The Beltronics Magnum offers a number of different settings and options that help you customize the detector to maximize your performance and minimize your false alerts. This video will walk you through the different menu options and explain what the different settings mean.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/08/how-to-set-up-configure-your-beltronics-magnum/
If you’d like to learn more about the Escort Passport Max2 radar detector, here’s my Max2 review video.
The Max2 is basically designed to be an easy to use, plug and play radar detector that does just about everything for you with little to no setup. It can even filter out false alerts automatically while other detectors will require you to tell it what’s a false alert or not, so it’s a detector that you can put on your windshield and let it do the work.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/06/escort-passport-max2-review/
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/05/affordable-radar-detector-testing-may-2015/
So how good are the inexpensive Cobra radar detectors? Why don’t we do a top of the line Cobra SPX 7800BT review and see what Cobra’s latest and greatest radar detector is capable of?
Personally I’m generally a fan of the higher end radar detectors. My point of view is that while you can save $200 or whatever by going for a lower end radar detector, if you get owned because you were using a lower end RD, the costs of the ticket, lawyer fees, court costs, insurance hikes, time and headache of dealing with the ticket, etc. far outweigh the money you saved by going with a lower tier RD. In a sense, this is a pay to play game.
That said, people keep asking about the more affordable radar detectors. Plus, after a while, I get tired of talking about and testing the usual contenders like the Redline, V1, and Max2. At one point I saw a comment online about how forum members think that the only acceptable choices are the Redline or V1 and how everything else must suck. Reading this, I started wondering just how good some of the less expensive detectors really are. Sure they’re not going to give the same performance as the higher end detectors and we should expect that, but will they still ultimately save us from tickets in the majority of situations? At the end of the day, isn’t that what really matters? Heck, even with the best detector money can buy, you can STILL get owned.
For the sake of understanding more of the big picture both for myself and for others, I’ve been spending time playing with some of the more affordable radar detectors lately. The Uniden LRD950 (now DFR7) has been showing a lot of promise so I’ve been spending time running that to get a better feel of it. This weekend it decided to commit seppuku so it’s currently in the mail heading back to home base to get repaired. Now that my attention is focusing back to the other options out there, I figured I’d start sharing with you guys some of my experiences while I play with a high end Cobra.
I’ve currently got a brand new retail Cobra SPX 7800BT that I’m testing thanks to @BestRadarDetectors. (A HUGE HUGE thank you to everyone who’s loaning me detectors to test!!! The community at RDF is utterly amazing and I’m truly honored to have a chance to work alongside you all. 🙂 )
When it comes to testing, I like to remain objective and unbiased as possible. Sure I’ve heard the typical “Cobras suck!” and “Cobras leak!” comments too, but I haven’t had any first hand experience. Having run this Cobra for a little while now, I gotta say that it’s opening my eyes to what’s possible. Seriously. Some of the things it is doing is just blowing my mind. It’s sucking in ways I didn’t even know was possible. 😯 Sure it costs less than the other options, but OMG…
As I play with it, I figured I’d go ahead and share my impressions with you.
So with that said, what’s the Cobra SPX 7800BT all about?
The SPX 7800BT is Cobra’s high end detector that features their best performing and longest range radar platform, has bluetooth to pair with your phone, RLC alerts, a fancy OLED display, and so on. Think Cobra’s competitor to the Max2 but without GPS lockouts. It retails for $280 but you can find it online for less…
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/04/cobra-spx-7800bt-radar-detector-review/
If you’d like to learn how to setup and configure your Escort Passport Max or Max2 to customize it to the way you want, maximize its performance, and minimize the false alerts, this programming tutorial video will guide you through the different Max2 settings and options, what everything means, and how everything works. 🙂
Click here to purchase an Escort Passport Max2.
Enjoy!
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/04/how-to-minimize-false-alerts-on-an-escort-max-max2/
Here’s a walkthrough on how to manually program a Valentine One Gen1 radar detector through the detector itself. This V1 programming video will explain what all the different settings mean and which options you should choose.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/03/how-to-manually-program-a-v1/
Have you noticed how radar detectors say that they can detect signals on X Band, K Band, and Ka Band? Have you wondered what that means in terms of police radar, what the differences are, and what it means to you when you detect them? Each one is different and depending on which one you see, you should probably react differently.
This video will explain what the different radar bands mean.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2015/02/radar-bands-explained-x-band-k-band-ka-band/
Here’s a video tutorial on how to set up and configure your Redline for maximum performance.
To purchase a new Redline, click here.
This tutorial is designed for people new to the Redline. Think Redline 101. 😉
The video’s just over half an hour long since it covers a lot of material and many of you may not need to watch the whole thing, so below you’ll find a guide as to what’s covered where so you can skip to the parts you’d like to watch, as well as the recommended settings.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2014/04/how-to-set-up-your-escort-redline/
Escort Redline 360c
($799)
Long range, very quiet, best all-around
Uniden R8 ($699)
Long range, arrows, responsive
Valentine 1 Gen2 ($599)
Long range, arrows, excellent apps
Uniden R7 ($499)
Best bang for the buck with arrows
Uniden R4
($379)
Best non-arrow detector
Radenso DS1 ($369)
Best for USB C power
Uniden R3 ($299)
Best radar detector under $300
Uniden DFR7 ($179)
Best radar detector under $200
AntiLaser Priority ($1069 Dual, $1699 Triple TX BT HiFi)
The best performing and top laser jammer on the market
Stinger Fibers ($1825 Dual, $2525 Triple)
Tiny heads for stealthy installs, great for exotic cars, expensive, poor track record of updates
Escort ZW5 ($999 Dual)
Wireless laser jammers that integrate w/ windshield mount Escort radar detectors, easiest to install
Adaptiv TPX ($949 Triple)
Best affordable laser jammer (Save 10% with coupon “Vortex”)
Radenso RC M ($2099 w/ arrows)
Can integrate with ALP, good BSM filtering, integrated controller/display
Net Radar DSP ($679, $1179 w/ arrows)
Affordable custom installed radar detector, integrates with AntiLaser Priority
