Uniden LRD6599SWS Radar Detector

I had wanted to get a radar detector for quite a while, you see I am what most people call a leadfoot. Nothing extreme mind you, but ticketworthy nonetheless. After sampling the use of a radar detector a friend let me borrow I decided I couldn?t drive without one any more. Soon after that experience I started researching radar detectors. Well, tried to research affordable radar detectors. Sure you?ll spend as much for a Valentine one as you would a speeding ticket (Southern California tickets do cost this much and more) But then again, the reason you buy one of these is because you can?t afford the ticket. Duh! Well ok back to the hunt?

After a week of researching I found only one testing company who kept up to date with the current technology and they were Speedlabs. ( www.speedlabs.com ) I decided on the Uniden because in the tests it was the best bang for the buck, albeit more expensive than what I wanted to spend but it was supposed to be the better one at detecting radar. That night I bid on a nicer model, the one tested in the speedlabs report. After I was outbid during the last 30 seconds I decided to look around the stores for something similar. A couple days later I had a 6599SWS hanging off my windshield.

From the second I turned the thing on it started going off at anything that moved, had moved and might have thought about moving anytime during the next eon. Everything set this thing off the worst was going under power lines. I would continuously hear BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Ka Band! Unfortunately I had to go to Vegas that weekend so I couldn?t take the thing back, so I borrowed my friend?s trusty Cobra and went on the road. The times I did try to use it, it would go nuts, even out in the middle of the desert where there is nothing this thing would go off. Needless to say I decided to use the Cobra for most of the trip.

When I got back I exchanged the oversensitive unit for another one. I found it a little while better but still falsing more than it should. Especially around digital cel sites. I figured ehh? I think I can live with this. But after hearing BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Ka Band! For the 100th time yesterday then driving past a known speed trap and the thing turning quiet as a ghost, I finally decided not to keep this thing. Fortunately for me my friend was selling his Cobra.

As for the unit in particular, the construction is very solid, this thing was designed to be knocked around. The suction cup mount is quite well designed; it uses the upper corners of the front of the unit to stabilize itself. If you get the cups to suction well then this thing isn?t going anywhere. There is a release button up top that I whish the cobra had so you could quickly pull the detector off the windshield when you go into the store or in for the night. It comes with a straight cable so you can discreetly route the power up above the mirror so you don?t get that coiled cord flopping around all over the place. The LCD display is very easy to read and it also has a multicolored LED light to alert you visually when radar is detected. This unit also has the voice option, trust me you can live without it. The voice recordings are very scratchy and hardly intelligible. Another nice feature this detector has is the Safety Warning System. What this is, is a coded radar signal emitted by some emergency vehicles as well as trains and construction sites. Unfortunately Southern California doesn?t use this type of system, so I never got to see how it works.

So basically, with some error correction this unit would be a pretty good buy especially for those who are hard on the products they buy. But they didn?t. Too bad, would have been a great product.