Product Description
Radar/Laser Detector with Color LCD, Voice Alert, Compass and GPS
| List Price: | $289.95 |
| Price: |
$253.81 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
| as of Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:55:28 GMT ***Remember, deals price on this item for sale just for limited time*** | |
Product Details
- Brand: Cobra
- Model: SLR 650G
- Dimensions: 1.47" h x 3.63" w x 4.61" l, .50 pounds
- Display size: 2.4
Features
- Supercharged Performance Radar/Laser Detector, provides phenomenal detection range on all radar/laser speed monitoring devices
- Quad-level IntelliShield lets you choose from 4 levels of city filtering modes for improved false signal rejection
- 2.4 inch, High-Def color display gives you a bright and easy to read/operate screen in any lighting situation with touch-point controls, choose from 6 user-selectable color themes
- VoiceAlert provides user with human voice band annunciation
- Internal GPS receiver and lifetime AURA camera and driving hazard database alerts users to speed and red light cameras, known speed traps and dangerous intersections
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
46 of 54 people found the following review helpful.
Multaradar CD / Arizona DPS Photovans / Low Powered K Band Radars Users Read This Review.
By Laercio Silva Jr.
I was trying different radar detectors in my country and no one could detect the Multaradar CD that operate in K Band here... so I saw that Cobra was releasing the new Vedetta Series with supercharged detection, so again I give a shot like my last hope and again unfortunately this is another detector that could not detect the Multadar CD.
Pros:
- This detector looks really nice, better than any another one that I tried before including the Escort 9500.
- Is a lot smaller than I thought, that was my concern after seen the pictures, but the detector is nice built and really small.
- The screen is nice you can change the colors scheme, for colored or mono color to match your car dash, I really liked that function in my case I use Blue Scheme.
- This detector is really smart on false alarms, when you are just moving slow the detector doesn't emit any sound just screen alerts, that is really handy when you are on the city.
- The design, the looks and the material used in the construction is really higher than the ones used on other detectors that I did try before.
Cons:
- In my case can't detect the Multaradar CD K Band.
- The support is ugly like the Garmin ones, I didn't liked, so I used velcro on my dash to mount (Velcro Included).
- The cord is not coiled, is just the regular cord, so you have to use something to wrap what is left, is too long for my taste.
- Very poor information online about this device, the box came with just a really small mini manual, they should put online the tech info about this device.
To resume my experience I felt really bad when I just stopped my car and put the detector face to face with the Multaradar CD and it not even beep!! the cops just gave me the smile and said to me 'How your 300 bucks detector could beat our 50.000.00 machine?" actually he was really nice to let me try my detector so close!!! and no, don't even beep!! this, the suction cup and the poor information available online about this device is the reason that I give 3 stars...
If you have any doubt about this detector, fell free to ask me before you purchase!
UPDATE 08/21/2012
I just received an e-mail from Cobra and they confirmed that they radars can't detect radars operating at K band 24.100 Ghz, however on the radar documents they did send me, that clearly says that the SLR 650G can detect on K band between 24.000 Ghz and 24.250 Ghz. So 24.100 Ghz is inside the range. That is the reason I removed 1 star more.
Cobra claims to detect any threat, any band more than any another one, but unfortunately that is not true so Buyer be aware if you pretend to use this detector to detect low powered K band radars.
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent windshield mount, good performance, a bit bulky
By M. Erb
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2OXMM6QEI8M16 This is the second Cobra radar detector that I've owned. The first Cobra XRS 9960G Voice Alert 15-Band Radar/Laser Detector with 1.5-Inch Full-Color Display, GPS Locator, and Red Light/Speed Features one worked OK but had a weird GPS dongle hanging off the side of it. Unfortunately the display became permanently dim after a couple years. I no longer use it.
The Vedetta has a completely different display which is larger than the display on the previous unit. In addition it offers much greater flexibility in viewing angle and mounting since it swivels and pivots. You even have the ability to electronically flip the display upside down in order to facilitate mounting the radar detector in the way that best fits for your particular car. The Vedetta has an integrated GPS so that means no external GPS module hanging off to one side of the unit.
Power is supplied to the Vedetta via a power port/cigarette lighter plug. It was disappointing to me that the Vedetta does not have a USB power port on the unit itself but uses a proprietary plug. This may be due to its power requirements but I'm not sure. It would certainly be more helpful to have a USB power plug since most other GPS's and other devices have migrated to that and it makes it less cumbersome to be able to use the same USB power cord that many other devices use.
The Vedetta starts up automatically when power to the unit is provided. There is a power button to turn the unit off. The power button serves another purpose as well; if held for a few seconds, the display flips upside down. This helps you to position the unit more easily on your windshield.
The windshield mount provided is the best mount I've ever used. The disc is sticky and uses a suction mechanism. The combination provides a "won't let go" attachment to your windshield that is superb. I've never had the mount loosen and fall off the windshield in heat, cold or any circumstance. It's the best!
The screen is characterized as having "touch-sensor controls" which is not to be confused with an actual touch screen. It's not a touch screen such as an iPhone touch screen. In this case the controls are operated by touching designated areas on either side of the actual information display. In my case, the right side "buttons" or sensors worked easily whereas the left side "buttons" required a more definitive press that I could only accomplish by using two hands. A simple one finger touch to the sensor area was not enough to activate it.
The screen is very glossy and has no anti-glare properties whatsoever. At times it is impossible to see the display due to the glare. Why don't electronics makers utilize anti-glare screens especially when the device is going to be in a situation where external light will always be hitting it? I just don't understand this.
The Vedetta allows you to set filters that determine at what sensitivity the audio alert for radar/laser will activate. I normally keep mine on the highway setting which lets all alerts through since I live in an area with few false alarms. If you are in a dense urban area, you'd probably not want to keep it on highway setting as you'd be picking up all sorts of random signals from automatic door openers, etc.
The Vedetta seems to have a great range of picking up radar. In one instance the Ka alert went off a mile in advance of where the police car was sitting on the side of the road. In another case, I had slightly over a mile advance warning of a speed limit monitor device that was parket in a residential area.
I've had the unit indicate several "speed trap" areas in my area. I'm not quite sure how these areas are added to the AURA database or how frequently the database is updated, but I update my Vedetta weekly if I remember to. One concern for Mac users is the unfortunate reality that you cannot update the AURA database on your Vedetta if you use a Mac. The software is only available for Windows machines. Come on Cobra. that's not acceptable.
I personally do not like the graphics of the display. They are clunky looking and remind me of a cheesy circa 1978 video game or something. I do like the indication of compass heading and speed, I just don't like how that information is presented. There is also an unneeded animation at the bottom of the display that serves no purpose other than to provide some eye candy that you will quickly tire of looking at. It cannot be disabled.
Overall, this is a well-functioning unit. One feature I like a lot is the ability to easily change the radar sensitivity from highway to city by a simple, single button push. But If I had one wish it would be that it gave an indication of what direction the radar signal is coming from. Valentine radar detectors provide this feature. It is more helpful knowing where the radar is coming from. The excellent windshield mount makes this secure on your windshield in all conditions. The sensitivity seems great and lifetime updates to the AURA database are included. Too bad Mac users can't update their Vedetta's AURA database though. That's a big oversight that Cobra should address.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.Good detector- but it needs MS Windows to download updates
By Michael J. Edelman
The last radar detector I bought was back in the days one single X band detectors that had a lot of false alerts and a lot of missed alerts, so I was curious to see what the latest generation detectors had to offer. Police departments are increasingly switching to LIDAR as they can afford it, as it's more directional, so I was also curious to see how well this detector could spot LIDAR- before it actually targeted me.
My first trip out, the alarms went off as soon as I left my neighborhood and turned on to a local mile road with a 30 mile per hour speed limit. I could see a car perhaps 100 yards behind me, but I didn't identify it as a police car (it was night) until it overtook me. Apparently the local PD just keeps their radar on when cruising the neighborhood. Interesting, and useful to know. About fifteen minutes later, the display lit up preen, announcing the GPS-marked presence of a known speed trap- just blocks from where I got a 5-over speed ticket fifteen years previous. The color changed to yellow, then red, and then yellow and green again as I passed through the area. Now that's a useful feature. Better to know about the speed traps before you even enter the area. And speaking of the GPS, it achieves satellite lock-on incredibly fast- much faster than my brand new Garmin GPS. Power up, and in about five seconds the SLR 650G announces it has a good GPS signal and it's ready to go.
My next trip was a 120 mile round trip via Michigan's I-696, I-275 (where 70mph is the slowest you'll ever find cars driving) , M-14 and I-23, and I found a great many alerts from both the GPS and the active radar detection. No LIDAR alerts, though, even though I had the box mounted high and clear. Maybe my boxy green Honda just didn't attract the attention of any LIDAR-weilding Michigan State Police officers. I've put a total of 350 miles on the car since installing the Cobra, and while I've found many a radar car and noted many a speed trap alert, I still have yet to see a LIDAR alert. if I do eventually manage to light up any LIDAR guns I'll make note of it here. I should note that I also found the compass and speed display to be very useful- the compass when driving around unfamiliar areas, and the speed display because the speedometer on my Honda Element is very difficult to see.
One of the best features of this detector is the free lifetime software and GPS speed trap updates, but that points out what is also, for me, a serious drawback: The update software only runs on Windows, and I only run unix and OSX. I sent a request to Cobra's support via the web site asking if their were any work-arounds for OSX, but have yet to receive a reply. Googles searches also failed to turn up any solutions. Another flaw noted by other reviewers (though I have no way of testing this) is the lack of sensitivity at 24.100 Ghz.
One thing I did discover that surprised me was how useful a RADAR/LIDAR/GPS box is, even for someone who no longer drives a sports car as if he thinks he's in an F1 race. There are little revenue-enhacing speed traps everywhere these days, places where the posted limit suddenly drops from 45 to 30 with little warning, and the SLR 650 showed me a number not very far from me I wasn't even aware of.
So in summary, a very useful detector, and one that might get another star from me if only I could update it from a Macintosh or Linux platform.
Two month update: I've made many more highway trips since the box arrived, and still no LIDAR alerts. That's probably because police cars don't cruise with LIDAR on continuously as they do with standard radar. Unless you're being targeted- or possibly the car right next to you is having their plate lit up- you're probably not going to see a LIDAR alert. I've also noticed that it gets a lot of false alerts form the K-band microwave sensors used in automatic door openers at shopping centers.
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