Buy Whistler XTR-265 Laser Radar Detector On Sale

Careful
This was my first radar detector--I drive conservatively, ie, the speed limit, but due to the great number of work zones constantly popping up along a several state route that I often take, I decided to buy one (work zones usually, but not always, come with good signage requiring deceleration but I thought that an additional prompt would help for safety reasons particularly if a situation of reduced visibility developed). I read numerous reviews of various detectors before I bought this one. The price range is broad. I settled on this one because of value, it seemed. One review which I read before buying began with its writer saying, "up front" that cost was the primary factor in his purchase of the Whistler XTR-265 and he then went on to give a glowing review. I bought and have used this unit three times, all highway. The first was a 60 mile jaunt on an interstate in NYS and the unit seemed to perform adequately: it lit up and beeped and then came the cruiser, allowing ample time to ensure that you're at or below the posted speed. The second was pretty much the same. I did notice during both jaunts a few, what seemed to be, stray beeps with unit's registering up to 3 (on a 1 to 9 scale) on the "X" band (with the unit set to highway) there being nothing that I could see anywhere which should have triggered this-- coming or going, nor was I close to houses. So that was puzzling. But the real problem was yet to come: On my third outing, I drove 400 miles through three states (NY, NJ & PA). I went past a NYS trooper in his vehicle at a right angle to the traffic facing my direction and the unit registered nothing, zero--no sound, no light. I came within 25 feet of the trooper's car. I mulled this over as the miles went on and concluded that for whatever odd reason, he must have had his unit off (I later asked my cousin about this--he's a retired trooper and he said, "Unlikely"). But wait. About 150 miles later and during that same third outing on an interstate in PA, the identical situation happened again--I mean identical. I passed the nose of the state trooper's vehicle as he was watching traffic. I looked at the unit--it was on, on the right setting, volume up. It was like it was supposed to be but did nothing. I later called Whistler and spoke to someone there who actually posited that both troopers had their units off--I got nowhere with her and she seemed to be responding to me from a FAQ page and did not really have a grasp of the technicalities of the product, and never ventured into them. She suggested that I return the product telling me that I have "thirty days". Good suggestion.

Great deal for the money.
I purchased this as a replacement for my venerable Beltronics 980. I radar/laser detector will save a lot of time and money if you use it right.

Decent
I bought this item because I've read a lot of good reviews on it, so I bought it. Overall its been okay... The device detects a lot of security alarms and garage doors, so it goes off quite a bit for "no" reason. Although the functionality of the device is great, City, City 1, City 2 and Highway modes are great, as well as the Dim/Dark settings for night time driving! It also has a couple quiet modes but i do not use them since you can just turn the volume down! Its a nice product, very well made and functional but it does detect useless things at times. Besides the detection of security systems and so on, it is a nice product.

Great Economy Unit...All Most Should Need
I will admit up front that I bought this unit based solely on price. That, and the fact I am a long time buyer of Whistler radar detectors. Like another reviewer here, my first experience with a radar detector was a now ancient "fuzz buster" that never really failed on me, but merely became obsolete over time. I took a long break over the years from radar detectors mostly due to the fact that I am older now and hardly ever in that much of a hurry. Unfortunately under the disguise of supposedly only being interested in saving our lives, radar traps and pull overs from rolling radar has increased dramatically over the last few years where I live. Severe financial problems on the state and local level has been holding us in its iron grip here long before it became fashionable nation wide. So now that things have gone from normally flat busted to fiddling with financial collapse, the police in the state have expanded their role as peace makers to that of rolling revenue agents. There was a long time here where friendly warnings where handed out generously for a 40 plus year driver like myself cruising a couple of miles over the speed limit. The police had bigger fish they were after. A true vehicular desperado I was not. Those days of yore have unfortunately vanished in the wake of the towns and states flashing empty pockets all around.

In an effort not to see my own contribution to the problem come at the hands of purportedly "saving my life", I purchased this Whistler 265 model about 6 months ago. I was quite taken aback by the wide range of prices on these units at first. The last time I bought one there was perhaps a price difference between the economy model and a true space age unit. Now it can be as high as 0 or more. Since this 265 was a Whistler that was capable of picking up all the radar technology currently available, and cost about , I decided this was the one for me. All I can say from my own experience with this fine unit is I can only imagine what those higher priced models really do, for this 265 seems to perform it all quite nicely. Simply put, its the best I have spent in a very long time. The 265 is easy to install on your windshield with the bracket provided, and a coil style cord plugs into your cigarette lighter, or 12 volt outlet that just about all cars provide these days. (If you prefer to install on your dash or elsewhere, a velcro strip will hold this unit easily). As far as features, the 265 seems to have all one could ask for. This Whistler provides tone alerts, quiet modes, numeric icon displays, alert priority, and even a vehicle battery saver. It also has both visual and audible alerts, and a volume control. As far as actually detecting and warning you of any radar in the area, mine has so far never missed a beat. Although I am not much of a heavy footer that needs as much advanced warning as possible, I would have to say that any warning that does come from the 265 has been in advance enough to save me from being picked up in about 80% of the cases, or more. It is especially capable in picking up stationary radar, which although a lot of advertisements for these devices claim has gone out of style in favor of rolling radar, is still well in vogue here in my neck of the woods. I have picked up signals so far in advance in some of the stationary cases that at times I felt the the detector is picking up something else. Then lo and behold, smokey appears on the side of the road. For rolling radar, the advance warning is a little more random, but still very effective in my opinion. It is omni directional and will pick up a radar signal far off the side of you as easily as it does ahead, or behind you. I love this little unit and feel it is personally the best deal in detectors that there is going on the market presently.

In conclusion, I should mention that I live in a small town. There are no real heavily congested areas, or locales where there is any real city atmosphere. So my detector doesn't really have to work that hard at distinguishing alarms and doors openers from the real McCoy. If you live in a city or any form of heavily congested area with a lot of commerce, it very well may be a good idea to move up to a higher priced, more sensitive model. Personally I feel that the only difference between the high ticket radar detectors and this model is their ability to differentiate between real speed radar, and any other device that uses the same technology. That, and perhaps a little more technology in giving you a shade more warning. For a small town atmosphere like where I live, I honestly feel that the Whistler XTR-265 is all the radar detector you should ever need. Unless you simply love to speed, or the local police seem to have a special fondness for you, why pay more. A good, solid, dependable unit. Highly recommended...

Replacement Whistler
I replaced an acient Whistler that missed four different cops shooting something on the Interstate on a trip to FL. I then took another trip to FL with the XTR-265 and it showed me every cop plus is better at ignoring auto doors. I picked this unit for the reputation of Whistler from my experience and written reviews. Now that I have a unit that will show me the cops everywhere I can travel without worrying about speed traps. This unit also remembers the last settings so you don't have to change them every time you start your car. BTW: I still have my original Fuzz Buster from the 70's sitting on a shelf as a memento.