Are radar detectors legal in WA? Can I get Valentine 1 to ship there?
11-19-2007, 03:14 PM
#31
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well.
the laser detection in the Escort 8500 X50, 9500i, the beltronics Pro RX65, and STi driver are all the exact same. Every one of them will detect laser identically.
I haven't personally used the 9500, but my good buddy who is the western national sales rep for Escort says it works without flaws perfectly. Escort has a great reputation, I'm sure the GPS feature works just as described.
I've personally used the STi driver, and was amazed with how far the Radar would reach. It also failed half as much as my Escort 8500 did. The display has a light sensor to automatically adjust the display's brightness to it's surroundings. Also, the ability to mount the unit upside down on the sun visor, and flip the readout on the display is kinda cool.
Also, let's not forget that the STi is the first to be fully invisible to radar detector detectors. So, just in case you drive into an area that Radar detectors are illegal, this one will be hidden to their guns.
<small>
(and I can get you a deal on the Beltronics ones)</small>
I haven't personally used the 9500, but my good buddy who is the western national sales rep for Escort says it works without flaws perfectly. Escort has a great reputation, I'm sure the GPS feature works just as described.
I've personally used the STi driver, and was amazed with how far the Radar would reach. It also failed half as much as my Escort 8500 did. The display has a light sensor to automatically adjust the display's brightness to it's surroundings. Also, the ability to mount the unit upside down on the sun visor, and flip the readout on the display is kinda cool.
Also, let's not forget that the STi is the first to be fully invisible to radar detector detectors. So, just in case you drive into an area that Radar detectors are illegal, this one will be hidden to their guns.
<small>
(and I can get you a deal on the Beltronics ones)</small>
11-19-2007, 06:01 PM
#34
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Awesome site, the radarbusters.com The STi didn't do well at all with false alerts though...
7 false vs. 1 for the 9500. Otherwise, they seem equal in performance, so I guess the features will be what it might come down to.<ul><li><a href="http://www.radarbusters.com/2007falsealerttestarticle.cfm">False alert testing</a></li></ul>
11-19-2007, 07:01 PM
#35
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Hello All....please let me answer some of these responses..which were all good ones btw.
1). Yes this is Bmwslayer...
2). I did not invite anyone to Hooters to beat them up but only to have a beer and clear the air.
3). Yes, I test Radar Detectors and laser jammers and also sell laser jammers.
Now to the question at hand....
Is Radar Detectors legal in Wa. st?
> Yes they are but it is just a tool and should be used with education and caution. Meaning that is I dont recommend sticking in the middle of the windshield so everyone including the local LEO's to target you because of the blinking lights going off.
> My choice for Radar detectors is as follow's...
1). Valentine 1..Reason is the Arrows, multiple bogey counts and direction of the bogie's and the strength of the strongest threat against you. Yes it can be kinda noisy but there is enough adjustments to make it very quiet but its a true drivers RD and its simiply the best on the market and that includes laser scatter which no other RD can compete with.
2). BEL Vector 995..Reason..I really love this RD and wished it had the arrows because it has great radar and laser detection and its on par the V1 expect for rear detection. The V995 is even the least expensive RD on this list and has been a great performer and its very reliable even more so then the bottom RD's.
3). BEL RX65 Reason...if you cant afford a V1 this is strong performer for the money but make sure you find a RX65 with the 5.1 firmware because that is the best performer for that RX65 so far, but the RX65 like the Escort X50 and 9500i has very bad fast ramp up issues and quality control issues. The BEL RX65 has alittle better KA and laser detection in testing that I have conducted.
4). Escort X50..Reason...basically same as the BEL RX65 but it has seen more quality control issues and has trouble with certain KA radar freq's like the 33.8 freq (KA Band), but it does have mulit-bogie and you cant tell the direction of the threat and have to guess where they are at, which I would rather not do.
5). BEL STi..Reason..STEALTH..STEALTH..STEALTH. If you live in a area where RD's are illegal and they use the Spectre 3 the BEL STi can not be detected at all by that Radar Detector Detector. This is very good perfomer but its not in the same league as the V1 like SpeedLabs says its is. They have no idea how to test since you dont test with 2 RD's next to each over while they are turned on and conduct a true test. The BEL STI has some issues also on the KA band 33.8 freq and they are in the works of fixing that so they say plus there are quick, annoying ramp up's detecting radar.
6). Escort 9500i.. Reason..I would not own this detector for daily driving because it locks out the entire band which you just locked out due to the Walgreens auto-door opener but if a cop is sitting there the 9500i will not pick it up once you locked it out with the "GPS Lock-Out feature" and it will result in a ticket. I did a pre-test of the 9500i before it came out and notified Escort of this issue and they refused to fix it and that problem has been proven to be true by drivers getting ticket's because the 9500i did not detect the cop running a radar trap in that "GPS Locked Out" area. The Escort 9500i is great in theory but is gull of gimmicks and should have "Cobra" stamped on the top instead of Escort.
Here is a (2 weeks ago) recent police laser trap going south bound I-5 in Federal Way while I was doing about 80 mph was targeted about 700-800 feet away and jammed the cops laser practically to the gun.<ul><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?=3797401691012419384&pr=goog-sl">http://video.google.com/videoplay?=3797401691012419384&pr=goog-sl</a</li></ul>
2). I did not invite anyone to Hooters to beat them up but only to have a beer and clear the air.
3). Yes, I test Radar Detectors and laser jammers and also sell laser jammers.
Now to the question at hand....
Is Radar Detectors legal in Wa. st?
> Yes they are but it is just a tool and should be used with education and caution. Meaning that is I dont recommend sticking in the middle of the windshield so everyone including the local LEO's to target you because of the blinking lights going off.
> My choice for Radar detectors is as follow's...
1). Valentine 1..Reason is the Arrows, multiple bogey counts and direction of the bogie's and the strength of the strongest threat against you. Yes it can be kinda noisy but there is enough adjustments to make it very quiet but its a true drivers RD and its simiply the best on the market and that includes laser scatter which no other RD can compete with.
2). BEL Vector 995..Reason..I really love this RD and wished it had the arrows because it has great radar and laser detection and its on par the V1 expect for rear detection. The V995 is even the least expensive RD on this list and has been a great performer and its very reliable even more so then the bottom RD's.
3). BEL RX65 Reason...if you cant afford a V1 this is strong performer for the money but make sure you find a RX65 with the 5.1 firmware because that is the best performer for that RX65 so far, but the RX65 like the Escort X50 and 9500i has very bad fast ramp up issues and quality control issues. The BEL RX65 has alittle better KA and laser detection in testing that I have conducted.
4). Escort X50..Reason...basically same as the BEL RX65 but it has seen more quality control issues and has trouble with certain KA radar freq's like the 33.8 freq (KA Band), but it does have mulit-bogie and you cant tell the direction of the threat and have to guess where they are at, which I would rather not do.
5). BEL STi..Reason..STEALTH..STEALTH..STEALTH. If you live in a area where RD's are illegal and they use the Spectre 3 the BEL STi can not be detected at all by that Radar Detector Detector. This is very good perfomer but its not in the same league as the V1 like SpeedLabs says its is. They have no idea how to test since you dont test with 2 RD's next to each over while they are turned on and conduct a true test. The BEL STI has some issues also on the KA band 33.8 freq and they are in the works of fixing that so they say plus there are quick, annoying ramp up's detecting radar.
6). Escort 9500i.. Reason..I would not own this detector for daily driving because it locks out the entire band which you just locked out due to the Walgreens auto-door opener but if a cop is sitting there the 9500i will not pick it up once you locked it out with the "GPS Lock-Out feature" and it will result in a ticket. I did a pre-test of the 9500i before it came out and notified Escort of this issue and they refused to fix it and that problem has been proven to be true by drivers getting ticket's because the 9500i did not detect the cop running a radar trap in that "GPS Locked Out" area. The Escort 9500i is great in theory but is gull of gimmicks and should have "Cobra" stamped on the top instead of Escort.
Here is a (2 weeks ago) recent police laser trap going south bound I-5 in Federal Way while I was doing about 80 mph was targeted about 700-800 feet away and jammed the cops laser practically to the gun.<ul><li><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?=3797401691012419384&pr=goog-sl">http://video.google.com/videoplay?=3797401691012419384&pr=goog-sl</a</li></ul>
11-19-2007, 07:07 PM
#36
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The BEL STi has a single antenna for K-band and Ka-band
but no rear antenna like the V1. The V1 also has the best off-axis detection of radar and laser due to the design of the antenna horns.