Radar detector?

[Bennick16]

My job consists of driving for about 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. I don't make a habit of speeding, but as most of you know sometimes your speed can creep up on you. I want to know if you folks have experience with a radar detector? What kind? Do they work? I don't need one so much  for the purpose of pushing the edge without getting caught but as a helpful reminder.

[cdriver]

I have used them on motorcycles and in my car. They don't always help, but can give you a warning under some circumstances, especially out on the  open road. You will get false readings at times and they wont' help you if LEO is using laser. I like the cordless units. The higher priced ones give you less false alerts. I consider them to be a fun gadget to have, will help warn you, some of the time.

[WAPatriot]

Valentine one has saved me a ton in lawyer fees. I think it's a decent radar detector.  Lasers are hard to detect If you want to get a jammer that's another story. 

[Bennick16]

Valentine one has saved me a ton in lawyer fees. I think it's a decent radar detector.  Lasers are hard to detect If you want to get a jammer that's another story.

I was under the impression jammers will illegal?

[WAPatriot]

Don't know all the rules but I think you can jam laser legally. Radar I don't think you can jam legally.

[bhawley76]

Valentine one has saved me a ton in lawyer fees. I think it's a decent radar detector.  Lasers are hard to detect If you want to get a jammer that's another story.

I was under the impression jammers will illegal?
Only if you get caught!

[Bennick16]

Valentine one has saved me a ton in lawyer fees. I think it's a decent radar detector.  Lasers are hard to detect If you want to get a jammer that's another story.

I was under the impression jammers will illegal?
Only if you get caught!

  knowing my luck, it would take about 5 minutes to get caught.

[muzbuster]

Used to have one, a top of the line at the time, Cobra. Worked great on radar but not for lasers. It detected lasers no problem, but if you are detecting a laser they already have you caught unless they are shooting from in front of you and they are aiming at the car directly in front of you then you may get lucky. I liked it best for the emergency vehicle approaching notification.
Also, if you do get pulled over for speeding and have a detector, the officer tends to write "DETECTOR" across the top of the ticket, then good luck getting a break from the judge 
Also, don't try and toss the sucker into the back seat after you pass them when they snipe you, kind of a bad idea, makes them a little on edge thinking you are trying to hide things from them.  They spend a little more time "talking with you" 

[Bennick16]

I'm looking at a escort passport 9500 on Amazon for 383. Looks like it's gotten good reviews from people. Has anyone had experience with these?

[Smossy]

They work, just gotta learn the one you have and learn where all your false reads are.... Mine has saved me from tons of tickets.
X band, usually nothing... K band, 30% could be a cop but likely nothing but automatic doors infront of stores. KA band, 100% the law, I've picked them up over a mile away. Make sure to get a 360 if you do so it will detect all around you. I wont lie, on the back roads out by my house.. I tend to speed alittle.
If I see KA band picked up, I know ahead of time.  I also have a cobra.

[bigtex]

Here's the thing about radar detectors, they only detect radar units  that are actively transmitting. Many officers put their radar on hold which essentially means the radar is not transmitting and thus won't get picked up by the detector. Officer sees a fast car, takes the radar off hold and bam they get that speed detecting before the detector goes off.

[Orion81]

I've been using an escort passport for about 10 years and absolutely love it!  Price is steep but you will not find a better unit nor will you regret buying one after a few weeks of driving with it. The best feature is its ability to learn false detections. After 3 radar detections in the same location, the radar stops alerting in those places to that specific radar. After a couple weeks of daily routine driving you will not be constantly annoyed by x band radars. Another great feature is the mute button on the power cord.  It's super easy to reach on the plug-in to silence the audio.  You can change the display to show all radars being detected along with their signal strengths. It's does great at picking up multiple radars I've had up to 5 different hits at one time and with the signal strength displayed for all of them at once make it really easy to determine which one are factors or no factors. When I travel I feel naked without it.

[Becky]

I mean save yourself a few tickets and they technically pay for themselves amiright? 

[huntingfool7]

They work, just gotta learn the one you have and learn where all your false reads are.... Mine has saved me from tons of tickets.
X band, usually nothing... K band, 30% could be a cop but likely nothing but automatic doors infront of stores. KA band, 100% the law, I've picked them up over a mile away. Make sure to get a 360 if you do so it will detect all around you. I wont lie, on the back roads out by my house.. I tend to speed alittle.
If I see KA band picked up, I know ahead of time.  I also have a cobra.

I've had an Escort 8500 X50 for several years and recommend highly. 
http://www.costco.com/Escort-Passport-8500X50-Radar-Detector-Blue-Display-with-Supercup-Windshield-Mount.product.100043540.html

False readings on K band is usually an Escort detecting a Cobra or vice versa.  Put competing brands next to each other and they will alternately trigger K band alarms.
The Escort allows you to turn off X band and that is how I have mine set up. 
In my experience, X band is always a false reading, turn it off. 
K band may be an Officer or a Cobra user, check your speed.  KA band is ALWAYS an Officer.
 
Laser, you're hoping he pulls the trigger on someone out in front.  The Escort will detect that at longish range but it's a crap shoot.  Any laser will set it off so you will get repeated false readings around survey sites.

In open country like Eastern WA and Eastern MT, the Escort 8500 will pick up radar several miles away.  In Western WA the distance is significantly reduced but it always surprises my passengers. 
Fife, WA writes more tickets per capita than any other city in WA by a huge margin.  They have been on a mission to reduce all surface road speed limits to well below what an honest engineering study would indicate.  Most people drive at a safe speed.  Speed limits for any given road should be set at the average speed of 80% of the drivers on that road (throw out the fastest and slowest 10%).  When you see the radar on a trailer that tells you your speed, you are involved in an engineering study. 

[trophyhunt]

I don't like to go the speed limit most the time, when I'm on highways.  So, do jammers really work against lazers?? I really don't care about the legality of them, it's not like I stole the car I'm driving.