Any cheap (less than $100) ones that work well?

Most online discussions insist that you need a $400 to $500 unit or you're wasting your money.

What features are needed?

I'm looking for highway speedtrap protection. I don't generally have a heavy foot, but I've got a long commute and would hate to get a ticket for opening it up a little.

I've put it side by side with cheaper detectors and there is a massive difference in range. It has a GPS internally so there is a downloadable database for red light cameras and fixed speed cameras. It also uses the GPS to lock out false alarms from things like door openers after it detects the same signal frequency from the same spot a few times.

It is the best detector on the market. Save you two tickets and it paid for itself.

http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleid=1064 

About a year ago, I saw a guy with an original Escort sitting on his dash. I LOL'd...but it was king of the radar detectors back in the day...and popular with the radar thieves.

I'm sure it's great, but I don't need the GPS feature. I don't care about red light cameras.

I just don't want false alarms, for fear that I'll grow immune to the beeping.

Does a cheap model simply beep at everything? Or does it miss legit signals?

I don't typically speed. I'm just looking to improve my communte a little.

And unless I'm late for amateur night at the Honey Pot, I tend not to rush...

I imagine a cheap model is more likely to beep at everything than to miss a legitimate signal. You'll get the legitimate warnings, and eventually learn where it always goes off...back in the day it was always, "oh, are we near a grocery store with automatic doors?" LOL I'm guessing the GPS feature is some new fangled technology to eliminate the false signals (HD may have mentioned that above)....but you may have to periodically get updates for your detector so that it can download known false signals in your area (probably shared information by other detectors by people who agree to share such information...like on actual GPS/mapping devices when new roads are updated). I dunno.

Just get a CB radio...breaker breaker... =d>

The model I referred to requires downloads for red light cameras. Because it has a GPS, it can always go off with a special warning at those locations if it knows it. The out-of-the-box database is very accurate.

With the GPS, it also has the ability to "learn". It stores locations and frequencies where it goes off. After the 3rd exact copy, it locks out that false alarm location. The more you drive around town, the quieter it gets.

These two GPS related features are the main difference between a $250 model and the $500 model. The vast majority of radar detectors just go off all the time when in an urban setting.

The other big difference between high-end and low-end models is range of detection. Having personally tested this while driving from Tampa to Chicago, I can say there is a vast difference. The model I recommended detected laser traps from around corners that were still out of sight that an older cheapo model didn't even detect at all.

I do get some false warnings when I pass by some of the malls that line the road (Milford area, Rt 9 area) but they come up as X-band signal and I after a few times of travel, I expect them and ignore the x-band warnings (cops primarily use K and Ka bands). The unit I have also detects laser but I’ve only detected the staties’ lasers a hand full of times. In order for laser to work, they can’t shoot it from behind glass and need a tripod or steady hand to aim it. Its range is pretty short too since the beam spreads out quite a bit.

All that being said the typical cruising speed on 495 is around 80 mph. At that speed a statie will ride up you’re a$$ at 90 mph and flash his lights at you to get you out of his way rather than pull you over. I find that if you flow with the traffic and blend in, you’re probably not gonna get tagged.

I keep forgetting how close we live.

495 may be an 80 mph safe-zone on that westernmost arc, but heading up from the Cape, where it's still two lanes, you get busted for 76.

Don't say I never gave ya anything![whip] [frypan] 😇

See?

LOL!!![frypan]

Be more specific than to say "blows away the $40 cheapie".

How is it better?

If I have a $40 cheapie and you and I are tooling up 495 on our way to Hampton Beach, who's gonna get bagged for going 80?

The cheapie one I had would give a lot of false hits and the range is nowhere as good as the 8500. And that's not good, I have also found that it (the 8500) is much better as sensing radar around corners and over hills where they like to hide. The operating distance is what got me, it has to be twice the distance of what my OLD unit was capable of doing.

Keep this in mind... Both detectors that I had were capable of detecting laser, but it is usually too late if that warning goes off.

http://www.radarbusters.com/usaradararticle.cfm  for all the info you would like about them including a buyers guide.

I would rather have a false negative than a false positive. Going to work on 495... coming from the north I pass by pass by Rt 9 (Shrewsbury exit) then the I-90 exit then Rt 85 Milford on my way to Franklin. I get beeps from those areas but only X-band signals.. happens every time and I don't pay attention to it.

If my inexpensive Cobra finds a K band along the way... then that is not "normal" and I'll be a bit cautious. Also, the cheap Cobra I have will have a louder audible signal when it first detects it (to alert you) then go to a lower sustained beep as long as the signal is detected. If the radar signal remains strong the audio warning will stay strong too.

Re: Tooling up to Hampton Beach at 80 mph? Never had the pleasure of doing so. It is usually stop and go... so no 80 mph was ever reached for for more than 15 mins or so unless in the dead of night.

Re: Lasers for the cops... forget about it. The units cost too much for the cops, too hard to deal with, too inaccurate... not a chosen unit for the cops. You can't sit in the cruiser and just beam out a signal and eat doughnuts. You need to set up a station point, pinpoint the target car, and hope you get a clear reading. Fog or mist can affect it, reflections (like off your windshield) or lack of a steady hand can affect it. That is why you don't see them much on the highways.