Customer Reviews

Cobra XRS-9830 12-Band Radar/Laser Detector

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have used this radar detector for over a year now. It is the best detector in this price range. Be sure to read the manual completely as it is necessary to turn on some of the bands in city mode. When I started using it every day I quickly learned where the false alarms are. Rouge warnings are the ones to look out for. The Laser warning has gone off several times (in fact the alarm will really get your attention) but with laser once you pick up the signal, you're probably nailed. The emergency vehicle warning works, but not very many emergency vehicles have the transponder necessary to activate the warning. My detector has been very durable, it seems to get really hot sometimes with the sun beating on it, but it has never failed to work. Sometimes it's hard to see the screen in bright light, but the audio warnings make up for that. I like the voice warnings because it tells you the type of radar it's picking up, so you don't have to look at the unit to find out. At one time or another it has picked up each type of radar advertised and each has a different audio alert. Intellimute is nice feature. I don't use the compass.

I look forward to the day when I can buy an expensive detector and do a side by side comparison, but overall I would say if you pay close attention to the settings and keep in mind what a radar detector can and can not do for you, this is a good choice for the money.

I bought this radar detector about 7 months ago and since then it has saved me at least 4 times from state troopers that had all their lights off on the side of the road (so you wouldn't be able to see them until it was too late). This detector usually lets me know about .4-.75 mile in advance of a radar signal (more like 1000-1500 feet if the signal is blocked, i.e. trooper parked behind a concrete barricade). Overall, I would say this is worth the money, since one speeding ticket is about $200 in Pennsylvania!

Revisited: Mine died mysteriously within 8 months of owning it. I contacted Cobra who was nice enough to send me a warranty replacement. 9 months later the WARRANTY REPLACEMENT died of the same mysteriousness. I contacted Cobra who said that they could not send any more because I had already gotten my warranty replacement. I have a feeling the electronics in the detector were simply not designed to withstand high amounts of heat (such as that present in a windshield area in the middle of summer during a long trip). I always put it in the glovebox when parked. A better product design could have solved that... but either way, I'm out a couple hundred dollars. Lame.

It is just amazing. Thats all i have to say about it! Its well worth the GREAT price I got it for.

We havent gotten any tickets since we got the radar detector.

Overall a good experiance with this product. It is built and functions well. Does take some time to go through all the settings and turn off unneeded radar types from alerting. It was shipped with all alerts on, bit anoying with all on alerting almost every other minute. With all the settings to fine tune types of alerts for diffrent radar type resolves and made it very usefull. Another feature is the Emergency Vehicle alert, it makes a specific tone alert along with display when it see's Emergency vehicles like an ambulance that are not using radar. Volume can be turned up loud for those that like to drive with the music loud. last feature is the volt meter, displays the voltage your car battery is running at. Device displays the current voltage when there is no alert going off.

I had a Rocky Mountain detector and it was good about not giving false detections and when there was a cop it would let me know, unfortunately I left it up in my car and it was stolen. I also realize all detectors will give some false alerts because of all the technology used now plus automatic doors, etc. However this detector gives alerts ALL the time. It even went off when I would turn in my neighborhood, my Rocky Mountain never did that. I called Cobra and the person told me the only reason it would give a KA Alert would be it was receiving a radar signal. (Well, I know there was no radar in my neighborhood) So, thinking it was defective I returned it and received another one. Well, it was the same going off all the time with NO cop in sight. It would still go off when I turned on my street and different areas of my neighborhood. I changed every setting and re-changed over and over again and still KA ALERT, KA ALERT. I set the compass twice and I have a very precise compass built into my car and it was not even close to the direction I was traveling. If you turn on POP alert then the POP Alert goes off and still there is nothing around. Whenever I would turn on an alert SP, Spectra, etc. I would have alerts going off all the time and would never see what a radar detector should warn you about, A COP. This thing drove me CRAZY! When I did see a cop sometimes it would alert me but the distance was nothing like my Rocky Mountain. The only thing I felt worked kinda right was the emergency vehicle alert but by the time it would go off the emergency vehicle was on top of me or I would here the siren first. Basically, I just want to know where the cops are. I always thought Cobra was a top notch detector for the price and thought this one was great because all the features for the price the voice alert I turned off because I got SICK of hearing it. I would never buy a Cobra again. My roommate did buy a lower end Cobra about the time I got mine and it seems to be better without all the features and alert settings. He just plugged it in drove and he likes it. Spend a little extra and get a Beltronics 440 it gets very good ratings and has a nice LOW male voice alert plus chirps that sound more like a cricket and is not annoying. I have had my Beltronics 440 for about two weeks and it is quiet until I come across a cop or a speed check. It also has not gone off in my neighborhood. It does go off when I turn towards a store with an automatic door but I think they all go off when you go by those. Hope this helps in your quest for a good radar detector.

I like it very much it seems to be doing the job when i pass radar.

I purchased this product got it up in running in 10 seconds. This model is great it has the easiest user interface I have ever seen. Just use the buttons on the top and it will tell you how to work it.

The features are outstanding it has everything that you will need for the present day and what is to come in the future. I would defintly recommend this for just about anyone who drives at all. This model has amazingly great range on it. I have found it to have a few false alarms here and there particulary in pop mode but its easy enough to just click the city mode on the top and basically get rid of all those false alerts. The only down side is probably the size of it, by no means is it descrete when you have a police officer in front of you or behind but drive legally and you won't have any problem since there not illegal. I defintly recommend Cobra over everyone else due to there exclusive safety alert I have been surprised by how many times that thing has gone off and I the emergency vehicle is a ways back out of sight. Buy this product trust me anyone who drives at all will find it very handy. The price of speeding tickets now a days means that it pays for itself if you get caught off guard even once.

THE XRS9830 12 RADAR-LAZAR DETECTOR DOES EVERYTHING YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE IN THE BUSY CITY OR ON THE HIWAY. THE FIRST TIME I USED THE DETECTOR IT PICKED UP EMERGENCY VEHICLES EVEN BEFORE I HEARD THE SIRENS. I HAVN'T USED IT ON THE HIWAYS YET BUT AFTER READING ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS I AM SURE IT WILL BE FINE. THE ONLY DOWN SIDE I CAN SEE IS THE COMPASS. IT IS NOT 100% ACCURATE ACCORDING TO THE COMPASS IN MY INFINITY.

I WOULD PREFER "IDIOT LIGHTS" TO ALERT WHEN THREATS ARE FAR OR NEAR vs. FLASHING LETTERS OF RADAR BANDS. OTHERWISE, THIS PIECE IS TOP OF THE LINE TECHNOLOGY. ALSO, I SAVED APPROX $50 SO I CAN'T REALLY COMPLAIN. A MUST BUY FOR "LEAD-FOOT" DRIVERS LIKE MYSELF!!!

This item was mirepresented as "new" from the seller and was a factory refurbished item. It works somewhat, the compass doesn't know which direction is which. Its actually comical to see the direction change from NE to SE while driving straight on a highway. Avoid seller and product