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car radar detectors

cheekybobcat

cheekybobcat

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 26, 2007
533
0
U-S of A
After rounding up about $650 from a spare change, well tub now, I decided to spend it on a good radar detector for my car. However, I have zero experience with radar detector use so I have no idea which to buy. I was looking on Radar Busters which seems to have every radar detector in production. Anyway... I wanted some "real" reviews and if anyone has an opinion on which brand/model is best, I'd like to know. I read most of the reviews on the website but if anyone has any suggestions, that would be awesome. Thanks.
 
swiftaw is right. Before you buy anything, you should make sure they're legal in your state.

Once you're sure they're legal, I've owned a Valentine One for years and have been nothing but pleased with it. Covers the spectrum of radar bands (including Laser), can detect radar signals in front and behind you, and has directional arrows to tell you where the signal is coming from. They aren't the cheapest detectors out there, but they're well worth the cost, IMO.
 
epochblue said:
swiftaw is right. Before you buy anything, you should make sure they're legal in your state.

Once you're sure they're legal, I've owned a Valentine One for years and have been nothing but pleased with it. Covers the spectrum of radar bands (including Laser), can detect radar signals in front and behind you, and has directional arrows to tell you where the signal is coming from. They aren't the cheapest detectors out there, but they're well worth the cost, IMO.
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Looks like we were replying at the same time, epoch :p

Back to business, how much do they run? I didn't see a price on the site. I probably wasn't looking too well...

Edit: I found it, I didn't at first realize it was the homepage :eek:
$399 seems relatively reasonable to me. I mean, if you do get a speeding ticket, you'll be spending that much, if not more, on the ticket and the proceeding court hearing or other charges.
 
cheekybobcat said:
Back to business, how much do they run? I didn't see a price on the site. I probably wasn't looking too well...
Click to expand...

It's been years since I bought mine, but when I bought mine they were ~$500. Based on your OP, you have enough to cover the cost, that was more for anyone reading the thread that was interested in buying one but didn't already have $650 set aside.
 
The Valentine is looking good. I really like how it has the arrows telling you which direction the radar/laser is coming from. Thanks epoch!
 
I have and use a Valentine 1. It's saved my arse MANY times! :D

At first I bought an Escort Solo S2 (the battery powered one because I didn't want wires showing) but it gave me too many false warnings on laser. If the sun reflected off of a window a certain way it thought it was a cop with a gun. :mad:

So I returned it within their trial period.

I then bought the Valentine and really, I will never go back to any single radar unit (the V1 has two built in).

No radar detector is perfect. Start with that. It's like an AM radio picking up long distance signals. A lot depends on the machine, the weather, the line-of-sight, bouncing off of other things... and so on. But the beauty of the V1 is that YOU learn what is real or not instead of the detector trying to be perfect. It will tell you if something is ahead of you, on the side of you or behind you. It tells you the band so you can figure out if it is a cop or one of those "You are going too fast!" signs.

And don't believe any of those radar test sites. V1 only sells direct so they can't get a cut by saying how good it is. They can if the sell Escorts and Cobras and whatever.

And even if some of the data isn't tainted with money, look at it logically... lets say that a Cobra can detect Ka band at 1.2 miles and V1 detects it at only 1.0... you still have a quarter of a mile to slow down before you are in the cops sight. So who cares? As long as you have time to slow down that's all that matters.

Get a V1.
 
epochblue said:
swiftaw is right. Before you buy anything, you should make sure they're legal in your state.

Once you're sure they're legal, I've owned a Valentine One for years and have been nothing but pleased with it. Covers the spectrum of radar bands (including Laser), can detect radar signals in front and behind you, and has directional arrows to tell you where the signal is coming from. They aren't the cheapest detectors out there, but they're well worth the cost, IMO.
Click to expand...

Valentine One seems to work for my friend with a Porsche.

There are also ones with GPS now, not sure how well those work.
 
cheekybobcat said:
Edit: I found it, I didn't at first realize it was the homepage :eek:
$399 seems relatively reasonable to me. I mean, if you do get a speeding ticket, you'll be spending that much, if not more, on the ticket and the proceeding court hearing or other charges.
Click to expand...

Valentine 1 will pay your ticket if you get caught while using their detector, as well.

A friend of a friend uses one with his Lotus, got caught and they paid. :D
 
Considering the cost of a speeding ticket being around $200-$400, $399 for something that will help prevent one of those little tickets seems plenty reasonable. Plus, the idea that Valentine will pay for tickets given after the purchase of the Valentine is amazing! Plus, I can use the extra $250 to put towards a GPS :)

Thanks for all the help everyone. If anyone else has suggestions or "reviews", they would be greatly appreciated.

I'm almost positive that I am going to get the Valentine though.


Oh... and Fearless Leader was right. Radar detectors pick up a signal around your vehicle. Normally, when other vehicles near you are being targeted, your detector will go off. However, unless a radar detector has a jammer also, if you are targeted by a radar gun, you are more than likely caught.
 
I've got an Escort 8500 and it catches the cops who are running radar typically before I can even see them. Of course if they hit you with laser your screwed no matter what your running. The new Escort radar detectors are going to tell you about red light cameras.

I would consider putting a jammer in my car, but the only problem is that if you get pulled over with a jammer, then your going to be in some trouble.
 
Valentine V1 is the only radar you should look at. Enough said!

jon
 
To my knowledge, radar jammers are legal in some states such as detectors. They sell them at the Target near me :p
 
cheekybobcat said:
To my knowledge, radar jammers are legal in some states such as detectors. They sell them at the Target near me :p
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Actually, I think jammers are are only illegal in Nebraska, Minnesota, Utah, California, Oklahoma, Virginia, Colorado, Illinois and Washington DC.

But if they are sold in Target my guess is that no one cares if you use them. They prolly don't work! :rolleyes:
 
Sideonecincy said:
Whats illegal, radar detectors? They are illegal in some states not all.
Click to expand...

They're illegal in Virginia and DC, and you'll be busted with VG2 radar detector-detectors if you use one there. Otherwise they're only illegal in commercial vehicles and some states have restrictions on certain heavy vehicles using them.
 
it will be worthless if the cop is using the ladar. All it will do is tell you that you have been clocked. Test after test shows that even the all mighty V1 will not react to it reflected off another car. Now it does react when they are clocking your car.

The beam for the ladar is only 4ft wide at 1000ft so it never gets wide enough

Good for radar but worthless for ladar. My radar dector saved me a few times but did nothing when I got hit by a ladar but make a lot of noise and tell me that I have been clocked. Followed by me hiding it and then being handed a ticket for speeding.

As for V1 paying the speeding ticket. Read the fine print. They will ONLY pay it if you where speeding by less than 7% which at 70mph is 5 mph. A speed COPS general will never pull you over at. making it worthless. Plus you have to accept the ticket which means it goes on your record so they never really do much about it.
 
majordude said:
Actually, I think jammers are are only illegal in Nebraska, Minnesota, Utah, California, Oklahoma, Virginia, Colorado, Illinois and Washington DC.

But if they are sold in Target my guess is that no one cares if you use them. They prolly don't work! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

radar jammers are against the law in all states. It breaks FCC laws I believe since are are required to have a licensee to broad cast on those frequencies. So it is not state laws you are breaking it is federal laws.
 
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