Not for Mr. Leadfoot, but a decent warning device

Author's Rating:

Pros: Display visible in sunlight, decent detection range, loud audio when needed in a high-noise environment

Cons: Limited information on display, falsing from local alarm systems

The Bottom Line: 
A decent detector at a good price for the average commuter who may stray a few MPH above the limit each day. Not for the hardcore speed demon.

Author's Review
In the quest for a new radar detector to replace my fiance's aging Escort Passport 6800, I have developed a sort of fetish for test-driving these devices. I have been in law enforcement and thus not in need of a radar detector for several years, and now being someone who has "seen things from both sides of the radar gun" so to speak, I am intrigued by what I have learned about radar detection and the behavior of the average small town department's radar units.
I will keep this short but sweet. I borrowed a friend's Whistler DE1655 for a couple days a week the last few weeks to see how it performs. It is a modern unit purchased about six months ago at a local discount store. It is compact and easy to mount using a suction-cup affair. The display consists of LEDs with nonilluminated labels for each LED printed on the detector body itself.
All bells and whistles aside, I was mainly interested in the distance at which this detector could detect signals. From an un-scientific point of view, this device generally gave adequate warning to get the vehicle slowed down before the officer operating the radar could have obtained a sure reading. However, I warn the potential buyer that I can easily see this machine not providing enough warning time if traveling on an open highway at a high rate of speed. At 40MPH in a town this is a good detector for the average Joe who travels a few MPH above the speed limit; at 90MPH on a freeway it's a different story-- you had better hope the Doppler effect is in your favor and you receive warnings as the officer "zaps" the cars in front of you. On X band, which is rarely used here in suburban Massachusetts, the detector provided roughly half a mile of detection range at about 40MPH, certainly enough time for a cautious driver to slow down if the speed limit was 30 or 35MPH. On K and Ka bands, the detector only really lit up with more than one signal strength light when the radar was in sight-- too late to do much except prepare to talk one's way out of a citation. Let me review that comment again-- the device did provide some warning in what was probably enough time to slow for a K or Ka signal, however even the slightest reaction of one signal strength light must be regarded as the vehicle fast approaching the radar source. I was unable to test this against lidar as its use is still in infancy here.
I found that this detector was activated by X and K band alarm sensors on local businesses, but to a much lesser extent than cheaper modern detectors that I have seen recently.

The major "con" of this is the fact that the little printed labels for the LEDs are not well-illuminated in darkness and without the audio announcement one can not be sure of the band being received (though I suppose in time one would memorize which band corresponds to which LED). Is it an X band door sensor, or a K band radar signal? You will have to either un-mute the detector (let me tell you, if you happen to be on a phone or two way radio while a signal is received, the person you are talking to will be asking what he or she is hearing in the background, and may even get a bit of a laugh out of it) or memorize each LED to be certain.