Silver Bullet- More like a plastic thumb tack

I purchased the Sensoro Silver Bullet RX7500 as a replacement for my beat-up Sensoro Traveller cordless radar detector. At a mere 75 dollars at Costco, I thought the Silver Bullet would be an inexpensive upgrade to my Sensoro Traveller. Alas, after four months of ownership, I have learned that this wasn't the best idea.

Aesthetics :

The Sensoro Silver Bullet RX7500 is styled like your typical modern radar detector; it's a small (1" x 2.75" x 3.75) rectangular-ish unit that comes in an ever so popular brushed titanium plastic shell. The PNI Corporation has given the Silver Bullet an attractive design, perhaps too attractive, as it was stolen from my vehicle shortly after I purchased it.

Features:

The Sensoro Silver Bullet cordless radar detector comes with a decent amount of features. Some features of the Sensoro Silver Bullet include the following...

* The ability to detect X, K, and Ka bands.

* 360 degree laser and radar coverage.

* VG-2 Alert (makes the PNI Sensoro Traveller invisible to most radar detector detectors).

*Weighs only 3.7 ounces.

* A total of 3 city modes; filter high, filter normal, and filter off.

* A numbered (1 to 8) numeric signal strength meter. At night, the Silver Bullet's LED uses a fluorescent green backlight, which can be set to stay on at all times or only flash when radar is detected.

* A tutorial mode to demonstrate operations.

* Memory to retain set modes after the power of the Silver Bullet is shut off.

* The convenience of going cordless; 2 AA batteries are included.

* 2 Windshield mounts (one for cord operation and one for cordless operation), dashboard retaining clips, and visor clip.

* 2 power cords; one coiled and one straight.


Note: If you want to go cordless, you only have the option of mounting this unit to your windshield via the battery box (included).


Installation :

Once you get the Silver Bullet out of its almost impossible to open package (why PNI puts their products in these types of packages is beyond me), setup is fairly easy. You simply choose where you want to place your radar detector and use one of the four corresponding mounting methods. Removing the Silver Bullet from its window mount brackets is easy enough, though the 3 suction cups that PNI provides are not effective whatsoever. There has been more than one occasion where the Silver Bullet has detached from my windshield; this was especially a problem when there were dramatic changes in air temperature. If you have any problems with the setup of the PNI Silver Bullet comes with a short but very informative operation manual.

On the Road:

When I first installed my Silver Bullet I opted to use the coiled power cord and took it out on Interstate 40; where state troopers are almost everywhere. When my PNI failed to pick up Ka and K bands within at least 1 mile I figured it had been dropped during shipment or was simply DOA. Being the great store that Costco is, they exchanged my Silver Bullet for the same model without question. Unfortunately, I experienced the same exact problems with the exchanged unit; extremely poor sensitivity.

On average, my Silver Bullet would only detect K band from approx. 1/2 mile from its source (over 2 miles shy of the distance that my Escort 8500 can detect this band). The PNI Silver Bullet does an even less impressive job at detecting Ka band; usually only detecting Ka within 1/8 of a mile (on straight roads). This type of poor detection is fat too inferior to be effective at saving anyone from getting a ticket. Without using just the AA batteries that PNI provides, the Silver Bullets' sensitivity to all bands deteriorates even further; perhaps rendering this radar detector completely useless at protecting a driver from a trooper's radar gun. Also, when using the cordless feature, the batteries must be placed in a battery box that connects to the Silver Bullet's mounting bracket. This can make mounting this unit to your windshield a pain in the butt.


The Sensoro Silver Bullet has the option of three sensitivity modes; filter high, filter normal, and filter off. High filter mode helps eliminate those annoying false alarms AKA X band (X band can usually be blamed on things as simple as automatic car door openers). I usually just set my Silver Bullet at normal mode. When using this mode, which is also supposed to prevent false X alerts, I would still consistently receive false X band alerts when driving through town and on the highway. The only time I would get absolutely no false X-band alerts was when using high filtering mode, which unfortunately seemed to also reduce the Silver Bullet's already inadequate sensitivity to both K and super-wide Ka bands.

PNI claims that the Silver Bullet is effective at detecting radar from 360 degrees. This may be true, however radar detection from any angle, other than directly straight ahead, is so poor that you would be tagged before you even had a chance to let off the gas.


Reliability:

In the four or so months that I used my Silver bullet, nothing ever went haywire with the mechanics of this unit. Despite neglecting my Silver Bullet by leaving it in my car for hours under the hot summer sun, nothing had ever gone terribly wrong with the unit. The Silver Bullet seemed to work just as effective (or ineffective) as it did when it was new. The only gripes I have with the Silver Bullet's reliability would have to do with its extremely short battery life. Though PNI claims that the Sensoro Silver Bullet can be used for 40 hours on two AA batteries, I usually could only get, at most, 20 hours when using premium non rechargeable batteries. PNI warns that you should not use rechargeable batteries, however if you don't, plan on spending quite a bundle of cash on batteries.

Price/Warranty :

The PNI Silver Bullet can be purchased at most automotive electronic online stores for around $149.00 (about $150 less than the Escort Solo). If anything goes wrong with your PNI Sensoro Silver Bullet, PNI Inc. backs this radar detector with an impressive 3-year warranty to the original purchaser.

Final Thoughts:

The PNI Silver Bullet may boast a low price tag, however in the case of the Silver Bullet you get exactly what you pay for; a below par detector that is more of a novelty item than an effective radar detecting device. If you are on the market for a radar detector solely for appearance purposes, than the Silver Bullet may be for you. However, if you want an effective unit to help save you from those expensive traffic tickets, I highly suggest looking elsewhere for your radar detecting needs.

Thanks for reading!