Radar Detectors

[Delta Force79]

Do any of you guys and gals own/use a radar detector? I just decided to treat myself to a late xmas gift and got this

I found it on sale on another site for $279 with free shipping, so thats a savings of $190. According to tracking it should arrive today and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm not as much of a speeder as I used to be, but still having peace of mind when I do decide to cruise at 80 on the highway is always nice

Edited December 30, 2009 by Delta Force79

[SAmadei]

I've tried to stay away from detectors, as I feel it can make one complacent. Sure, lots of cops will just sit in the car with the radar blasting, and are easy to pick up... but some cops are much sneakier.

Not only that, but a lot of tickets are done without radar... pacing, for example... since many people are completely ignorant to whats in their rearview mirror.

In Jersey, the troopers seem to like Lidar... which has a much more focused beam, and it much harder to detect.

Honestly, though, I have not kept up to date on radar/lidar tech in the last 7~8 years.

[Robert Hall]

Never had one, never had a need for one in 23 years of driving. No tickets.

[Croc]

Valentine One is the gold-standard, but Cobra seems to do a good job as well. I don't like to use my Escort often at all (hand-me-down from when my father got a Valentine One), but if I'm roadtripping across the flyover states, it's a necessity because I am NOT going 55 on flat freeways in the middle of nowhere.

[Delta Force79]

Well it arrived this afternoon around 4 PM, and I'm currently charging the wireless remote. But just my luck, right out of the box there is a problem. The GPS unit is designed to plug into your USB port and download any updates to the database for red light cameras, dangerous intersections, speed traps etc. You're supposed to download and install the software from Cobra once you register the GPS unit with it's serial number. Ok did that, download the software only to find out it would seem its for Windows XP or Vista, I have Windows 7, so I try to run it in in XP mode to no avail, same for Vista mode. When I click the desktop icon the window flashes briefly as if the program is going to launch and then nothing happens. So I then try to connect the GPS unit to the computer thinking that may have something to do with it, and I get an error saying the driver installation failed for the USB device. I troubleshoot and try the suggestion fix to no avail Guess I'm going to have to contact Cobra first thing tomorrow and find out what the hell is wrong with it. This feature is the reason I bought this model in the first place. I'm hoping the unit itself will function properly, I'm going to head out to the car and install it and go for a drive as soon as it's charged.

Edited December 30, 2009 by Delta Force79