Is the SE series really that bad?

[djrams80]

Ok.... but they still did pretty good in the tests. Everywhere I go, GOL included, the results are darn good for the price range.

If you are going solely by the test data, the Cobra beat both Whistlers tested on every single frequency, with the sole exception being the short range I/O testing.

Beats the Sti Driver, B 995, GX65, 8500 is K band.

While the SE might have tested just slightly above the detectors you mentioned on K band, the way I interpret those results is the STi-R and V1s were very sensitive to off-axis K band and everything else was about the same. Also, most think the Belscort M4 antenna was specifically designed to reduce falsing from off-axis K band radar sources.

Tied with several of them (though on the lower on the scale) for Ka band frequencies, including some V1s.

While the Whistler SEs might have tied with a certain detector here and there, they performed consistently at or near the bottom on every frequency. Also, the V1 has a known weakness to off-axis 35.5Ka.

Tied with the V1 in K band instant on.

At the shorter range, yes, but at the longer range, the Whistler never detected a single shot.

2nd best score for Spectre III.

This is true, but this is basically irrelevant for the vast majority of us. Also, in my opinion, your detector is either detectable, or undetectable. If someone in a banned area is up against a LEO sitting in a stealthy spot, like on an on-ramp for instance, the range that LEO detected you wouldn't matter.

In some areas its not on par with the high end models, in others it beats them.

The way I see these results, the only area where these Whistlers truly did well was short range I/O.

Whistler, for me at least, after seeing all the tests and reviews, really seems to be the "best bang for the buck" detector for a new (verses refurb) detector. Yeah, it has some weaknesses, such as sometimes mid-identifying X for K when you turn off X, but still good none-the-less.

What doesn't show up in these testing results is the SE's biggest weakness, Ka band false alerts. This testing was performed with the SE Whistlers in filter mode. When I tested these Whistlers here in SoCal, in filter mode, I'd say I averaged at least 5 Ka band false alerts per hour. Those that don't seem to have this problem with the SEs in filter mode, usually live and/or drive far from the big city. In order to reduce the amount of these Ka band false alerts to about two an hour, I had to use filter 2, which seemed to greatly reduce the performance of the Whistler SE.

I have a Bel GX65, and I were to consider a 2nd detector as a backup or for the wife, it would be an SE series. If I were a pure highway driver it would be a V1 or an Sti, but they don't fit my driving habits. I'm not an expert, and won't claim I am... going by GOL's own testing.

It sounds to me like you live and/or drive in the city. Almost invariably, those that like the performance of these Whistlers use them mostly on the open highway. If a refurbished 8500 doesn't work for you and you prefer to buy new, I would personally recommend a Bel V955 over a Whistler SE unless you plan to use it on the open highway almost exclusively.

[djrams80]

Notice GOL never posted results with POP OFF ? maybe they didn't have time ? Although they said it made no difference on there free time. I don't think it would have made a difference on the situation they had setup.

Like you said, it made no difference. Only official results were posted.

If it was a long stretch of flat highway Then Whistler would have went up the charts with POP OFF.

...and so would have every other RD, probably moreso.

Other sites around the world say the SE platform rivals the big dogs ?

They don't. Around the world, really?

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...1-29-09-a.html

Your videos show that the Whistlers perform well on the wide open, flat highway. What my videos show is that they perform poorly in the city.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_YAvFK31v4]YouTube - Whistler XTR-695SE and 9500ci vs CHP Moving Stalker Radar[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHR1zNgiuJQ]YouTube - Whistler XTR-690SE Completely Misses Stalker Instant On[/ame]

[stealthfz1]

Just got my PRO78SE today. Taking it next week from Utah through Nevada to San Clemente, CA. I'll post how it works for me when I get back around December 14th.

[djrams80]

Just got my PRO78SE today. Taking it next week from Utah through Nevada to San Clemente, CA. I'll post how it works for me when I get back around December 14th.

That will be an excellent test. You will get both the wide open spaces of the 15 and the city environment once you reach SoCal. You will most likely get to see both the best and worst of the Whistlers.

[MOPARado]

dj Wrote:
I interpret those results is the STi-R and V1s were very sensitive to off-axis K..
Belscort M4 antenna was specifically designed to reduce falsing from off-axis K band radar sources...

Originally Posted by Jag42
If it was a long stretch of flat highway Then Whistler would have went up the charts with POP OFF.

Dj Wrote
...and so would have every other RD, probably moreso.

Dj,
although others here try to compare Whistler SE's to high end EscorBels/V1's (which IMO is a lost cause), why do 'you' insist on comparing a $160 RD to $500 detectors?
Yeah, these Whistlers do have flaws, but for the price and depending on where one drives, they're still a bargain even though they're still 2nd class detectors.

To Whistler management if you're listening:
Get off your asses, excercise those gonads and progress from the 'Walmart'ish cheap bubble pack detector marketing strategy in which your detectors hang along side of Cobras and develop a detector which CAN compete with the high end EscorBels/V1s...your at the threshold!
You do realize, you all are losing marketing share in the high end RD arena.

The SE series is a start, now get aggressive, pour some bucks into R&D..take a loan out if necessary, develop and apply for your own patents, etc. etc.
I personally can't understand why Whistler seemingly wants to stay as a 2nd class RD manufacturer when i know they can do better!
:

[stlcardsfan]

dj Wrote:
I interpret those results is the STi-R and V1s were very sensitive to off-axis K..
Belscort M4 antenna was specifically designed to reduce falsing from off-axis K band radar sources...

Originally Posted by Jag42
If it was a long stretch of flat highway Then Whistler would have went up the charts with POP OFF.

Dj Wrote
...and so would have every other RD, probably moreso.

Dj,
although others here try to compare Whistler SE's to high end EscorBels/V1's (which IMO is a lost cause), why do 'you' insist on comparing a $160 RD to $500 detectors?
Yeah, these Whistlers do have flaws, but for the price and depending on where one drives, they're still a bargain even though they're still 2nd class detectors.

To Whistler management if you're listening:
Get off your asses, excercise those gonads and progress from the 'Walmart'ish cheap bubble pack detector marketing strategy in which your detectors hang along side of Cobras and develop a detector which CAN compete with the high end EscorBels/V1s...your at the threshold!
You do realize, you all are losing marketing share in the high end RD arena.

The SE series is a start, now get aggressive, pour some bucks into R&D..take a loan out if necessary, develop and apply for your own patents, etc. etc.
I personally can't understand why Whistler seemingly wants to stay as a 2nd class RD manufacturer when i know they can do better!
:

Patents probably play a role.

[djrams80]

Dj,
although others here try to compare Whistler SE's to high end EscorBels/V1's (which IMO is a lost cause), why do 'you' insist on comparing a $160 RD to $500 detectors?

I'm not sure what you are referring to. I most often compare the Whistler SEs to other RDs in the same price range, specifically the refurbished Escort 8500 and the Bel v955. If you are referring to my videos, the performance of the Whistler SEs was poor in those instances, no matter what RD it was being compared to, although the 9500ci allows me to know exactly when a radar signal was detectable, as opposed to when the windshield mounted RD actually detected it. I run my 9500ci with any detector being tested, because it is my opinion that running a Belscort remote along with a windshield mounted RD is about the only way do direct, real world RD comparisons, against real LEOs, without the threat of interference between the two RDs.

[sniper4usmc]

Chariot,
i agree with just about everything you've posted. IMO, the SE's are still the best bang for the buck warts and all. :

I disagree,,,Best bang for the buck go to escort C65 for $199

[The Chariot]

A new Pro 78SE can be had for $55 less through a very reputable and huge company which sells books (direct, not through one of their co-marketers). Its a company which is an authorized sell so it has an intact warranty.

[mikeslc]

No, it’s not that bad. But, it ain’t perfect either. You won’t find a perfect RD at any price.

You are not gonna get the whole story by reading the test results done by GOL. Most of the people that were involved in the GOL test had more positive things to say about the Whistler SEs than negatives. Some of them have said that you shouldn’t make a final judgment based on their one test alone. The SEs would have definitely performed better if they had turned “POP” off. The other thing to note too was that the Valentine 1 that performed so well in their test was not in the default setting. It had the “Ka Guard” turned off, which increased its sensitivity, but that would certainly increase the Ka false alerts as well.

I’ve been using my Pro 78se for over 6 month now. The only issue it has that bothers me enough is the random Ka false alerts like these:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-8zC_HR2UU]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se Ka False Alert 8/21/2009A[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82z_gsNYajw]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se Ka False Alert 8/21/2009B[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiGXE1XU9bM[/ame]

I only get those crazy and random Ka9 false alerts occasionally. I would say about once or twice a day at the most on average. It’s almost strange that I would get none on some days. They used to startle me, but I’ve gotten used to them. I could now easily tell a false Ka alert from a real threat with the help of the RSID. Some SE users have said that they are seeing those Ka false alerts much more often than I do. I’m not sure why that is, but it’s definitely a problem that Whistler needs to work on.

I’ve experimented extensively with various user settings on my Pro 78se and I have noticed that using Filter 1 or 2 does indeed helps, but not totally eliminates those crazy random Ka false alerts. I will however say that I have not notice any degradation in performance when using Filter 2 vs. the default Filter setting when it comes to detection distance. Although it may affect it’s ability to detect a very short “quick trigger” radar.

I use to think I need to get a Valentine 1, Escort 9500ix or even a refurbished 8500 after spending way too much time in these forums reading and watching user videos. I’ve now concluded that I don’t need anything more than what my Pro 78se is already providing. Its performance is sufficient enough for me against the types of radar guns the LEOs are using in my area. Besides, those three RDs I mentioned above also have their own issues. Anything from unacceptable Q/T performance, unreliability, old mediocre display, noisy due to false alerts, over priced, short warranty periods and so on. None are perfect and it's up to the user to decide what is right for them.

I'm not going to waste my time trying to figure out why some think their testing method is better than another. All I know is what I have seen with my real world radar encounters, many of which are on video. Here are some highlights from as recent as 2 days ago to as old as a few months back:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ai6GW1zDOc]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 33.8Ka 12/2/2009A[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l2tLzqSLNk]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se K Band Speed Sign Trailer[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhhQzK__6ic]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 10/16/2009B[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV0QmHsar_E]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 10/16/2009A[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYX8kZefsuo]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 10/11/2009 Part 1[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL9Aa1QUFDA]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 35.5Ka 9/3/2009A[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYyByslhTn4]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 35.5Ka 9/3/2009B[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDa7RBTwQlY]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se Laser 8/25/2009 Part 1[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kth1hIp2Eo]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se Laser 8/25/2009 Part 2[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaCh_uG-Nzs]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 8/24/2009[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IskxV5m3l2M]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 8/17/2009B[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNEeg7Glg94]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 8/2/2009 (almost 3 miles)[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnKSnKNVu4U]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 35.5Ka 7/31/2009 (Over 3 miles)[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4XzLqNwGNA]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 7/26/2009 Part 1[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rsjdc55y7A]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 7/17/2009 Part 1[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEq1NLU4Z5g]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 7/17/2009 Part 2[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ltFvuMQRZc]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka 7/17/2009 Part 3[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk_3oSwFrug]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se K band speed sign[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQZrfyDT50s]YouTube - Whistler Pro 78se 34.7Ka[/ame]

Just click on my youtube link below to see all of them (both the good and the bad).