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Page 4 - The Hype
After you made the decision to purchase a radar detector, you must wade through all the hype radar detector manufacturers and dealers throw at you. Here are some of the important features that you should look for and some of the features to avoid.
Needed Features
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Good sensitivity and range. A cheap radar detector will have poor sensitivity and range and will not detect the police officer's radar gun when you need it to. A good rule is "capture area x 6". This means that your detector should pick up a police radar gun six times as far as the police officer's radar guns range. A typical radar gun has approximately 1/4 mile range.
However, if you drive in an area that is mountainous or has allot of curves, you will want to increase this capture area to a four mile distance. To view Radar Roy's range tests on radar detectors click here. |
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Good filtering: The number one complaint Radar Roy hears from radar detector owners is poor filtering. A cheap radar detector will alert you to everything from the closest grocery store door opener, to the vehicle with the closest radar detector.
As an example, in the November 22nd 2004 Autoweek magazine, they reviewed the new 1.8 version of the Valentine 1 radar detector and referred to it as the "Chicken Little" of radar detectors because of all its false alarms and commented that the average user would end up tuning out all alerts.
You can avoid this common headache by getting a higher end detector such as the Escort 8500 X50 or the Bel RX65 which both use their "Smart Filtering" capabilities to filter out most of the false alerts. |
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Easy to understand and hear alerts: If you do not hear or understand the different tones that your detector will use to alert you to different hazards ahead, you will have to take your eyes off the road to read the display. Some radar detector manufacturers offer voice alerts and some are even bi-lingual, offering both English and Spanish. However, some of the computer generated voices will make it hard for you to understand exactly what the detector is trying to say to you. |
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Good visual alerts: Mid-range radar detectors normally use LED lights to display the different functions and/or alerts that are activated. Different colored lights make it easy to see at a distance what feature or warning is activated. The higher end detectors use text displays and a visual bar graph to spell out exactly what the detector's alerts mean. As an example, the Escort 8500 X50 and the Beltronics RX65 will notify you with a letter such as X, K or Ka with a corresponding bar graph to indicate the strength of the signal. This method is much easier to read and understand then a row of LED lights indicating signal strength. |
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Rear Protection: True 360 degree protection advertised by many radar detector companies is bunk!. However, front and rear protection is very important. Most, if not all radar detectors have bi-directional antennas that allow the detector to receive radar to the front and rear. |
The Hype:
The first is not necessary a feature of the radar detector, but the hype some manufacturers and dealers use to get you to buy their cheap product. The #1 hype you should avoid is the "We pay your ticket guarantee". This hype is often used by the companies that sell those radar jammers you hear advertised on the radio, or on other website's, that just don't work.
First off, if you read the fine print on their guarantee, you will see all the loop holes they put into it to protect them. They include: Your speed limit must not exceed over 10 miles an hour over the posted speed limit; The speeding violation cannot be in a school zone and/or residential area; This guarantee only applied to the actual purchaser of the product from six months of purchase date. Radar Roy recommends that you check out the many complaints that have been filed against these unscrupulous merchants by the the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau by clicking here.
Other features also found on substandard radar detectors include compasses, 9-10-11 bands, VG3 alert.
For a full listing of features that you should consider or avoid, click here
Myths >> |
