My favorite way to travel is in my 2009 Mustang with the gas pedal compressed so far down that I’m sinking back in my seat from the raw horsepower. It didn’t occur to me that I could have gotten ticketed from anything other than the police. That “thing” was a speed camera installed on the freeway on a stretch of Interstate 10 that I had traveled through many times with no problems. I got a $200 ticket and my insurance rates went up by 10%! I had a radar detector in my car, but it was an older model, one without GPS or a speed camera detector. It also is prone to false alarms, so I tend to zone out the beeping sounds some of the time. This $200 ticket ended up being a blessing in disguise, however, because I upgraded my detector and I learned a lot in the process.

The best radar detectors give you everything you need for what you can spend. Some of the units I looked at were the Valentine, Escort Passport 9500ix, Cobra, Vector, Beltronics x50, STI Driver, and the Bel Pro Series GX 65. There’s not enough room to go into great detail about each of the units, but you can find out more by visiting each maker’s Web site right from home and finding 2008 and 2009 reviews from other customers, find stores near you, compare prices, get on their email list for money-saving promotions, and view details on the products that I am unable to cover here.

The Valentine ($460) is a top pick and ranks very closely with the GX65 (around $470) in detect performance and long-range distance. Both units offer users good false alarm prevention, but the Valentine seems to underperform in this area based on 5 or 6 field reviews that I’ve read. The Escort Passport 9500ix (around $495) is priced similarly to the GX65 and, like its Beltronics counterpart, comes with GPS enabled detection. What this means is that each of the units tracks the speed of the cars it is in and gives a warning to the driver through an audio alert when the vehicle is traveling fast enough to trigger speed cameras or police radar guns. How does it do this, you may ask? Through its GPS navigation, it can tell the exact location of the vehicle and know what street it is on, even down to the intersection! Both units come with a database included. On the Passport, the driver can input the locations of speed traps and the system remembers it next time and alerts the driver. The Bel GX65 has a database in it that is pre-programmed with thousands of red light and fixed-position speed cameras throughout North America to help its user avoid tickets! The database can be updated bi-monthly through a 3 year subscription for only $29.95 extra. Totally worth it!

Although the Cobra (under $200), Vector ($299), and STI Driver ($499) do not have this speed camera detector feature, they are still top performers for all bands of radar detection and have laser jammer technology. The Vector is smartly priced around $300 and offers more features than the Cobra. The STI Driver by Beltronics is revered as the “best radar detector for the professional driver” and is a favorite among speed-loving drivers everywhere. I like the detectors that come with both the whistler and voice alerts because it really gets my attention. The bottom line is to take your time before making a decision. You can either choose a radar detector with standard features or one that comes equipped with GPS-enabled speed camera detection…and you’ll be able to buy one for $500 or less!