Im not exactly sure which forum to post this in so i figured my best shot would be to post it in the forum with the mosy users for the best response. Im looking into getting a radar detector to cut down on my speeding tickets. Does anyone have any feedback or good suggestions for a budget detector (under $200)?

 

do a google search... some of the better ones out there are valentines, escort, bel... or if you wanna go really cheap you can always just get whistler or cobra from circuit city...

I got a Bel its nicer than the cobra because it has less false alarms... do ur research.

 

go for a valentine 1... best on the market and if you <U>SEARCH</U> you will see many threads about radar detectors... and make sure you also search under archive, alot of people forget about that

 

Best thing to do is get 5 $40 wal mart specials and mount one in the windshield, one in each side window, and one in the rear window. Mount the 5th one on your roof pointing up to get air radar from planes. Never get another ticket, ever.

 

haha that sounds like the best idea yet. thanks for the help guys. the valentine1 is expensive, but from the sounds of it you cant beat its performance.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rxse7n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Best thing to do is get 5 $40 wal mart specials and mount one in the windshield, one in each side window, and one in the rear window. Mount the 5th one on your roof pointing up to get air radar from planes. Never get another ticket, ever.</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL that's actually pretty fun, you get radared and like 5 of them go off at you.

 

beartraps.com
speedtrap.org
valentine1.com
escortradar.com



an easier way to not spend ANY money, DONT SPEED AND OBEY THE LAW!!

 

get a cobra they have a new one out now that covers all 11 bands of current radar waves saves my *** countless dollars

 

ill tell you from personal exp, i have owned a beltronics 940, escort passport 8500, valentine one, and now i own a beltronics 985. all of those detectors are awesome and are very good at what they do. it all depends on the budget you are on. If you want my opinion, id say a bel 985, it has saved my *** many times. the escort and the valentine have saved my *** many times also. they are all equal xpt the valentine which is really good, except it is overpriced and you can get just as good results from a escort passport 8500 and the beltronics 985

check out this site http://www.radarbusters.com/

later

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LiL Jon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">get a cobra they have a new one out now that covers all 11 bands of current radar waves saves my *** countless dollars</TD></TR></TABLE>

Same hurrrr, my Cobra does very well for the price.

 

Best 280$ I've ever spent was on my V1. IMO save up until you have enough to purchase the Valentine.

 

i hate cops. all they do is pull me over and take my money. not enough crime in charles county, maryland. that's the problem, not enough crime. if there was more crime they would have to take care of it and wouldn't be taking my money. i've been driving for a year and i've decided 300 or 400 for a radar detector is much cheaper than paying for tickets.

 

if u live in cali...
u can forget about spending money on a whistler (althou they are cheap)
my whistler used to work like a charm texas...
but somethin bout these cali cops

 

My friend swears by his passport 8500, but even when its in my car i refuse to turn it on. I hate radar detectors. If i am going to speed i will speed, but in most cases I just dont speed. I would rather have a clear driving record when i turn 21 so my insurance will go way way down.

 

I heard insurance doesnt really drop until 25...but I am not sure. There was a comparison a while back in a magazine of the V1 and the 8500. They ended up being pretty close to equal, except the V1 has a couple more features. Either way, better than having no radar detector at all. BTW nota-ex, if there was more crime and less tickets, there would be more car thefts. Now would you rather get a ticket, or get your car jacked?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rxse7n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I heard insurance doesnt really drop until 25...but I am not sure.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Different companies vary. not to mention after 3 years a ticket is in most cases cleared from your insurance record. Which means i am almsot cleared of all my tickets recognized by insurance!

If I had to get a radar detector, I would get the K40 and have it installed into my dash. I hate having **** visible on my windshield when i drive

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rxse7n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There was a comparison a while back in a magazine of the V1 and the 8500. They ended up being pretty close to equal, except the V1 has a couple more features. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually that is true, except that they rated the 8500 better than the V1. But just listen to the catch. For awhile there every magazine that compared the two and even the website Radartest.com was 'fixed' by Escort. Car and Driver did a test comparing the two and the V1 was rated 94 compared to the 8500's 77, the reasoning behind that being that the V1 is more sensitive to radar and has more features. The only complaints that the V1 recieved was that of people saying it was 'to' sensitive, the V1 picks up everything, but after riding around with one you start to understand what radar to care about and what not to. The V1 is a better overall radar detector than the 8500, nuff said.

 

Thats interesting...I didnt know Escort was doing that. Pretty sad when you know you have an inferior product so you have to fix the competition. Thanks for the info.

 

well thus far from what i have read and researched the valentine1 is the only way to go, looks like i will be saving up some $.

 

passport 8500 . Saved me the 2nd day i got it, and today lol. You can also try http://www.carreview.com for reviews on radars by the consumer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2lobes1engine &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well thus far from what i have read and researched the valentine1 is the only way to go, looks like i will be saving up some $.</TD></TR></TABLE>

valentine one is an excellent detector, but the escort passport is JUST as good, if not better, when i owned the passport, i noticed that i got the same results and it performed just as good, and its about 200 dollars less. im not trying to be a nag, but just realizing your budget you mentioned at the top of this post. the passport 8500 is worth every penny (so is the bel 985, same performance about same price)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rxse7n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thats interesting...I didnt know Escort was doing that. Pretty sad when you know you have an inferior product so you have to fix the competition. Thanks for the info.</TD></TR></TABLE>

NP man, just trying to help everyone out.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by macky_r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

valentine one is an excellent detector, but the escort passport is JUST as good, if not better, when i owned the passport, i noticed that i got the same results and it performed just as good, and its about 200 dollars less. im not trying to be a nag, but just realizing your budget you mentioned at the top of this post. the passport 8500 is worth every penny </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea usually the price difference between the V1 and 8500 pulls people away, but like I said before it is a good idea to save up for the V1 because in the long run you will not have to own another radar detector. With Escort they make different models every few years and charge $299.95(http://www.escortstore.com/8500.htm) for them. But, with the V1 they offer an upgrade service where when they come out with a new version all you need to do is send your detector in with $45 and they will perform routine maintenance as well as upgrade it to the new version. V1 may be around $400 but buying many detectors later adds up to much more. I searched for a while for a good price on the V1 (try eBay or Valentineone.com), finally came to a friend who was looking to get rid of his because he needed to make a car payment, I picked it up for $280 So just look around, usually you can find a good price on one. I'm sticking by the V1

 

its only $45 for upgrades with the V1? for some reason i was under the impression it was way more than that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2lobes1engine &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its only $45 for upgrades with the V1? for some reason i was under the impression it was way more than that. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The price usually varies depending on the condition of your V1 along with any repairs/parts that need to be done/replaced on it. But routine is $45 and after the V1 is sent in to get upgraded it comes back to you with another year warranty. This is of course ONLY if your warranty on the V1 has run out they will not charge if it hasn't

"We'll Upgrade Your Earlier Model:
Since 1994, whenever we've made a performance breakthrough, we've offered it to our past customers in the form of an upgrade. The price varies, depending on the parts required. Included is a one-year warranty, same as new."
(Valentineone.com)