Radar Detectors... are they worth it?
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Originally Posted by jwainwri
So I was just in best buy and they recommended the escort 8500
They said the escort solo S2 was the same detecor but it runs on batteries.
Is this true anyone have experience?
So motor trend in 2004 rates the 8500 better but just slightly and car and driver rates V 1 better back in 2002. It seems the V1 has better X band but this is little used any more.
Is this true anyone have experience?
Later,
John
They said the escort solo S2 was the same detecor but it runs on batteries.
Is this true anyone have experience?
So motor trend in 2004 rates the 8500 better but just slightly and car and driver rates V 1 better back in 2002. It seems the V1 has better X band but this is little used any more.
Is this true anyone have experience?
Later,
John
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dont take my word for it but i thing the CHP just got a new radar detector that is undetectable now by any detector on the market today
....and when the detector do come out with the new detection updates its going to be useless because buy the time that the radar detects something you've been already hit...
edgar,
....and when the detector do come out with the new detection updates its going to be useless because buy the time that the radar detects something you've been already hit...
edgar,
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From: New Freedom, PA
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Yes you can get an upgrade from passport on the escort 8500 so that it has a radar jammer. The regular 8500 costs about $300 but with the radar jammer added the price goes up to near $500. I don't have the laser jammer but I'm not to worried yet because I live in Pennsylvania and I haven't met one person who has seen a cop in PA using laser.
Please correct me if you are from PA and have seen laser being used.
On a sidebar one cool thing about the escort 8500 is that it will pickup signals on the emergency band. If there is an ambulance in the area if will flash ambulance on the display. There are messages for fire, construction, and something like 30 other such messages. Unfortunately PA doesnt seem to use this emergency system yet. However, find out if your state uses this system because that would make the escort worthwhile so that you could be alerted to the prescence of an ambulance or fire in the area.
Please correct me if you are from PA and have seen laser being used.
On a sidebar one cool thing about the escort 8500 is that it will pickup signals on the emergency band. If there is an ambulance in the area if will flash ambulance on the display. There are messages for fire, construction, and something like 30 other such messages. Unfortunately PA doesnt seem to use this emergency system yet. However, find out if your state uses this system because that would make the escort worthwhile so that you could be alerted to the prescence of an ambulance or fire in the area.
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From: rightBehindYou, HI
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okay, so i just can't shut up
my friend in HPD told me this-
radar guns suck- royally
laser guns depending which model are pretty awesome
and accurate. and the ability to turn it on/off
is priceless.
aloha,
greg
radar guns suck- royally
laser guns depending which model are pretty awesome
and accurate. and the ability to turn it on/off
is priceless.
aloha,
greg
Last edited by gdogg; May 5, 2004 at 04:34 AM. Reason: okay, so i just can't shut up
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8500
"I have the S2. It is ok, but I really wish I had just gotten the Valentine in hindsight. I got lured in by the convenience of cordless. But the truth is, I don't think it's as sensitive as the 8500/Valentine,"
Reading the following:
motor trend review
http://www.motortrend.com/features/c...ad/index2.html
Read our reviews before you buy. Testing by retired traffic cop and indepent lab links
www.radar-detectors.com
Car and driver had a good article too but was from 2002.
The 8500 is better than the S2 and equivalent to the valentine but $100 cheaper.
It is also programable for new frequencies.
Radar jammers are punishable by up to a $10000 fine and up to a yr in jail per the article. The passive ones tested on www.radar-detectors.com were crap. Then again they don't sell that model but it was an "independent lab"
Laser shifters/jammers are only illegal in 2 states I think one being California, sucks! but one can be plugged into the 8500.
I ended up ordering that one last night.
Later,
John
Reading the following:
motor trend review
http://www.motortrend.com/features/c...ad/index2.html
Read our reviews before you buy. Testing by retired traffic cop and indepent lab links
www.radar-detectors.com
Car and driver had a good article too but was from 2002.
The 8500 is better than the S2 and equivalent to the valentine but $100 cheaper.
It is also programable for new frequencies.
Radar jammers are punishable by up to a $10000 fine and up to a yr in jail per the article. The passive ones tested on www.radar-detectors.com were crap. Then again they don't sell that model but it was an "independent lab"
Laser shifters/jammers are only illegal in 2 states I think one being California, sucks! but one can be plugged into the 8500.
I ended up ordering that one last night.
Later,
John
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From: Blue-faced in a red state
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i dont think thatb radar detectors are worth all the racket in your car. i occasionally speed, but try not to do it often. i would rather drive in peace than have a chirping in my ear everywhere i went.
i had a cheap one in my old truck it was a POS
i had a cheap one in my old truck it was a POS
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Always be second fastest and the radar / laser detector may save your butt. If your first fastest, the laser will get you every time and so will an officer who knows the terrain and is seeking out speeders. I think the detector saves me most from the officer who is just cruising with the radar on, not really looking for trouble but would take action if trouble appeared in the form of a speeding black wrx.
I don't need more cowbell dammit!
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Originally Posted by 90Legacy
passport 8500 detects radar and laser
The only way the laser detection is useful is if there is someone else being shot with the laser, which it will pick up. This is also true of the radar, but there is much more range for picking up radar than laser. This sort of limits the true effectiveness of a detector to times when there are cars ahead of you that are going fast enough for the cop to check.
The only way the laser detection is useful is if there is someone else being shot with the laser, which it will pick up. This is also true of the radar, but there is much more range for picking up radar than laser. This sort of limits the true effectiveness of a detector to times when there are cars ahead of you that are going fast enough for the cop to check.
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From: rightBehindYou, HI
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Originally Posted by jewpac42
I dont know if anyone else said this already, but the only way your decteor will pick up laser is if it is being aimed directly at you, in which case it is far too late.
aloha
greg
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according to the www.radar-detectors.com the laser beam is only 18 inch wide at 500 ft and 36 " at 1000 ft. So if you pick up a laser your F**ked unless you have a jammer unfortunatley they are illegal in Ca.
Later,
John
Later,
John
I don't need more cowbell dammit!
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Originally Posted by jwainwri
according to the www.radar-detectors.com the laser beam is only 18 inch wide at 500 ft and 36 " at 1000 ft. So if you pick up a laser your F**ked unless you have a jammer unfortunatley they are illegal in Ca.
Later,
John
Later,
John
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What?! Ofcourse It's Worth It!
How can some of you people sit here and say its not worth it to get a radar detector. Lets face the facts ppl, we drive cars with holes in the hood. Cops don't like cars with holes in the hood. Also, if the course of its life a radar detector saves you even one ticket, then it is worth it. Lets do some calculations here figure you buy a valintine one for $400 (I SURE DID!). It saves you from a moderate ticket, that ticket would have cost you about $120, ok, thats not so bad. Ohh wait aren't we forgeting something? Ohhh thats right insurance! For a speeding ticket your insurance will go up on average 3 points, that 3 points will take 3 years to work off (assuming you don't get anymore tickets) and will cost you at the very least $1000 (this is minimum, usually closer to $1500). So the way I figure it theres no real fuzzy math here, its pretty black and white. On the other hand people who think that a radar detector will make you invincible are delirious, tickets will happen if you drive above the speed limit, just take it as a tax and don't fret about it (however: always go to court, if everyone went to court then they would be forced to change the system). Also if you drive mostly in the city it might not be all that helpful, though I have heard that the Passport is better in the city. Radar detectors are mostly for highway cruising or road trips, they are invalubale. And even if you just go with the flow of traffic it is worth getting a good radar detector (will go in to that later). So the answer is a very definite yes, my valintine one is the most important modification to my car, or in my view any car.
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i just can't keep myself quiet
i guess i keep responding is because i am looking deeper into the question.
what is the bottom line reason for those who value the RLD? when i bought mine it was for one main reason and that only. to have that chance to speed and maybe not get caught. am i right or am i wrong? no matter how they market these devices the real bottom line is that it allows you to speed "safely".
what i have learned over the years(and i am only 28, been driving since i was 16) i don't need a RLD. if i really felt the need to speed safely on the streets i would just buy a laser jammer(which is not illegal in hawaii yet). but in lieu of all the traffic related deaths... i like to think that i am mature enough to drive the speed limit enough to not worry about getting tagged. after 4 speeding tickets(even with my RDL, which gave me a "voucher" for the tickets) i simply just decided that i don't need the temptation to speed.
das jus me
aloha
greg
what is the bottom line reason for those who value the RLD? when i bought mine it was for one main reason and that only. to have that chance to speed and maybe not get caught. am i right or am i wrong? no matter how they market these devices the real bottom line is that it allows you to speed "safely".
what i have learned over the years(and i am only 28, been driving since i was 16) i don't need a RLD. if i really felt the need to speed safely on the streets i would just buy a laser jammer(which is not illegal in hawaii yet). but in lieu of all the traffic related deaths... i like to think that i am mature enough to drive the speed limit enough to not worry about getting tagged. after 4 speeding tickets(even with my RDL, which gave me a "voucher" for the tickets) i simply just decided that i don't need the temptation to speed.
das jus me
aloha
greg
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Like, it was stated before, if u get a laser signal ur ***t. Around here I have seen laser only once, i dunno about elsewhere. The truth is that saftey has noting to do with speed (to a certain point). The speed limit is a crock of shiit. The results from many government tests show this, the fastest 15% of drivers acctually get in significantly less acidents than the 15% of slowest drivers. I don't obey the speed limit because I don't see a need to, if I can go faster and shorten my journey safeley than I will. Nobody ever looks at the real problem, the problem is that people suck at driving and that a monkey could get a licence. Instead of fixing that wich admittedly takes effort and money, the government just sets arbitrarily low speed limits that noone follows and then gets money for the coffers when cops nab "archcriminals" doing 45 in a 35.