Whistler XTR-140 Laser/Radar Detector with Exclusive Twin Alert Periscopes
by Whistler
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List Price: Our Price: $42.53 You Save: $37.42 (47%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Car Audio or Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Whistler XTR-140 Laser/Radar Detector with Exclusive Twin Alert Periscopes
Customer Review: Exceptional Radar/Laser detector for the money
Summary: 5 Stars
Having owned both a Cobra Radar Detector (absolute crap!), and a Passport 8500 (excellent, but it was stolen) I had went out searching again for a replacement for my Passport. While I loved it, I was not going to pay $300 for another one. On searching through Amazon, I came upon this Whistler and saw it very highly rated by those who purchased it. I searched other websites, and found similar reviews. Considering the current price (just under $40), it seemed like the bargain of the century. So I purchased it, and it arrived yesterday.
The functionality of the detector is fairly straightforward. On power-up it is automatically in Highway mode. You can switch to one of three City Modes (City = reduced X sensitivity, City I = Greatly reduced X Sensitivity, City II = X-band turned off). You can also turn on VG-2 (aka Radar detector detector). It has a simple wheel on the left side for power/volume. Buttons on top for mute, city/hwy mode, and to turn on/off VG-2.
On my first few hours with the detector, I see where they saved money. It does not save your settings. If you put it in City II mode, when you turn off the car, it will not power-up the next time in City II mode. It will power up to it's default setting of Highway. However, that is a minor inconvenience.
Honestly, this thing paid for itself within the first hour of owning it. As I mentioned, I received it yesterday evening. So this morning it was attached to my windshield on my first run to drop my kids off at school and then drive to work for me. I drive along a state highway that has a 55 MPH speed limit, which drops down to 45 in sections. Now, no one ever changes their speed along this highway. Everyone seems to do about 60 or more the whole way... me included. Well I enter one of these 45 mph zones with no other traffic around me (it's 7 am) and suddenly the Whistler chirped once in an area where I've never (and I mean NEVER) seen a speed trap... I glanced at it after the first chirp, and saw it was flashing K/Ka band, which I know the local constabulary uses... so I take my foot off the throttle. It chirps again... my foot is on the brake at this point, then it became more insistent as my speed is now down to about 48. I'm scanning everywhere to find the source and suddenly I see him, in the center median hiding behind a tree in the median is a motorcycle cop with his radar gun trained on me. He glared at me as I drove past but I'd slowed down before he could get a reading on me.
I highly recommend this radar detector if you want to have something reliable, but don't want to pay for a top-of-the-line ValentineOne or Passport. Would my $400 Passport have seen the radar trap? Yes. Did my $40 Whistler see the radar trap? Yes. So, they both performed as I wanted, but one did it for 90% less money. This thing paid for itself within the first 23 minutes of owning it. You can't go wrong.
Customer Review: buy it
Summary: 5 Stars
i purchased the xtr 140 and it has been great so far, from what ive read the 330 has voice alerts and thats the only main difference. higher end radars have alot more features (compass, volt meter, aarows, pop detection etc) but none of that matters to me, i just wanted a radar detector that works. usually i find myself drifting 12 or so mph over the posted limit in the city and it gives me plenty of time to stop. besides a blip of ka when i pass a walgreens or cvs (if you are pointed at the doors its a full alert) the city 2 mode is pretty quiet. then again i can barely hear the radar when it goes off with the radio on so the lights come in handy to get my attention
i bought the 140 model because it was cheap but still accurate. i really dont care about a 3-4 mile range of detection because with instant off and instant on even a v1 cant save you if you are alone on the road. no one uses POP radar and im not going to pay another $50 for a feature im not going to use, and in the city there are so many cars on the road that i can pick up a trap in more than enough time to react.
i have had this detector for about two years now and it has yet to disappoint me. however after owning it for about a year i felt the need to splurge and purchase a higher end unit, the whistler pro 78 rev c. i thought that my top tier purchase would blow my old xtr140 out of the water, but suprisingly the performance was nearly identical. however with the pro 78 you get to select what functions you want enabled or disabled.
in short i have to stick to my original review
pros:
i have gotten over a mile detection of a K band speed trap
i have also gotten slightly over a mile detection on k/a band
very clear display
VERY cheap
cons:
lacks internal memory. doesnt save settings
"chatty" on k and specifically x band. it will pick up your cvs walgreens everytime. its best to run city II mode if you do heavy city driving
i still recommend this product to anyone when they talk about speeding tickets. always gives me plenty of time for radar alerts
the whistler also has that signal strength meter, where as i believe the cobra does not. i have a cobra esd6060 and this whistler destroys it in detection distance
Customer Review: Good for a budget
Summary: 4 Stars
First things first, and everyone already knows this but I want to reiterate it, this detector is not for the aggressive speeder. However, it does work most of the time. I have been saved from 5 traps in Missouri alone, almost all of them being KA. One thing to keep in mind, once the radar even chirps KA, slam the brakes. This radar chirps one KA bar at about 1/2 to 1/4 mile distance from the cop. It's probably not enough to save someone going 20 over, but maybe it will save 5 or 10 over. K band is excellent. K band saved me from a charger interceptor who was firing backwards at traffic. I was alerted almost a mile away, and by 1/2 mile the radar was full blast. I wish the KA was that sensitive, but none the less as long as you know that those KA chirps mean full blast, you will slow down in time.
This detector is very good for the money, but not great. It has no memory so you must program the detector every time you start your car. Still, it only takes a few presses to set it to the mode you want (I run City II). Another nuisance are the LED's on the top which go ballistic to get your attention. One major issue is that they are very visible to other cars, including cops. It is illegal to have any foreign lights on the dash or windshield which illuminate out because you may be perceived to be imitating a cop. I would almost certainly bet that someone with this unit has been pulled over because of the Blue LED lights going berserk near an officer. My advice: I taped over them with some tape, you should probably consider doing the same.
All in all, some quirks, but the results don't lie. 5 possible tickets means over $500 plus the insurance premium. And while I probably wasn't going fast enough to get pulled over on all of them, even 1 ticket (which there was one instance I know I would have been pulled over for sure) would be more than $100 after insurance premiums or lawyers fees to fight it.
I don't speed like a maniac. I just like to get where I am going, and sometimes I drive 5 or 10 over without paying attention. This radar does it's job, and I would purchase it again.
Customer Review: Doesn't protect from aircraft, but that's not its fault
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this radar detector specifically for a long drive from San Diego to Redding, CA (about 13 hours each way). I knew that I'd have to be driving "expeditiously" to not go insane on such a long trip, but avoiding speeding tickets is a high priority.
To be quite honest, I didn't expect much from this radar detector considering the price. I've used Cobra brand detectors in the past with mixed results, and had been around Valentine One's to know how awesome they are. This one didn't look special really, but it looked "good enough". So here's the gist...
POSITIVE IMPRESSIONS:
1. Works as advertised...it'll tell you about radar signals
2. The blue LED warnings lights definitely get your attention
3. Acceptable level of control over functionality
4. Its not bad looking
5. Its LOUD and will get your attention when it needs to.
6. I'm confident that it is very sensitive because its always going off
NEGATIVE IMPRESSIONS:
1. The blue LED warning lights are too bright at night. The ability to turn them on/off or dim would be ideal.
2. Volume adjustment is trivial. Even at its quietest volume setting (with quiet mode OFF), its LOUD.
3. The mount is a bit wobbly, so the radar detector shakes as you drive (unless you wedge it against your rearview mirror as I did).
4. Not the prettiest display ever, but not horrible. I didn't read the manual and I was able to understand it.
5. If city mode does anything, I can't tell.
OVERALL:
I definitely like this product and I would recommend it to a friend. I'll always lust for the Valentine One, but this thing does its job and finds radar when its around.
Just remember: this radar detector won't protect you from highways that are patrolled by aircraft. I saw the CHP officer coming from a mile away, but it didn't do me any good since the airplane had already nailed me. Woops!
Customer Review: Worth the price
Summary: 4 Stars
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I just wanted to put in an update after a decent amount of use. Works amazing in cities, can usually tell if an officer is driving towards me at around a half a mile in advance. Lights are still working just fine, and the display is the exact same brightness as before. Range seems to be the same. Only difference is the Oklahoma cops. They seem to know I've been dodging them and they are DETERMINED to catch me for something... No luck so far. Safe Driving everyone
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This thing has saved me from countless camping cops. A major plus. On the downside, it has also given me countless heart attacks. The display is weak during the day and the blue led only helps a little bit. The range is just good enough to brake and pretty much piss off the cop since he knows you were speeding since you are most likely visible but just outside of radar range.
The lights are a big "I KNOW YOU ARE WATCHING ME" It screams I have a detector which is awesome for you at night but bad if you have anything else wrong and the cop feels pissy that night and pulls you over for a brake light since you got out of his speed trap. If the cop has the radar facing the other way you won't notice till you are right on him and you better have good reflexes.
If you get two cops following each other by the time it gets over the first cop the second one is beyond the minimal detection range and you have a good chance of being busted. It happened to me and the cop followed me for two miles since he knew I knew I was speeding and just barely slowed down in time.
Basically the radar is good for the price but if you like loud music during the day or have bad reflexes or heck bad brakes, Go for a more expensive one or learn to split your time watching the radar and checking further down the road for cops driving up on you. It works and the range is JUST good enough to keep the county sheriff out of your pocket but I'd say it is only a temporary fix. Go for an upgrade if you don't want cardiac arrest.