Good Radar and Laser Detector - from a newbie

Let me start by saying that this unit is my first radar detector after twelve years of driving. Now that I am traveling in the range of 20,000 miles per year, I decided that it might be worth it. This unit was available locally at the HH Gregg for the same amount it can be found online ($149), so I decided to pick one up.

This seems to be the less expensive brother of the Beltronics Vector 995, which has gotten great reviews here and elsewhere. The 955 does not include the interchangeable faceplates, nor adjustable color readout nor various city modes that the 995 includes. However, it does appear to use the same detecting technology, which is the most important part.

Being a newbie to radar detectors, I appreciated the way that the user manual was laid out and presented its information. It even had a section about how the various radar ranges, Pop and lasers work. Very informative.

The detector seems to work wonderfully, in all ranges. In my 1000 miles or so of experience, I have seen everything except POP.

K-band false alarms are fairly frequent, but once you get the hang of where you should expect to see them (in industrial areas or other shopping areas) you will learn to discount these K-band readings.

Ka band readings seem to have almost zero false alarms - it seems to go off only when I am approaching a radar-patrolled area. It alerts the driver somewhere between 1 and two miles ahead of where the actual radar is being used, which is plenty of room to slow down.

On the down-side, I have gotten one ticket since owning this - and I don't know what clocking method the police officer was using. The detector did not detect anything. It was in Kentucky, so it may have been airplane readings, which the detector would not be able to detect.

There are three modes - autodetect, city, and highway. I use "highway" primarily, switching to "autodetect" when approaching cities. It seems to work wonderfully, except for the one ticket noted above.

Overall, I would heartily recommend this detector to anyone in the market for a radar detector in the $150 area. Plus, in this price range, one ticket saved more than pays for it.