Need help deciding on a radar detector MA area

[jp0213x]

Can anyone suggest what would be a good all around radar detector for the MA area. I have an old school cobra, that needs replacing. My budget is around $400.
I've been reading where some of these radars work for a short period of time then they stop working all together. When I do purchase is there some kind of extended warranty?

[o2bad455]

Mass. SP generally use Lidar, K, and Ka (in roughly that order). I had a real V1 Lidar save on the Mass Pike, although you can't count on any detector to save you from Lidar. V1 is still the best with Lidar and K, though. So, if most of your driving is highway, a V1 would be a good choice and happens to just fit your stated budget.

[MEM-TEK]

Bel/Escort RDs have a 1 year warranty which you can extend with an additional 2 year warranty at any time before the original warranty runs out. Whistler RDs come with a standard 3 year warranty. The Valentine1 RD has a 1 year warranty.

The biggest killers of radar detectors are excessive heat, excessive temperature cycling, storage in extremely humid conditions, and voltage spikes. Of these, excessive heat causes the most problems in my opinion. My rule of thumb is to never leave a radar detector baking in sunlight for any extended period of time within a parked car.

With the above said, tell us about your driving conditions and what your personal preferences are. I assume that you have looked at the various RD manufactuer web sites to get a general idea of the RD features which each company offers.

[jp0213x]

Mass. SP generally use Lidar, K, and Ka (in roughly that order). I had a real V1 Lidar save on the Mass Pike, although you can't count on any detector to save you from Lidar. V1 is still the best with Lidar and K, though. So, if most of your driving is highway, a V1 would be a good choice and happens to just fit your stated budget.

Most of my driving is spent driving around Boston with occasional highway travel, I just want something that will cover me all around and that won't break in a few months. I want something that is going filter out the false alerts especially in the city. Also how does the V1 compare to the Bel and Escort?

[o2bad455]

Most of my driving is spent driving around Boston with occasional highway travel, I just want something that will cover me all around and that won't break in a few months. I want something that is going filter out the false alerts especially in the city. Also how does the V1 compare to the Bel and Escort?

Well, that changes things a bit. Do you know what they actually use for enforcement in the city? I suspect mostly Lidar. If so, in your price range, you might think about no detector at all (since most will alert to too many non-LEO devices in the city anyway). Then you could spend the money on a decent laser jammer instead.

[jp0213x]

Well, that changes things a bit. Do you know what they actually use for enforcement in the city? I suspect mostly Lidar. If so, in your price range, you might think about no detector at all (since most will alert to too many non-LEO devices in the city anyway). Then you could spend the money on a decent laser jammer instead.

My old cobra did a decent job, it did go off with many false alerts when driving around hospitals and some stores. Do you have any suggestions on jammers, it sound like a bit of over kill but i will take a look. Does the V1 work with the most common bands? According to the website it can be upgraded as well, how does this work?

[MEM-TEK]

Hi jp0213x,

All Bel/Escort/Whistler/Valentine radar detectors detect all of the radar bands used in the USA, and detect laser as well. Don't be mislead by Cobra's deceptive advertising of 9, 10, 11 or 12 band radar detector models. There are only three radar bands -- X, K and Ka. And there is only one laser band -- 904nm or 905nm. All modern radar detectors which detect laser use IR detection diodes which have a broad bandwidth of approximately 880nm to 920nm. Cobra for marketing purposes likes to divide the Ka band into three individual bands for the three Ka band radar gun frequencies. So, suddenly you have Cobra radar detectors which supposedly detect 6 radar bands even though there are only 3 actual radar bands! Likewise Cobra counts the different pulse rates of various laser gun models as additional "bands". Confusing, isn't it? Yet it is nothing more than slick and misleading advertising which helps Cobra to sell a lot of radar detectors.

So, be rest assured that all Bel, Escort, Whistler and Valentine radar detectors detect all of the radar and laser guns used in the United States. The sole exception is one brand new laser gun model which is just hitting the market for law enforcement officers. Yet all of the RD manufacturers will quickly add the ability to detect this new laser gun very soon if they haven't done so already.

Since you mention that you drive mostly in town around Boston, I would highly recommend the Escort 9500ix as the best radar detector for your needs. The 9500ix after a week or two of regular use will learn where all false alerts from microwave door openers, security systems, et cetera are located, and will then note their signal frequencies automatically lock them out so that these false alert radar signals will no longer produce annoying false alerts. The 9500i and its new 9500ix brother also perform very well at detecting laser. Note that the 9500ix is not as good as the V1 at detecting laser at very close distances (less than 500 feet) unless the officer aims his laser gun high enough on your car's front grille so that some of his laser gun's signal scatters off of the top front of your car's hood. The 9500ix also features excellent K and Ka band radar sensitivities which are very close to that of a V1. Needless to say, the V1 does have those handy arrows which tell you basically where the radar signal is coming from -- either ahead, to the side, or from the rear. Yet, since you have obviously used radar detectors for a while, I am sure that you already are pretty good at determining if a police radar gun source is located ahead of you or behind you. So, since the 9500ix will make driving around town extraordinarily quiet and pleasant and because the 9500ix has excellent sensitivity, this is why I recommend the 9500ix for your particular needs.

Just one more thought. The 9500ix along with Escort's 9500ci remote system currently are the only two radar detectors which can be updated via USB using Escort's downloadable Radar Detector Tools software. Thus any bug fixes, enhancements, or new functionality can be downloaded from Escort and then flashed via USB to your 9500ix radar detector. This is a very useful and desirable feature.

I normally tend to avoid recommending radar detectors to forum members since I would feel really bad if the person wasn't happy with my recommendation, but in your case it pretty much is a no brainer regarding your needs.

[jp0213x]

Hi jp0213x,

All Bel/Escort/Whistler/Valentine radar detectors detect all of the radar bands used in the USA, and detect laser as well. Don't be mislead by Cobra's deceptive advertising of 9, 10, 11 or 12 band radar detector models. There are only three radar bands -- X, K and Ka. And there is only one laser band -- 904nm or 905nm. All modern radar detectors which detect laser use IR detection diodes which have a broad bandwidth of approximately 880nm to 920nm. Cobra for marketing purposes likes to divide the Ka band into three individual bands for the three Ka band radar gun frequencies. So, suddenly you have Cobra radar detectors which supposedly detect 6 radar bands even though there are only 3 actual radar bands! Likewise Cobra counts the different pulse rates of various laser gun models as additional "bands". Confusing, isn't it? Yet it is nothing more than slick and misleading advertising which helps Cobra to sell a lot of radar detectors.

So, be rest assured that all Bel, Escort, Whistler and Valentine radar detectors detect all of the radar and laser guns used in the United States. The sole exception is one brand new laser gun model which is just hitting the market for law enforcement officers. Yet all of the RD manufacturers will quickly add the ability to detect this new laser gun very soon if they haven't done so already.

Since you mention that you drive mostly in town around Boston, I would highly recommend the Escort 9500ix as the best radar detector for your needs. The 9500ix after a week or two of regular use will learn where all false alerts from microwave door openers, security systems, et cetera are located, and will then note their signal frequencies automatically lock them out so that these false alert radar signals will no longer produce annoying false alerts. The 9500i and its new 9500ix brother also perform very well at detecting laser. Note that the 9500ix is not as good as the V1 at detecting laser at very close distances (less than 500 feet) unless the officer aims his laser gun high enough on your car's front grille so that some of his laser gun's signal scatters off of the top front of your car's hood. The 9500ix also features excellent K and Ka band radar sensitivities which are very close to that of a V1. Needless to say, the V1 does have those handy arrows which tell you basically where the radar signal is coming from -- either ahead, to the side, or from the rear. Yet, since you have obviously used radar detectors for a while, I am sure that you already are pretty good at determining if a police radar gun source is located ahead of you or behind you. So, since the 9500ix will make driving around town extraordinarily quiet and pleasant and because the 9500ix has excellent sensitivity, this is why I recommend the 9500ix for your particular needs.

Just one more thought. The 9500ix along with Escort's 9500ci remote system currently are the only two radar detectors which can be updated via USB using Escort's downloadable Radar Detector Tools software. Thus any bug fixes, enhancements, or new functionality can be downloaded from Escort and then flashed via USB to your 9500ix radar detector. This is a very useful and desirable feature.

I normally tend to avoid recommending radar detectors to forum members since I would feel really bad if the person wasn't happy with my recommendation, but in your case it pretty much is a no brainer regarding your needs.

So the you would choose the 9500lx over the V1?

[o2bad455]

So the you would choose the 9500lx over the V1?

I agree with MEM-TEK. I don't do much city driving, but the 9500ix sounds like the only one in your price range that should eliminate most falses (after a few days of use).

[MEM-TEK]

So the you would choose the 9500lx over the V1?

For your driving conditions of mostly in and around town (Boston), definitely yes. The 9500ix will learn where all of your static false alert locations are and block them out. Thus if you encounter radar along your normal driving routes where the 9500ix has already automatically locked out all false alerts, then you know that any radar alert has to be real police radar, giving you the immediate opportunity to take action without wondering if the signal is really police radar. Even though I am a huge Bel/Escort fan, I do admit that the V1 is a superb highway radar detector. I actually love its old school LED signal strength bar graph display plus its LED band indicators. Yet this is because I have been using RDs for around 25 years now. The V1 is tailored for long distance interstate highway driving even though it has added features to make it more usable within and around large metropolitan areas. Still, the V1 is a very noisy radar detector to use in densely populated urban areas due to all of the false alerts. In general I consider the V1's X and K band sensitivities to be overkill for most drivers, yet these are the very radar bands which other non police radar sources use -- causing excessive false alerts when in cities or suburban areas.