Actually, Walmart does sell the Bel Vector series. But I've only seen it on walmart's website. Not at the actual storeOriginally Posted by Nighthawk243
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Actually, Walmart does sell the Bel Vector series. But I've only seen it on walmart's website. Not at the actual store
I agree. Information about radar and detectors is very far from the mainstream. And there's no source that's considered authoritative to the public.
* LEOs - busy saying RDs don't work
* Manufacturers:
- Bel has their V940, V955, V965, V995 sensitivity graph to help justify the price difference, but we know the graph is crap anyway
- Companies like RMR are out there making promises on science that doesn't exist
- A host of low-priced companies are selling their wares...the "Steel Eye" works about as well as a brick
* Independent testing - Even here we get some mixed messages for those that only spend 20 minutes of research on the subject.
- Finding Radar Roy's writings, a user may end up at Radar Busters, a fine site with good support. The user will see Cobras right along side the other RDs
- Craig P has a well-designed site and he's worked his way up the Google food chain. Google "best radar detector" and his site hits the top two non-ad results. Plus Craig does have literary skill. And in some of his tests, the Cobras aren't the pariah they've proven themselves to be on GoL tests.
- Magazines - Motor Trend has done some tests and maybe others. One Cobra model did well in their under-$200 test.
Other points:
* Pricing for good RDs has moved to the point that's above what the public expects, so the lower $100-200 market becomes ripe for companies like Cobra
* Product placement - Cobras are in the big store chains. Crappy technology or not...location, location, location!
I just had a dream about my radar detector :shock:. Thought my display was cracked and I had to send it in...No lie.
We should make flyers of this site and when we see a Cobra in a parking lot put it on their windshield...
I believe most of it comes from simply being uneducated. Cobra has great marketing and people just dont know any better...
Cobra detectors are alot like the As seen on TV products. You buy them and they are a hoax and dont work at all. But its too late when youve bought it your stuck with a Cobra paperweight. My first detector was a Cobra. I traded it to a coworker for two multimeters.
it comes down to ease of purchase and cheap price.
the average Joe that decides he wants a detector heads down to the local electronics store and buys the cheapest thing he sees. which happens to be a Cobra.
Re: We all know Cobras are crap, why do so many people own o
Better marketing, the modern American consumer is driven by how things are marketed. Most people do not bother to do proper research on any product before they buy it. Those that do (probably most everyone here) only tend to do so after first being victims of the marketing machine ourselves and getting burnt by making the mistake of buying a inferior but good looking and expensive product. Even controled "test" results and reviews can be very misleading, or laking in full information on a particular product.
-If it looks cool on the sales floor, people are attracted to it.
-If it costs just a little more people tend to think it must be better.
-If they seen it on TV or its a brand name they have heard of before (good or bad) they will favor it over other things.
When I worked as a Technical Instructor for Sears I use to see so many products that were just absolute garbage but the stores couldn't keep enough of them in stock. Some of the most notorious were GE brand household appliances, the marketing department at GE had it down on how to make a product look great on the sales floor (which sells big time), yet the actual products once home and in use (after the sale) were absolute crap with major and constant known issues. Stuff like the transmissions in the Washers notoriously going bad, expensive oven display controls burning out, and these items are always cheaper just to buy a new product than repair them. It never ceased to amaze me how many stupid people would turn around and buy the exact same brand as a replacement. SO many other better products if only they knew more about what they were actually buying. The Whirlpool (Kenmore) Washers for example had a plastic drive gear in them, people thought this was cheap and problematic, however what they didn't understand was when they overloaded the machine the "cheap" ($7.00) plastic drive gear would just fail (as designed) and save them the cost of having to replace an insanely expensive transmission or motor. The repair labor was also only about .25 hours to repair, vs. changing out an entire GE transmission which could take hours.
I use to see the same thing take place with marketing driving people to buy other far inferior products like garage door openers, most people recognize the "Genie" brand garage door opener as one of the best, with its "quiet" screw drive operation. In reality though its actually the worst garage door opener on the market, and after a short time of use the absolute loudest. Genie advertises their product heavily, Chamberlain (Lift Master, Craftsman) do not advertise at all, yet their chain driven garage door openers are insanely superior (and cheaper to buy), also cheaper and quicker to have repaired when something does go wrong with them. Yet people insist on the Genies because they don't know any better and its a brand name they recognize due to heavy advertising and controlled "reviews" that rate it far better than it actually is.
Other products driven by marketing and people thinking if it costs more it must be better are Maytag brand household appliances. Many years ago Maytag use to make a rock solid product, it created a great reputation for them that still carries them today. The modern Maytag products are not anywhere near what they use to be years ago, people are just buying a brand name these days and not the quality product they think they are purchasing.
There are perfect examples in how people are driven more so by marketing than anything else in just about any aspect you can look at, even political issues, the more money a politician has to campaign with and the more people recognize just their name (even without knowing the first thing about the person) the more likely they are to select that "recognized" name on the ballot when they are voting, despite the possibility of another better suited to their particular likes candidate being available who they do not recognize the name of because he didn't have a high marketing budget.
Yep, but its online only. Most people who buy them from walmart just happens to catch a glimpse while they're in automotive. I have yet to see a walmart with anything other than Cobras in it.Actually, Walmart does sell the Bel Vector series. But I've only seen it on walmart's website. Not at the actual store
Take a good look at the appearance of Escorts, Bels, and especially that magnesium monstrosity called the Valentine One. Then look at the sleek, silver, gray and black lines of a Cobra. Which would you, the uneducated consumer, rather have aimed at the sky from the middle of your windshield?
Then look at that price tag. $160 for the high-end Cobra, you say? Versus what? $300 for that X50? $400 for a V1? $450 for that freaking 9500i?!
Then there's the barely-trained "Car Audio Expert" at the big box consumer electronics shop of your choosing. He doesn't really know anything about car audio--in fact, he's on probation for child molestation and he hasn't driven a car since before they locked him up, but his name badge and the $7.50 an hour plus 2% commission he makes say that he knows his stuff. So when you, the uneducated consumer, ask him his opinion on the detectors he sells, he inevitably points to the $450 9500i and says, "That's the best one!" Then he sees the look on your face as you realize that you can't justify $450. He smells his sale (and, therefore, his nightly meth fix) slipping away, and he quickly points to the Cobra and says, "But that one detects twelve bands. And it has a compass. It's almost as good, and for less than half the price!"
And then you get stopped for speeding within ten minutes of leaving the parking lot. The officer notices your Cobra aimed skyward, and casually asks if you're scanning for low-flying aircraft. You turn around, walk back into the store, and wave your ticket in the face of the "Car Audio Expert" as you demand a refund. He then tells you that they don't accept returns on opened radar detectors. You demand to speak to the manager, who then tells you that they'll refund your money--minus a "restocking fee," unless you'd like to upgrade to a more expensive unit, in which case they'll waive that fee off entirely.
Disgusted by the whole affair and not wanting to deal with restocking fees and whatnot, you keep the piece of junk and it becomes a paperweight at your office. Then, one day at work, your fat, stupid boss who drives a sweet Corvette (and you know it's sweet, because his vanity plate says "SWEETVETTE") walks in, notices it, and says, "Oh, hey, do those things really work?" Sensing the beginnings of an evil plan, you respond that yes, in fact, they do. They work so well that you refuse to leave yours in the car for fear that someone else might take it. Your boss offers you twenty bucks for it, and you take the money, run, and start prepping your resume for when your boss inevitably tries angrily to sell it back--and you take out a "restocking fee" on him.
And that, my friend, is how most people end up with a Cobra.
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