cheap US radar detectors?
 

going by the adage if it looks too good to be true it probably is i thought id run this past a few of you guys first before committing.

im looking at getting a new radar detector and seems the whistler 78SE is the best bang for you buck for aus.

RRP in AUS is just under $600 according to here. [URL="http://www.radars.com.au/best-radar-detector.php"]http://www.radars.com.au/best-radar-detector.php[/URL]

but on ebay and the whistler official site the price is around $200 US which makes it about $220 AUD

[URL="http://www.whistlergroup.com/"]whistler site - $229 US [/URL]
[URL="http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WHISTLER-PRO-78SE-Radar-Detector-PRO78-SE-PRO-78-SE-NEW_W0QQitemZ290362340081QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item439af1b2f1"]
cheap ebay one - $190ish US[/URL]

Seems like getting one like this from the states is the way to go yeh? or am i missing something.

Its like a lot of products in the Automotive Industry..
You get what you pay for!

Not 100% if the Radar Frequencies are the same as Australian Standards.
That would be the first thing I would look into.

Whistler are pretty average... I road tested a whistler, a escort and a V1 and both the escort and V1 pissed all over the whistler in terms of warning times etc. V1 just beat the escort in the warning time, but had much better features.

Whistler are shit, if your going to spend $600 suggest you pickup an Escort X50 or Bel RX65 or STi, with a Vertical Bracket.

V1's are excellent but nearly $900.

pm JezzaMcbezza on the forums. or [url]www.delonixradar.com.au[/url]

i have bought a fair few Bel RX65's from the states through ebay and they have worked flawlessly.

No mate you can have a V1 for around A$525 off jezza (us 475) last time I checked and with current exchange rate of 92

You get what you pay for are words that are very applicable here.

Escort X50 or if you can afford it a V1 plus the vertical bracket is the way to go if you want a detector for WA conditions. Suggest you have a search for similar threads posted here.

according to radars.com.au - the link i put up at the start the V1 and whistler 78se acheived very similar results, plus the whistler was more user friendly plus obviously alot cheaper.
I did have an rx65 but it tended to miss signals from time to time.
i will look into the escort and also the vertical bracket idea. cheers

worth noting this comment at the bottom of their website page
[url]http://www.radars.com.au/best-radar-detector.php[/url]

June 2009 Update

Since this article was published, Whistler have further increased their sensitivity particularly in KA-band. New models called SE or Special Edition are now shipping from stock!

[IMG]http://www.vipersinthestorm.com/assets/images/ALQ-131_Podt.JPG[/IMG]

Get one of these bad boys, It's US made although I think it may cause cancer with prolonged use, anything longer than a few moments I'm guessing.