Please help me decide!!

[badcafe]

Hello all. I was on this forum many years ago. I bought a Beltronics RX-65 M4 back in 2012 and have been extremely happy with it. However it has been falsing more and more lately on K band due to the lane departure warnings and such. My wife had a Bel V940 S7 for over 10 years that had amazing range. The 940 had recently died and we are looking to replace. I plan on giving her my RX-65 and buying a new detector. I am in the $200 range (wish i could go higher). I have been researching and found the Whistler CR90 is getting good reviews on some places. So my questions are there any other detectors with good range that can filter out the lane departures and such in the $200 price range. Is the Whistler CR90 going to give me the same range as my RX-65? Is the Escort 8500x50 black any good? You guys always gave great advise and will go with what you recommend.
Btw i live in upstate NY in an area with 95% Ka and the other 5% laser. I have never seen a legit K being used in my area.

[badcafe]

Researching some more i have seen tests that show the Whister CR90 does not have very good range. I really dont want or need redlight camers, GPS etc. I would prefer just a basic RD with good Ka range which the main threat in my area. So looks like my options are the Bel RX-65, Escort Passport 8500X50 Black or possibly step up to the Bel Pro 300. Since both detectors are old models will they still be good options for today? My current RX-65 M4 i run in Ka USA mode and i have had great luck and range with it. I noticed that the Escort black does not have the Ka USA mode. Will that hurt the detection range and cause more false alerts than the RX-65? My RX-65 does pick up K band from Cadillac and Audi but otherwise not to bad. If all you guys with the high end RD's had to step back in time, which one would you choose?

[Veil Guy]

Researching some more i have seen tests that show the Whister CR90 does not have very good range. I really dont want or need redlight camers, GPS etc. I would prefer just a basic RD with good Ka range which the main threat in my area. So looks like my options are the Bel RX-65, Escort Passport 8500X50 Black or possibly step up to the Bel Pro 300. Since both detectors are old models will they still be good options for today? My current RX-65 M4 i run in Ka USA mode and i have had great luck and range with it. I noticed that the Escort black does not have the Ka USA mode. Will that hurt the detection range and cause more false alerts than the RX-65? My RX-65 does pick up K band from Cadillac and Audi but otherwise not to bad. If all you guys with the high end RD's had to step back in time, which one would you choose?

Both are/were great detectors in their day and some of my personal favorites too (ps: I have many), however I think the biggest challenge that you are going to find today is the need to effectively filter the pervasive use of K-band collision avoidance systems of the many vehicles that are on the road, so my recommendation would be to look at detectors that employ an effective TSR/TFSR/TMF (as they are called) K-band "filtering" systems.

While Whistler doesn't have the extreme range of off-axis detection of the very best detectors out there, it's been my experience that it has plenty range for the vast majority of encounters you'll come across. It's got terrific filtering configuration and is inexpensive. Also in the "budget" category, Uniden has made some compelling detectors.

On the upper-end, I find the Beltronics GT7 to be a very capable radar detector and my preferred detector of the entire "MAX/M5" series of radar detectors from the Escort group of technologies.

On the highest end, the Escort Redline is an absolutely exceptional radar detector. My personal preference is a current Valentine One with the ConnectionLE module (for the iPhone). If you are somewhat technically inclined, the V1 can be programmed to such a degree to offer an exceptional balance of performance and filtering/rejection of spurious signals.

The Radenso (a new comer) is also being well-regarded as providing performance in the realm of the Redline, which is an incredible achievement in such short order. It can still benefit from refinement, so this is something to keep in mind as well.

So in summary:

Escort Redline
Valentine 1 w/Connection LE (and iPhone)
Beltronics GT7
Radenso Pro SE
Uniden LRD x50 series
Whistler CR90

These are all available from radarbusters.com with the exception of the V1 which you have to purchase from the manufacturer directly at valentine1.com.

Good luck with whichever way you choose to go.

PS: Also consider using WAZE (a smartphone app) as essential component of your defense arsenal, as it will often out alert every detector that you choose to own. I consider WAZE currently the most important countermeasure available today (and it's free). I feel comfortable driving with only this and in all of the encounters that I have had, only a handful of them proved to benefit from the use of an RD. The popularity of WAZE today, I have found, provides the highest percentage of protection on the highway.

[badcafe]

Thank you for your reply Veil Guy. Will the Whistler CR90 give me the same detection range as my current RX-65? I do like all the features the Whistler has but would hate to trade off detection range for that. Also, what is you opinion on the Bel Pro 300? I have not seen any test results with the Bel Pro 200,300 or 500 in them. Thanks again.

[Veil Guy]

Thank you for your reply Veil Guy. Will the Whistler CR90 give me the same detection range as my current RX-65? I do like all the features the Whistler has but would hate to trade off detection range for that. Also, what is you opinion on the Bel Pro 300? I have not seen any test results with the Bel Pro 200,300 or 500 in them. Thanks again.

I have found the CR90 does well on Ka-band and laser, but not as well as the RX65 on K-band or X-band. It makes up for its somewhat reduced range on those two bands and somewhat reduced "off-axis" sensitivity by providing superior customization, filtering, and rejection of K-band CAS systems and ability to detect newer police lasers.

I think of the Pro series similar to the Vector series of the past. These are all M4-based detectors that are similar to the previous models of the RX65, 8500, 9500ix, and GX65 detectors that are being positioned more as Beltronics "budget line-up" similar to the Vector series.

The "current" M4 offerings are really found in the new Passport and X70 detectors, but Escort's current development platforms are what are called internally the M5/M6 (of the GT7, Max2 and Max360) designs as well as the beastly M3 platform (the stealth uber sensitive designs of the Redline, STiR Plus, and 9500ci). With these latter products, I think it is safe to say that you can expect the most up to date forms of signal processing and rejection as well as laser sensitivity and would be the products I would tend to focus more on.

I know there are A LOT of things to consider here, but I hope this helps you make an informed decision. Which ever way you decide to go, please consider supporting RadarBusters. Thanks.

[badcafe]

Thanks again Veil Guy. I think what i am going to do is wait for the new Uniden DFR6. From what i have seen it looks like it has the Ka range of my RX-65 or better and the same filtering of the Whistler CR90 for about $200. The Uniden LRD850/950 seemed to get very good reviews when they were out. Wish i could still get my hands on one of those.