Two Radar Detectors (includes Live Simulation)
July 2001
What's All the Fuzz About?
Cobra and Whistler Radar Detectors
by Jamie Latshaw
The bad boy in the consumer electronics industry is reinventing itself, proving that even a rebel can have a heart of gold.
Radar detectors no longer have one narrow-focused purpose, that of avoiding the police, speeding tickets and getting around the laws of the road. Additional features now provide safety and convenience while on the road, but of course, that doesn't mean they've abandoned their roots.
COBRA XR-1010
Five simple and easily understood buttons on the Cobra XR-1010 provide all of the necessary functions of this radar detector/safety alert device. The power button turns it on and off. Volume does just what it suggests. Mute pressed once turns the volume off, a second time restores the volume to the previous level, and held in for two seconds turns on/off auto-muting, which reduces the volume of an alert after three seconds. The dim button adjusts the brightness between dim, dimmer, dark and bright. And the city button selects the sensitivity of the detector for city or highway driving. It's that easy. Each of the setting options are announced clearly with a pleasant sounding voice.
The XR-1010 provides 10 bands of detection, eight of which are used to avoid cops. The other two bands are the Safety Alert and Strobe Alert Systems. Safety Alert will warn a driver of emergency vehicles and road hazards where Safety Alert transmitters are used.
And the Strobe Alert System works with emergency vehicles so equipped with the system to warn drivers of their approach. (I didn't hear any Safety Alert or Strobe Alert messages during the two months I used the Cobra radar detector for this story.)
The Cobra is an easy-to-use detector that requires no immediate reference to the owner's manual. However, if you feel like reading it for fun's sake, you'll learn a few secrets to customizing the settings. Pressing and holding the mute button, you can select either the "voice and tone mode" or "tone only mode." Voice and tone mode is the factory default setting. Holding the dim button for two seconds turns off the VG-2 detection.
Click here for a Price Comparison from eCoustics.com.
Cobra and Whistler Radar Detectors
by Jamie Latshaw
The bad boy in the consumer electronics industry is reinventing itself, proving that even a rebel can have a heart of gold.
Radar detectors no longer have one narrow-focused purpose, that of avoiding the police, speeding tickets and getting around the laws of the road. Additional features now provide safety and convenience while on the road, but of course, that doesn't mean they've abandoned their roots.
COBRA XR-1010
Five simple and easily understood buttons on the Cobra XR-1010 provide all of the necessary functions of this radar detector/safety alert device. The power button turns it on and off. Volume does just what it suggests. Mute pressed once turns the volume off, a second time restores the volume to the previous level, and held in for two seconds turns on/off auto-muting, which reduces the volume of an alert after three seconds. The dim button adjusts the brightness between dim, dimmer, dark and bright. And the city button selects the sensitivity of the detector for city or highway driving. It's that easy. Each of the setting options are announced clearly with a pleasant sounding voice.
The XR-1010 provides 10 bands of detection, eight of which are used to avoid cops. The other two bands are the Safety Alert and Strobe Alert Systems. Safety Alert will warn a driver of emergency vehicles and road hazards where Safety Alert transmitters are used.
And the Strobe Alert System works with emergency vehicles so equipped with the system to warn drivers of their approach. (I didn't hear any Safety Alert or Strobe Alert messages during the two months I used the Cobra radar detector for this story.)
The Cobra is an easy-to-use detector that requires no immediate reference to the owner's manual. However, if you feel like reading it for fun's sake, you'll learn a few secrets to customizing the settings. Pressing and holding the mute button, you can select either the "voice and tone mode" or "tone only mode." Voice and tone mode is the factory default setting. Holding the dim button for two seconds turns off the VG-2 detection.
Click here for a Price Comparison from eCoustics.com.
