Bought a XTR-195

Was looking at Rat Shack's website. The "In-store Clearance" has the XTR-195 for $19.97. So I figured what the hell. For the money, it's a pretty cool toy. Before you bust my chops, I know it isn't the best rd out there, but it does work. It is battery powered, came with rechargable batteries, charges while plugged in and doesn't "go to sleep" (cycle power) even when on batteries. That's more than I can say about the Solo, for $300+. The clerk discouraged my purchase. But I told him that it was WAY better than any of their sorry Cobras. He looked puzzled. Then tried to sell me the Bel 995. I told him I already have an X-50. He said "oh, OK". It does fairly well on K-band. Haven't had any Ka encounters yet. Not holding my breath though.

CAn't go wrong for $20!

O'Reily Autoparts always has XTR model on display in their store in my town. I'm tempted to buy one everytime I'm in there for the hell of it, but haven't yet.

MSRP is $129.95 Reg rat shack price was $79.99. Figured for $20- I couldn't go wrong. I'm not a habitual speeder, just use RD's for situational awareness. My step-son just turned sixteen, might give it to him for a starter. Will hafta explain to him it's not a cop detector...

BTW they also have the XTR-150 (corded version) for the same price.

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Originally Posted by aradarnut

MSRP is $129.95 Reg rat shack price was $79.99. Figured for $20- I couldn't go wrong. I'm not a habitual speeder, just use RD's for situational awareness. My step-son just turned sixteen, might give it to him for a starter. Will hafta explain to him it's not a cop detector...

BTW they also have the XTR-150 (corded version) for the same price.

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You're definitely right. Worst case scenario: You're 20 bucks down the drain, not bad at all. The XTR models that I have seen at O'Reilys have ranged from 50 bucks up to 100 bucks. There was one sales person in there that seen me reading the specs for them one time, and he told me that those models are the best that money can buy. That kind of agitated me a bit, but I just went along with it.

For 50 to a 100, probably so. They blow Cobra away.

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Originally Posted by aradarnut

For 50 to a 100, probably so. They blow Cobra away.

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This goon meant they were better than any detector out there, not just for that price range.

I was once in a O'Reily looking at their lineup and they had a XTR145-$35 a XTR335-$79 and a XTR195-$99. The guy behind the counter said to take a pass on the 145 and go straight for a 195 or 335. He told me customers who bought the 145 didn't like its preformance and swapped for a 195 or 335 and were happy. I wonder how true it was...

Looking at Whistler's FCC ID#'s on FCC's website, it appears that they have several different horn's. Most look similiar. But the one for the C platforn is the largest. HSX-WH20. The rest are much smaller but it seems to work ok. Way better than any ESD or XRS I've used in the past.

Even the cheaper Whistler detectors are ahead of most of the Cobra detectors. The only Cobra detectors that surpass the low end whistlers to my knowledge are their "15 band" platform.

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Originally Posted by Divewjason

Even the cheaper Whistler detectors are ahead of most of the Cobra detectors. The only Cobra detectors that surpass the low end whistlers to my knowledge are their "15 band" platform.

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No Cobra will touch any Whistler IMO. NONE! Been there, done that! And when there is a software issue, Tech Brian is an A$$HOLE!!!!~ Don't belive me? Call and talk to him.

The XTR-195 even detects QT. That is sad, considering $500 rd's don't. Using my Bushnell, just the slightest tap of the trigger sets the 195 off...

And the thing is actually quiet in city 2 mode. In H mode, it falses X like crazy. That is something Whistler needs to take a look at. Screw X-band. Focus on K and Ka. Thank god it doesn't have the X/K confusion of the higher end models. (Total deal breaker). It is sad that they "oversweep" X-band to the point that they detect things that aren't a threat. Then if you turn off X-band, it will report as K. Mike B. get that fixed and I will absolutely buy a high end Whistler!!

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Originally Posted by aradarnut

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Originally Posted by Divewjason

Even the cheaper Whistler detectors are ahead of most of the Cobra detectors. The only Cobra detectors that surpass the low end whistlers to my knowledge are their "15 band" platform.

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No Cobra will touch any Whistler IMO. NONE! Been there, done that! And when there is a software issue, Tech Brian is an A$$HOLE!!!!~ Don't belive me? Call and talk to him.

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The XRS 9960G is about as sensitive as the Rev C platforms, but the Rev C platform is slightly superior when it comes to consistency with instant on.(The Cobra also has a slight delay between being shot with radar and alerting, which can be dangerous if you are the target.) The lower end Whistlers(I'm talking the 30 to 50 dollar ones) do well with instant on, particularly K band and 34.7 Ka band. 33.8 and 35.5 ka band is a bit weaker from my observations.(Usually would alert within half a mile or so with C/O and no more than half a mile with instant on when it was 33.8 or 35.5.) When I did all my in world testing I was running them with my STI-R. Despite the Cobra being better than the lower end whistlers, you actually get more for your money with the low end Whistlers than you would with the higher endCobras. Take it from the guy who has driven with all of them. The lower end whistlers I'm referring to are the 1732DE, XTR 105, and XTR 130.

Thank you. Seriously. Have you ever spoken to Brian?

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Originally Posted by aradarnut

No Cobra will touch any Whistler IMO. NONE! Been there, done that! And when there is a software issue, Tech Brian is an A$$HOLE!!!!~ Don't belive me? Call and talk to him.

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I can't compare the two as far as instant on and quick trigger, but I can say my 9960 was on par with the Whistlers that I have used as far as simple constant on K and Ka. I also ran an Escort 8500 for a while, and the 9960 was on par with that as well. I am very happy with my 9960 in my area. The only Coba that I had that truly disappointed me was an ESD series model. With that one, I would literally see leos before the thing would even alert, and this was constant on.

You guys tept me to go off the deep end and buy a Cobra. Wonder why they never go on clearance.

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Originally Posted by aradarnut

Thank you. Seriously. Have you ever spoken to Brian?

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No I haven't but it sounds like he is a jerk though. :P If I talk to him and he is a jerk to me I'll be sure to talk to his supervisor and direct him to this link. :P

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Originally Posted by aradarnut

You guys tept me to go off the deep end and buy a Cobra. Wonder why they never go on clearance.

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They never go on clearance because people keep buying them due to fancy packaging and whatnot. You have an S7 Escort and a RLC 100T. You will not get anything useful from a 9960G. Even though the 9960G's detection is good, it falses A LOT and its rampup is horrible. You can sit at a stoplight and it will alert to K band then "intellimute" then it will drop the signal and alert at full blast again. Even though it has good detection, it needs to be more refined. Overall I gave it a 4/5.

My friend bought the same exact one from RadioShack too... I was hesistant when he told me he bought a $20 radar detector but I tested it with my Bushnell K-band gun (I/O and QT) and it did pretty decent.. The only thing that sucks is that I don't think you're able to turn off bands...well not that I could figure out..

Luckily in California most CHP use C/O so it should do fairly well against them.