9

Schu:

Pay no attention to the elitist A-holes that tend to populate web forums. They are of no help to you.

The Bel and Whistler models that you are asking about would probably fall into the category of "entry level" radar detectors. Either model will probably serve you well. And they may very well be your 1st (but not last) RD. As you use them and learn more about RD's, you may find that you want something with better range of more specific features in the future, when your budget permits. So you could probably flip a coin between the two and end up with a solid entry level detector. Just keep researching through the Bel and Whistler parts of the forum and reading any "comparison / roundup" threads & articles that compare RD's in your price range.

As Hiddencam said, if you can figure a way to cash in your gift cards and walk away with an Escort 8500 or 8500x50 from Escorts eBay refurb sales...that would be your best bet for laying your hands on one of the best RD's for your available budget.

Good luck and keep up with the research. Something will cross your path.

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Thanks FatChick... I guess I'll try to find a way to get the gift cards to cash... See if I can buy online and return for cash

How well does a detector like this hold up? As in, is it a bad idea to buy a used one?

I don't mind helping you out at all despite what others feel about these kind of questions being answered everyday.

I'll tell you this. I spent $150 on the refurb 8500 non-x50 from Escorts official ebay store. I'll put it to you short and sweet. I've had a confirmed 2 mile K-band detection (in the city and could probably be more on the highway) and a confirmed 5 mile Ka-Band detection (on the highway) with my refurb 8500. Q/T is not up to par with some of the more modern RDs, but I/O seems to be pretty awesome. I would say my 8500 refurb catches about 50% of the Q/T from my K-Band gun and 100% of the I/O I hit it with. It is totally a rock solid unit.

I did have to send it back during the 6 month warranty for a tune-up b/c it was not performing as it should, but when I got it back, man this thing was a completely different RD. I would totally recommend these to anybody. Look at this way, say the thing fouls up after the 6 month warranty. You are going to have to pay $79.95 to have it repaired. This makes a total of $230 out of pocket so far. You will still be ahead rather than if you would've bought a brand new 8500 X50. You will also have a superior S7 antenna vs. an M4. The only thing it lacks is POP, which most people turn it off anyways. POP is basically a marketing ploy for MPH Radar guns to defeat RDs, but it's not an approved method for measuring speed.

Hope this helps...

:cool:

Very helpful, thank you! I guess my only other question is, is it worth the extra $50 for the x50 on their ebay store?

read through the tests on http://www.guysoflidar.com/.

specifically

radar detector test 2009
radar detector test 2007
radar detector test 2006

and read

off-axis radar detector test 2007

All the tests have the 8500(non x50) & 8500x50 in them. One test has the Bel V955 and will give you some insight to the difference in performance. The off-axis test article is especially interesting.

What are you driving habits and environments? Speed a lot or a little? City or highway?

Mostly urban and 10-20 over... thanks for the article by the way

giant22000, it sounds like you have your own radar gun. When doing your own testing do not shoot the gun near our detectors as this will overload it. It's like shouting into a stethoscope. I doubt it will harm the 8500 but because of it's anti-falsing software, it can confuse it causing delayed or no alerts.

Good luck with your choice Schuyler, I think you know which I would recommend ;)
PS Sears would probably give your refund back on a gift card :( That seems to be the norm these days.

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Originally Posted by Schuyler

Mostly urban and 10-20 over... thanks for the article by the way

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Here is a quick bullet point list of the differences between the 8500 & 8500x50 (stolen from another thread):

8500:
S7 horn only
no pop capability
quicker response time

X50:
either S7 horn (older) or M4 horn (newer)
pop capable
M4's are slow at q/t, have tunnel vision, and crappy ramp up

POP is nothing useful and we usually disable it. Now the early model 8500x50's had the S7 horn. But it is a crap shoot as to whether or not you will get one with the S7 horn when you buy it. Unless you can get a confirmation of the FCCID on the bottom sticker. Then you can tell if it is an 8500x50 w/S7 horn. Which is what I did before buying mine.

My honest suggestion for you is to pickup a refurb 8500 (non x50) form Escort's eBay shop, since that fits in your budget. It has a wider field of view that will probably serve you better in an urban environment where LEO's may be further off-axis than in a more straight line highway/freeway situation. The reason I provided you with the link to the "Radar Bands by town" thread is so you can determine how much X band is used (if at all) in your area. If it's not used I would suggest turning off X band detection so you don't get a bunch of X band falses from things like Store door openers and the like. My state has X band in about 1% of the LEO force and that is in 1-2 tiny towns 300 miles away that I never go to.

But that's just my suggestion should you decide to go the Escort route and can work the gift card situation in your favor. It will make for a solid introduction to the world of quality, performance RD's and you can decide later if you want to delve deeper into the hobby/madness with a Valentine1 / STi-R / Redline etc etc.

Thanks to everyone for their help! I'll post back when I make a purchase...

I seriously doubt that you can find a new radar detector for $160 that is worth the money. I recommend saving your pennies until you can afford a V-1 or if you want to spend an extra $100 for dubious benefit, wait until you can afford an Escort 9500.