You guys have been reading too many radar detector romance novels......

Radar detectors don't guarantee anything. If they do, walk away really quick cause that's your first sign of a crappy one.

It is designed to tell you when SOMEONE ELSE is getting clocked, not YOU. If it's only purpose were to tell you when YOU are being clocked, then it'd be as useful as a kick in the nuts.

A quality unit will tell you when car(s) AHEAD of you are being clocked, thereby giving YOU time to slow down before the speed gun is turned onto you. As DP said, once it's turned onto you, the RD will do nothing but tell you "YOU'RE being clocked idiot".....by then it's too late if you haven't slowed down.

In the old days, when only X band and K band were used, it was easy for any RD to work. Those guns had very big limitations, such as having to be on all the time (therefore you could pick them up from miles away like a freaking beacon), had to be permanently mounted (therefore, the cop car had to be out on the side of the road because it needs line of sight to work), etc. Later years, the guns got smaller, more portable, and more accurate. With the advent of "instant-on", it made it more difficult to detect because it was only on when the "trigger" was pulled to clock somebody and then it would go silent. They kept changing frequencies (Ka, wideband, superwideband) and the detectors had to be able to detect those as well.

Then came Laser/Lidar. It is a combination of the ole "instant-on" and yet a new frequency. It's harder to detect because of what's already been mentioned, the width of the actual signal is very narrow...i.e. detectors usually can't detect it as well as the other frequencies.

There are only 2 chances vs Laser/Lidar today:

1. Use an RD that has the widest "field of view" possible so you can try and see the Laser as it's being shot at your neighbors car.

2. Use a SHIFTER which totally does not let the gun pick up your speed.

Folks, there is NO SUCH THING AS A "RADAR JAMMER" that is legal to use in the entire U.S.A. Real Radar Jammers are regulated by the FCC just like a radio station or anything else because it emits a radar signal OUT. The military is the only one that uses that kind of technology. It is ultra bulky and ultra expensive to boot. Radar detector companies advertise (FALSELY) that they have "Jammers", but in reality if they have anything at all that remotely works it's a Laser SHIFTER and NOT a "jammer" (for the reasons above).

With all that said, there is really only one true way to protect yourself against Laser that works: Shifter. One company that makes the best shifter out right now is Passport. It's shifter setup is a piggy back type that works with their top of the line 8500 unit. It uses externally mounted antennas in the front and the back of the car that "shift" the laser's returning signal and confuses the gun into a false reading. In a nutshell, that's how it works. You still have the 8500 doing it's thing for regular signals, but the shifter does it's thing against Laser/Lidar on top of that. It is the ultimate protection, again right now, but it's also the most expensive on the market by far. It costs around $1500-2000 after it's all said and done because you have to buy the 8500 + laser shifter + professional install.

I'm sure Valentine will eventually come out with something similar to compete. Until then, the V1 is the best for RD's and the 8500 + Laser shifter is the best if you have the dough for it.

It's really a little more involved than this, but yall get the pic now.

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Cliff notes:

-No such thing as a "jammer" on the street.
-RD is supposed to be used right to work.
-Only 1 RD offers the best protection overall, but it will cost you big bucks.
-Any questions?