Hi all - I'm planning a cross-country trip in a few weeks and after getting a speeding ticket recently it's got me thinking about radar/laser detectors/jammers and I thought I'd see what folks are saying.

The concensus from my local MINI club is the Valentine 1 ($400) all the way and some add the Blinder Xtreme laser jammer.

However I'm leaning toward the Bel Express 925 ($90) because the following comparison rated it as the best bang-for-your-buck. It almost as good at detecting as the more expensive ones, just lacks customability - and chances are I won't do much customizing, anyway - just want it to tell me when to slow down.

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/au...ors/index.html

The Valentine 1 is pricey, but I was willing to take the plunge until I read the comparison.

I'd love to hear your personal experiences!

Thanks!

~L'aura

 

You get what you pay for. If it's 1/4 of the price, there is a reason & not just the "customization." I grew up with parents who always bought the "just as good as" crap. Most cars are "just as good" at getting you from your house to the grocery store, so why get a MINI? Laser jammers, however, are a waste.

 

I rely on a X50 Passport. Cheaper than the Valentine and it routinely proves its worth (even beating a buddy's Valentine on numerous occasions - but that's almost always a tit for tat kinda' thing).

Some of the the added features in the Valentine are nice, but in reality I simply wanted to know radar is nearby. I could really care less where it is coming from just as long as I know I can have time to slow down. Thus the X50 works great for me.

X

 

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

 

Yeah. Wouldn't trade my V1 for any lesser unit and the difference in cost (and I have over $500 in my V1 with remote audio and custom remote display) - worth every penny. The V1 doesn't just tell me "radar is around here somewhere"... it tells me what kind, how much, and where. I can use it to find speed traps - and I have. I can use it to find the guy cruising along with radar - and I have. I can use it to tell me whether I need to slow down OR SPEED UP - and I have. Other units just say "better hit the brakes - there's radar around here somewhere" - but when they stop alarming, you don't know if it's because you passed it already, if it was on a side road and you were never in danger anyway, or if it's instant on that was well up the road and is still ahead of you - and is now waiting to tag YOU when you speed back up....

As for laser jammers - different people's personal experiences vary. I know folks who swear by them and have great success stories...

 

Very true, Blimey. But, from all I have read/experienced regarding laser jammers, they are like the shield in the policeman's pocket that stopped a bullet. If the laser happens to be shot directly at the jammer, it works. But, you can't put a badge in your pocket and expect it to save your life. It might; but it ain't likely.

 

That comparison is almost 2 years old. I would advise going here for something a bit more recent. Bel has discontinued making their Express series detectors. Buy what is Proven to work, anything else and you are just wasting your money

 

Also has a lot to do with how the jammer is installed, the spread of the emitters in your particular setup, and the location of the LEO with the LIDAR. A good unit properly installed, can provide good protection against particular kinds of threats (like the motorcycle cop standing beside the road shooting you head-on as you crest a hill...). But some other kinds of threats may be harder for the blinder to foil... And if you install the emitters behind your grille, it's not worth squat. But I don't think it's QUITE as blind-luck-oriented as the bullet-hits-the-badge example.

 

...and also illegal in a number of states.

I wouldn't risk running cross country with a jammer. Get caught in the wrong jurisdiction and your car could go bye-bye. Stick with the detector.

 

jammers are illigal period.

also consider the beltronics rx65-my friend has one and loves it. I am on my way to getting one too. It is 330, but you can find it on mysimon.com for around 230!

It beats/ties the V1 in nearly all radar sites too. Just googles V1 and Belltronics rx65 tests.

 

Guess we should all ditch our MINIs for GTIs and Civics then.

 

Buy the V1, end of story. I've used one for 5 years, you get upgrades for life at a very reasonable cost, if you don't like it, look at the resale on ebay, it's almost the price of a new one. Don't buy a lesser brand and feel you have to make justifications for it.

The arrows on the V1 are the key, #1 feature, and CRITICAL to knowing what's going on. I use a V1 daily and it has more than paid for itself in ticket avoidance.

 

You will get what you pay for.
We use the escort solo 2, we have had it for over 3 yrs and love it. It also is cordless which is the main reason that I bought it, we can use it in all of our cars and also the hubby uses it on his sportbike, it has saved our butts many of times, I don't know how much they are now but I paid a little over $350.00 and haven't regreted it yet

 

I have used both the Bell and the V1, as well as some other "star performers" so I have the experience. Notice how in all those reviews, the V1 is the benchmark against which the others are compared? There's a reason for that. Yes, others can match, and sometimes beat, the range of the V1. But, do you really need 7 miles advance notice? Noooooo. Do you need to know where the radar is coming from or if it is legit (1 signal of a cop vs. 5 of a shopping center)? Yessssssss........ V1 is the ONE.

 

I know some people are as passionate about their radar detectors as their cars and their belief is that if they own it, it is the absolute best and everyone else is wrong, but for the price (and for some folks this does matter), there is nothing wrong with either the Bel r65 or the Escort 8500 series. Buy the detector that you want - decide what price and features are important to you. End of sermon.

 

Detectors are like lawyers. A cheap ones always in up being the most expensive ones.

Motor on

 

Well, Father, there IS something wrong with those detectors, which I and others pointed out below. Of course people can buy what they want. But, what they wanted by posting the questions here, is information and advice. What they do with it, of course, is their choice.

 

I have had a Bel Vector 955 for a few years now and it does work great. Have mine tweaked down to city setting so no supermarket door false alarms.

LAser is essentially useless and just tells you when you have been "shot" and it's too late. Only chance is if the car in front is shot and you get a deflection to warn you.

ONly issue with mine is not knowing where the signal is coming from.

AND, to top that off got a ticket on the freeway last month
Was a rare occasion of having wife and kids in my car and they was all talking which broke my concentration so I didnt notice him come up behind and pace me on a busy freeway in carpool lane - no radar...bugger

 

Some good reading:

http://www.laserveil.com/valentine/one/

 

All I ever had was a V1 and it ROCKS! It worked between
Denver and the Dragon and back! It was always on top of every bogey.

 

Exactly where the V1 really shines - the cross-country highway roadtrip.

 

when you buy quality you only cry once.

 

My detector is absolutely foolpoof. I've never ever gotten a traffic ticket...or gotten into an accident. Plus, it is completely wireless and hidden.


I go the speed limit.


So it's VEWWWWY BAD to "race" or drive "aggressively" on the street, but ok to speed? C'mon NAM. You all jump on that bandwagon, but turn an eye for this. I know that the majority of us out here cannot drive for crap doing the speed limit! Well, there might be a few Shumachers out there....

Trying not to sound holy here, and I am not against detectors, but the way people attempt to "drive" nowdays, everyone needs to learn how first before going faster. Or perhaps Mini drivers are of the 5% who do know how to drive!? Or not so much...

Oh, almost forgot.. I do speed.

 

The reason I have a detector is because I although I drive with the flow of traffic, I don't want to be the one that gets picked out of the herd. I don't use it in the city hardly at all. For me it's part of being aware, not a tool to speed. It's like being on a plane and knowing where the emergency exits are.

I thought about the V1, but I opted for a Bel RX65

 

Ditto for me especially here in SoCA.....only problem arises when you are following the herd in the carpool and everyone is speeding and CHP decides to "Clock" you rather than turning on his radar
I would have spotted him if it hadn't been for wife and kids all trying to talk to me (which I HATE) so I was concentrating on the road ahead with all the jabbering

Anyway, traffic school last week was a nice refresher although could have done without the $300 ticket.

Oh, and it was the last week in my previous car