Customer Reviews

Cobra ESD 7000 6-Band ESD Radar/Laser Detector

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I've always wanted a radar detector, especially I got pulled over for driving 9miles above the speed limit! After extensive amount of research, I wanted a Valentine 1 (V1) or a Escort Passport since they are supposed to be the best money can buy. One of my friend has a Escort Passport and I've always been very impressed by it, just not the $300 price tag.
So here I am, wanting something that I can't afford. Nobody knows how that feels right? *wink* Then from a deal site I found this Cobra ESD-7000, I read many (75 last time I checked) reviews for this detector and it's got about 4 out of 5 overall rating. For under 50bux, I think this is a risk I am willing to take. It's been about 2 month and a half now, here's my take:
Pros:
1-Very sensitive and alerts before troopers can get a locked reading on you. (which should be the most important thing when you are buying a detector)
2-Good Design and display, V, K, Ka, and Laser (LIDAR) detection, I rarely see any laser warnings but it's good to have it in for future uses.
3-Auto mute system and city mode, which reduces alarm level when you are near an automatic door or other sensors.
4-long cord which enables the detector to be placed in many places in your car, an important thing to watch for is that make sure you place it in a place where it can have a clear view of the rear window, otherwise the 360 degree detection won't work well.
Cons:
1-Sensitive, and none directional warning. I've found myself looking around for cops when that thing goes off, it only tells you there is one near by, but not which direction. V1 can warn you of which direction and what type of warning it is (false alarm). This can get a bit annoying since it's hard to drive in the city with the alarm going off all the time if there's a auto-door around, in long term, it might give you a heart attack. I know it scared my mom bad when she was riding with me.
2-Self test, it can make just one beep for the test but it actually checks for every single freaken band and makes a out of tune high school band practice sound. No way to turn it off so everytime you start the car, it will do the same thing over and over again.
In closing, I've driven at night where police waits at the exit facing the highway or on top of the bridge gunning at me, I was always able to see them and slow to reasonable speed (say 8miles above the limit). I live in upstate NY, troopers here are smart, when you can see them, it's too late. Not anymore with my cobra, Bite on this, trooper. (that line reminded of the movie super trooper for some reason)
Good Luck and I hope I wont' see you on cops next week doing 110
P.S. Many people asked me if this is legal, I can tell all of you in confidence that it is legal in all states except Viginia and D.C., plus our friendly neighbor Canada (who wont' be friendly anymore if you have this in, TRUST ME). Oh yeah, another reviewer is right, police has to have the radar on in order for it to detect, so don't give up on the product if you seen a cop nearby and the alarm is not going off.

I got this radar detector about 3 months ago at target. i was a bit skeptical at first, due to the price of this unit. it mounts on your windshield/dashboard with included suction cups/velcro pads.
this detector has saved me several tickets, and is very accurate. i would reccommend this to anyone!
just remember if the cop doesn't have the radar ON, the detector will not alert you.
this unit looks and performs nicely. not bad for under 50 bucks!

I bought this last month and tried it out during the memorial day long weekend for long drive to washington DC ... wow it works amazing ..it saved me 4 tickets in just single trip .... I feel its a cheaper and good product ...

This a great radar detector but...... It picks up every alarm signal from a residence to a business. I find myself muting through out my drive. A positive: It will warn you of radars it was designed to pickup, though. For the price?> You can't go wrong. I feel more comfortable with it warning of every single alarm than without it. I'd buy it again. Hope this helps.

For those who don't have alot of cash to blow on a radar detector but still would like to try one out. I had read alot of reviews about this dector, many people either hated it or loved it. I found that it worked but it also had plenty of false alarms.

If you can't stand being beeped at every few minutes down the freeway, then I would steer clear of this one. The detector does have a Auto-Mute setting on by default so the sound it much lower after 4 seconds. Also the detector doesn't save your settings everytime you turn it off but it is so easy to get to the settings that you need, that it really is not a problem.

The radar has caught all of the radar on the side of the road so it does it's job. You can't rely on this product to get you out of all tickets because many times cops will not run radar but as long as you don't plan on being a total speed demon you will be fine.

The radar detector does it's job, perhaps too well, so if you are short on cash and want to get a radar dector, this would be the one to get.

This unit is cheap junk as is any detector you pay $40 for. It's just basic economics. No company is going to be benevolent and give you expensive technology for dollar store prices. I've had this unit for more than a week just for fun and it's hilarious how little it picks up. I've passed at least one speed trap, at least a dozen state troopers, and an equal number of city police. Amazingly, the whole time I've had only two hits. One was an X band constant on radar that any detector built in the last 30 years would have got and the other was a K band constant on hit that I didn't pick up until the cop was practically parked on my windshield. Good thing he was outside his jurisdiction and that I don't speed.

Notice a lot of folks have stopped using detectors because they "just don't help anymore." Well, it's because Cobra units like this have saturated the low end of the marketplace and they are JUNK. Really folks, there is a big three of radar detectors, Bel, Escort, and Valentine. Whistler also makes a couple of new units that are right in the low $100 range and are your only hope for good detection if you aren't willing to spend around $300. Go to any site that does testing of Cobras and even their priciest units just aren't worth the money. I have no axe to grind with Cobra. I wish they made better products. I had to see for myself if the low end units were as weak as I've read. Well, they are. All this unit will do, if you're lucky, is let you know you're about to get a ticket unless you're on a straight away in heavy traffic and encountering a policeman using a radar gun using very old technology. But you may not even be lucky enough for that to happen and just see flashing lights behind you.

This unit was recommended as a no buy on technophile sites, but I bought it anyway, I don't speed excessivly, and despite knowing Cobra has been an industry follower rather than a leader for decades. Of course, I had to wait till I got out of Virginia to light it up; my wife plugged it in and it went through the startup sequence. Some people complain about this - I prefer to know it's working - lasts about one second, so get over it. Thirty seconds after power on it signaled a K/KA intercept and sure enough a cop was sitting perpendicular in the cross-over behind the trees not four hundred feet from signal. Later in the trip in South Carolina, 78 in a 70, got a short K/KA burst going into a long stretch of tree shrouded curve. A mile or so further along I drove up on a State Trooper getting out to write up a F-150 - I caught the reflection. In Florida it lit up every X-band speed reader in the construction zones around Tarpon Springs. It often Lit off on Emergency/Safety Vehicles around construction sites on I-95, indicating emergency vehicle emitters. One time on I-95 I drove right by a Trooper in the opposite South Bound lane outside his vehicle, Laser gun in hand, scanning approaching traffic and it didn't give a peep, I got lots of K/KA band alerts maybe they were false maybe not. You can't always be sure. So use the unit with a little common sense stick to 8 or 9 over and use it as a source of information. Over all, I was pretty pleased despite being ready for disappointment. This device is not immune to Spectre 2,3,and 4 RDD's. But what are the odds states where RD's are legal are going to go to the expense of purchasing $2000 dollar RDD's. What's the point. Even the pointy headed crowd in Virginia, the only state to outlaw RD's doesn't equip every trooper with the latest RDD or any RDD. They rely on catching you speeding and then catching you with the RD. But Virginia, as in so many other ways, has not yet entered the 20th century.

I've read lots of comments on the web about radar/laser detectors, and many people tell you anything under $300-$400 is a waste of time, I have to disagree! I didn't have $300-$400 kicking around at the time, so I went down to Target and bought this one. I've now taken it on several trips around the US through many states, seen 100's of Cops and every time they're doing a radar trap, this lets me know straight away, and has never once let me down.
It does pick up automatic doors pretty easily, I switch it off going through cities or put it in silent mode, not a safe place I would chose for high speed driving anyway.
The only one thing I dont like, interstate bridges often have emergency service's equipment attached that triggers the radar detector, which you soon get used to as a false warning when approaching bridges. But even still for $50, this has been a great purchase and I've never got a ticket on my long drives using it. :D

It's basic, which is what i wanted. Some ppl want one that goes off if they discover life on mars, with a little arrow pointing there, but i don't care. It's all black, no funky chrome so it blends well. it's pretty sensitive, which is not bad, but be ready to hear it go off around some stores.

The radar works as well as I had imagined. The alerts are somewhat annoying but they do keep you awake.