Beltronics Vector 895 Radar Detector
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A radar detector that works and doesn't cost $400?!
Pros
Good K and Ka band performance, few radar falses, programmable city X.
Cons
Noisy default startup, laser falses
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Outstanding K band detection with several user programmable functions. Just turn it off if you drive past an airport.
The Beltronics 895 radar detector is sold exclusively by Radioshack. The original MSRP was $199, but it's been discontinued and is now clearance priced at $147. Get one while you can, they are getting hard to come by.
FYI The Beltronics 895 is internally the same as the Bel 955 available at other chain retailers so this review will apply to either model.
I bought a Bel 895 because of an increased presence by the AL state troopers on my commute route. They only seem to be there during the morning rush hour, I guess that's when most folks are in a hurry. I got the last 895 within 100 miles of Birmingham. It was clearance priced for $147 and after reading the glowing reviews I new it was the one for me. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but after using it for a few weeks I think it's money well spent. Scroll to the bottom for references and professional reviews of the 895. Here are my thoughts.
First Impressions
The Vector 895 is a nice looking piece of equipment. It has 4 buttons on top that are easy to find in the dark. The windshield mount seems sort of small but it does work well. The thing I remember most is thinking it really felt heavier than I expected. There's a small yet helpful owner's manual, power cord, and windshield mount. Pretty minimalist.
The initial startup was loud and busy, I started having flashbacks of the radar detectors of old. The 895 goes through a startup test wherein it goes through one tone of each alert. I was annoyed. I drove home with all the default settings, wouldn't you know it, not a cop in sight! I used the "Autoscan" mode as recommended by Bel. I did get a couple of false K band alerts, but only when I was actually in the parking lot and facing the doors of a big, orange hardware store. The Vector 895 has voice alerts enabled by default so it would beep and then say "K Band". I'm thinking "Now I have two annoying "features" to disable when I get home." No more encounters on the maiden voyage.
Programming
Fortunately the Bel Vector 895 has several user programmable settings. The manual includes a detachable, wallet sized, "quick reference" card for the programming, but honestly I don't see a use for it. Entering programming mode is as easy as holding down two buttons, once in programming mode one button scrolls through settings, the other toggles them... easy like pie.
Pilot - The display length. It can be long or short. The default spells out the current mode of the detector e.g. "Highway". I changed it to abbreviated mode so it only displays "H"
Voice - On or Off, I changed my from the default (on) to off.
Power on Sequence - This is my favorite setting! You can change the Vector 895s power on sounds from the annoying pattern of all tones to just one beep. I changed this right away and I love it on "fast" mode.
Automute - enabled by default, this feature automatically reduces the volume of alerts that don't grow stronger. It's great for those on ramp "Your Speed Is" signs that you know are there. I left it enabled.
City Mode Sensitivity - My second favorite feature, this one allows you to adjust the X band sensitivity when the 895 is in city mode. You can lower it or even disable it, although Bel warns that you should be absolutely sure there are no X band radar units in your area before doing so.
Bands - allows you to enable SWS (Safety Warnings) and POP detection (a newer form of instant on radar). I chose to enable POP, more on that later.
That's it for programming, it's set it and forget it. All the settings are saved, even when power is removed from the unit. It can be reset to factory defaults by holding down the programming buttons during startup.
Radar Detection
Buy the Bel Vector 895 or 955 right now! If you do, it will make every traffic enforcement officer in your area dissapear!
Well, maybe not, but it took me 3 days to find an "LEO" after I got my 895. It's like a repeller instead of a detector, at least for the first couple of days.
My first encounter was on a US highway. I had the 895 in "Autoscan" mode and I was on my way home. I was going about 6 mph over the posted limit when from out of nowhere (and in the middle of nowhere I should point out) I get a K band beep and two bars. I took my foot off the gas and slowed to the posted limit and made a note of my odometer. The K band alerts got faster and more bars showed on the display so I knew I had my first radar encounter... now to see how far away. 1.3 miles later (based on my 06 Civic odometer) and over a slight hill I encountered a local officer driving towards me with constant on K radar. Plenty of warning... first test passed ! Subsequent K band encounters yeilded similar results. The Vector 895 works great for constant on K band. I've gotten close to two miles warning on stationary officers.
I'd had the Vector 895 a week before I ever got a Ka warning. It's like the State Troopers all vanished. I couldn't find one even in the known speedtrap spots. I finally found one... he had some poor guy pulled over and I saw him on the side of the road. I figured I wouldn't get anything since he already had someone his radar would be off. I got to about 100 yards and then got a Ka alert and two bars. Not very reassuring... first Ka test inconclusive. My second Ka test was at one of the known speedtraps. Since I wasn't yet convinced of the 895's Ka abilities I remained cautious. Other motorist were flying by me (speed limit change from 70 to 60 and the troopers love this area) and all of the sudden they were braking at the top of the hill. I knew that meant there was an LEO there, but no radar alerts... I get to the top of the hill... nothing... I can see the officer about 1/4th mile away... nothing! I continue at the posted speed limit until I'm just a few hundred feet from the trooper and BAM! Full strength Ka alert. I'd just been tagged with instant on. Now I know that I'm only going to get a warning if he uses the instant on against a vehicle in front of me, but I have trouble believing that with the volume and speed of the other traffic on the road that he waited until I came over the hill (in the slow lane) to use his radar.
My third Ka alert had much better results. Same speed trap location, but this time I got a 2 bar Ka alert just after cresting the hill. The officer had used his instant on against another vehicle on the other side of the road (got him too) but I got about 1/4th mile worth of notice with the officer targeting away from me.
Update 11/6/2006
Ka band detection has turned out to be outstanding. The 895 is capable of Ka detection of over a mile in my experience. My last wo Ka encounters yeilded over a mile of warning, so far in fact that I almost thought they were falses!
I have not had any Lidar (laser) encounters so I can't comment on it's effectivness. I 've only had laser falses. I'm don't know if laser is used in AL.
False Alarms
Radar detectors have come a long way since the mid 90's when I had my last one. The reason I stopped using one was because they would always go off so much that I'd just ignore them. I'd read that the 895 was much improved and I figured that I had 30 days to return it if it annoyed me.
False alarms are very infrequent on my Vector 895 when POP is disabled. I only get an occassional X or K band alert if I'm in highway mode (x) or in the parking lot and facing automatic doors (k). I do get a very strong X alert near an auto body shop on my commute, it must be a security system. Fortunately the City mode features allow me to cut back X sensitivity. K band falses haven't been a problem on the road.
With POP mode enabled on my Vector 895 falses, especially K band falses increased substantially. This is because POP is designed to be such a short burst that the detector has to lower it's threshold and assume smaller signals could be police radar.
Laser falses drive me insane. I drive by the airport on my way to work. It's well documented that some of the equipment used at airports will cause laser falses on a radar detector. The Bel 895 has falsed on laser up to 4 miles from the airport! Laser alerts are designed to be full strength on the led screen and full volume so they are really loud and annoying. The 895 will false at random for about 5 miles while I'm passing the airport. I've learned to turn my detector off when I get over the last hill before the airport and not to turn it on until I pass that point on the way home. I'm usually going below the posted limit here anyway because of taffic congestion. At least I know the laser works, but most people agree that if you truly get hit with laser the detector is only informing you that you just got clocked.
Summary
For about what a single speeding ticket cost the Bel Vector 895 is a pretty good early warning system. It doesn't have some of the features of the higher end detectors, but it does perform very well where it really counts... detecting radar. Even though I'm not one to go more than about 10 over the posted limit, I still like to know that I have decreased the advantage that "the man" has. Just being able to slow down 5mph and drive by a speed trap saying "HA! I knew you were there!" every day is worth $150!
References:
http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleID=10053
http://www.radarbusters.com/landing/bel-v895-radar-detector.asp
http://www.trucktrend.com/features/consumer/163_0508_2005_radar_detector/index.html
FYI The Beltronics 895 is internally the same as the Bel 955 available at other chain retailers so this review will apply to either model.
I bought a Bel 895 because of an increased presence by the AL state troopers on my commute route. They only seem to be there during the morning rush hour, I guess that's when most folks are in a hurry. I got the last 895 within 100 miles of Birmingham. It was clearance priced for $147 and after reading the glowing reviews I new it was the one for me. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but after using it for a few weeks I think it's money well spent. Scroll to the bottom for references and professional reviews of the 895. Here are my thoughts.
First Impressions
The Vector 895 is a nice looking piece of equipment. It has 4 buttons on top that are easy to find in the dark. The windshield mount seems sort of small but it does work well. The thing I remember most is thinking it really felt heavier than I expected. There's a small yet helpful owner's manual, power cord, and windshield mount. Pretty minimalist.
The initial startup was loud and busy, I started having flashbacks of the radar detectors of old. The 895 goes through a startup test wherein it goes through one tone of each alert. I was annoyed. I drove home with all the default settings, wouldn't you know it, not a cop in sight! I used the "Autoscan" mode as recommended by Bel. I did get a couple of false K band alerts, but only when I was actually in the parking lot and facing the doors of a big, orange hardware store. The Vector 895 has voice alerts enabled by default so it would beep and then say "K Band". I'm thinking "Now I have two annoying "features" to disable when I get home." No more encounters on the maiden voyage.
Programming
Fortunately the Bel Vector 895 has several user programmable settings. The manual includes a detachable, wallet sized, "quick reference" card for the programming, but honestly I don't see a use for it. Entering programming mode is as easy as holding down two buttons, once in programming mode one button scrolls through settings, the other toggles them... easy like pie.
Pilot - The display length. It can be long or short. The default spells out the current mode of the detector e.g. "Highway". I changed it to abbreviated mode so it only displays "H"
Voice - On or Off, I changed my from the default (on) to off.
Power on Sequence - This is my favorite setting! You can change the Vector 895s power on sounds from the annoying pattern of all tones to just one beep. I changed this right away and I love it on "fast" mode.
Automute - enabled by default, this feature automatically reduces the volume of alerts that don't grow stronger. It's great for those on ramp "Your Speed Is" signs that you know are there. I left it enabled.
City Mode Sensitivity - My second favorite feature, this one allows you to adjust the X band sensitivity when the 895 is in city mode. You can lower it or even disable it, although Bel warns that you should be absolutely sure there are no X band radar units in your area before doing so.
Bands - allows you to enable SWS (Safety Warnings) and POP detection (a newer form of instant on radar). I chose to enable POP, more on that later.
That's it for programming, it's set it and forget it. All the settings are saved, even when power is removed from the unit. It can be reset to factory defaults by holding down the programming buttons during startup.
Radar Detection
Buy the Bel Vector 895 or 955 right now! If you do, it will make every traffic enforcement officer in your area dissapear!
Well, maybe not, but it took me 3 days to find an "LEO" after I got my 895. It's like a repeller instead of a detector, at least for the first couple of days.
My first encounter was on a US highway. I had the 895 in "Autoscan" mode and I was on my way home. I was going about 6 mph over the posted limit when from out of nowhere (and in the middle of nowhere I should point out) I get a K band beep and two bars. I took my foot off the gas and slowed to the posted limit and made a note of my odometer. The K band alerts got faster and more bars showed on the display so I knew I had my first radar encounter... now to see how far away. 1.3 miles later (based on my 06 Civic odometer) and over a slight hill I encountered a local officer driving towards me with constant on K radar. Plenty of warning... first test passed ! Subsequent K band encounters yeilded similar results. The Vector 895 works great for constant on K band. I've gotten close to two miles warning on stationary officers.
I'd had the Vector 895 a week before I ever got a Ka warning. It's like the State Troopers all vanished. I couldn't find one even in the known speedtrap spots. I finally found one... he had some poor guy pulled over and I saw him on the side of the road. I figured I wouldn't get anything since he already had someone his radar would be off. I got to about 100 yards and then got a Ka alert and two bars. Not very reassuring... first Ka test inconclusive. My second Ka test was at one of the known speedtraps. Since I wasn't yet convinced of the 895's Ka abilities I remained cautious. Other motorist were flying by me (speed limit change from 70 to 60 and the troopers love this area) and all of the sudden they were braking at the top of the hill. I knew that meant there was an LEO there, but no radar alerts... I get to the top of the hill... nothing... I can see the officer about 1/4th mile away... nothing! I continue at the posted speed limit until I'm just a few hundred feet from the trooper and BAM! Full strength Ka alert. I'd just been tagged with instant on. Now I know that I'm only going to get a warning if he uses the instant on against a vehicle in front of me, but I have trouble believing that with the volume and speed of the other traffic on the road that he waited until I came over the hill (in the slow lane) to use his radar.
My third Ka alert had much better results. Same speed trap location, but this time I got a 2 bar Ka alert just after cresting the hill. The officer had used his instant on against another vehicle on the other side of the road (got him too) but I got about 1/4th mile worth of notice with the officer targeting away from me.
Update 11/6/2006
Ka band detection has turned out to be outstanding. The 895 is capable of Ka detection of over a mile in my experience. My last wo Ka encounters yeilded over a mile of warning, so far in fact that I almost thought they were falses!
I have not had any Lidar (laser) encounters so I can't comment on it's effectivness. I 've only had laser falses. I'm don't know if laser is used in AL.
False Alarms
Radar detectors have come a long way since the mid 90's when I had my last one. The reason I stopped using one was because they would always go off so much that I'd just ignore them. I'd read that the 895 was much improved and I figured that I had 30 days to return it if it annoyed me.
False alarms are very infrequent on my Vector 895 when POP is disabled. I only get an occassional X or K band alert if I'm in highway mode (x) or in the parking lot and facing automatic doors (k). I do get a very strong X alert near an auto body shop on my commute, it must be a security system. Fortunately the City mode features allow me to cut back X sensitivity. K band falses haven't been a problem on the road.
With POP mode enabled on my Vector 895 falses, especially K band falses increased substantially. This is because POP is designed to be such a short burst that the detector has to lower it's threshold and assume smaller signals could be police radar.
Laser falses drive me insane. I drive by the airport on my way to work. It's well documented that some of the equipment used at airports will cause laser falses on a radar detector. The Bel 895 has falsed on laser up to 4 miles from the airport! Laser alerts are designed to be full strength on the led screen and full volume so they are really loud and annoying. The 895 will false at random for about 5 miles while I'm passing the airport. I've learned to turn my detector off when I get over the last hill before the airport and not to turn it on until I pass that point on the way home. I'm usually going below the posted limit here anyway because of taffic congestion. At least I know the laser works, but most people agree that if you truly get hit with laser the detector is only informing you that you just got clocked.
Summary
For about what a single speeding ticket cost the Bel Vector 895 is a pretty good early warning system. It doesn't have some of the features of the higher end detectors, but it does perform very well where it really counts... detecting radar. Even though I'm not one to go more than about 10 over the posted limit, I still like to know that I have decreased the advantage that "the man" has. Just being able to slow down 5mph and drive by a speed trap saying "HA! I knew you were there!" every day is worth $150!
References:
http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleID=10053
http://www.radarbusters.com/landing/bel-v895-radar-detector.asp
http://www.trucktrend.com/features/consumer/163_0508_2005_radar_detector/index.html
