Radar Detector Technologies

The first order of business for a working radar detector is that a good radar and laser detector must be able to alert you to every potential threat on the road. That’s very simple to understand – if your radar detector is not unable to receive even one type of gun or has a ‘hole’ in one of the bands, it doesn’t matter how much you saved when you ordered it online from Bob’s Cheap Electronics. If you get a speeding ticket, you just lost all your savings and then some. In obvious order, there is the cost of the fine (where many fines are now easily $100 minimum), the cost of time, both in the initial time spent on the side of the road with the law enforcement officer and the time to follow up with paying the ticket, which may be minimal if you get to mail it in, or quite lengthy if you have to make an appearance (and add to that the cost of taking a work day …). We have to then add in the pressure put on your driving record where you are further cost impacted in two ways – first, your insurance company, who has access to speeding ticket info, will be very interested in raising your premiums, and second, nearly every state in the nation now has some type of traffic point system whereby if you collect enough points over a set period of time, you lose your driving privileges and/or pay another fine. So first and foremost, when you buy a radar detector, you have to spend enough money to make sure that it can see all the threats, otherwise, you don’t save anything – you invest in a greater cost sometime down the road! Cheap radar detectors simply cannot perform these necessary, true cost saving functions.

Add to the fact that a radar detector has to be good enough to see everything, it also has to have enough technology (which does in fact have a certain minimum cost) to see far enough down the road to give you enough warning time to take safe precaution or again, you have wasted your initial investment completely if you don’t get enough warning and still end up with a speeding ticket. Here, a spec feature called ‘sensitivity’ means how far the detector can see which directly translates into warning time – the greater the sensitivity, the more time you have to be warned and take action. Again, a good radar detector, which will cost a bit more in the initial investment, has to give you good sensitivity. Cheap radar detectors simply cannot perform these necessary, true cost saving functions.

While we’re on the detecctor’s ability to ‘see’, you have to also consider real-world driving conditions. The best radar detector will have the ability to receive that hidden speed trap around the next corner or over the next hill. And in a pinch, a good radar detector should have the ability to detect instant-on radar when the law enforcement officer is targeting cars a few miles down the road. Another necessary set of functions that are necessary for a good radar detector is it must have all the latest countermeasure features such as POP, VG2 and the Spectre. Cheap radar detectors simply cannot perform these necessary, true cost saving functions.

The number one complaint today from radar detector owners is false alerts. Low priced radar detectors just don't have the filtering capabilities to block out those automatic door openers, microwave towers or even other radar detectors. If you purchase one of these lower end units, you'll eventually end up ignoring the alerts, or even worse, just turning it off.

And lastly, the the dealer your purchasing your radar detector from an authorized dealer? We hear horror stories from clients that purchased their high end Escort, Beltronics radar detector from vendors on Ebay, only to find later their warranty was not honored by the manufacture and that they purchased a remanufactured unit.

Next lets consider some important items to avoid when making your purchase:

Radar jammers or scramblers just don't work! In fact, the largest Internet retailer of Radar Detectors today offers you a $50,000 reward if you can find one that works as advertised. Don't fall for their empty promises of a ticket rebate, they just don't pay out and have numerous complaints logged against them with the El Paso Texas Better Business Bureau.

9-10-11-12 band detectors is misleading. There are only three radar bands used in the USA and one laser. Chances are if you fall for this marketing ploy and you'll have a radar detector with low performance and filtering.
Is the retailer selling radar scrambler or jammers? If he is trying to scam you by offering you one of these worthless devices how will he treat you after the sale?

Is the online merchant knowledgeable both about the products he sells and the equipment the police use?

One of the best reviews we have found on how to choose a radar detector on the Internet from Radar Roy says: "It doesn't matter how many bells and whistles the detector has, or how stylish it is, if it doesn't perform, it is not worth owning".

Next, lets review some of the best radar detectors on the market today.

This site is © Copyright RadarDetectorTechnologies 2004-2007, All Rights Reserved.