Supercue

iTrader: (1)

Anybody got one of these gadgets and are they any good?
Or would you reccomend something different?

Any replies would be gratefully appreciated

Pockman

I've got one, but have probably only done 7 or 8 long journeys using it.

It works (or appears to) very well. GPS camera-position wise anyway, giving accurate warning of cameras and blackspots.

The only time I suspected it's performance was last week, when driving on the A1. I was being tailgated by some muppet in a black BMW M3. As we rounded a bend on the A1 I saw a Police volvo estate, parked in a lay-by about half a mile or so up the road, drivers window down, with I guess a laser gun working. I moved quickly into the inside lane and braked hard - the BMW powered off, up to 100+, probably wondering why I wasn't flooring it. The Police came out after the BMW, lights on and pulled him over a mile or so down the road (I laughed!). Trouble is the Road angel laser alarm never went off. It may have been they weren't using a laser gun, but I would have felt happier had it alarmed. If they had been aiming it at the car next to me it should have activated (??). If I hadn't seen the police car it would have been me not the BMW...

Thanks,

Chris.

Supercue

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info Chris. With so many of these gadgets to choose from its hard to pick a clear winner.

A tad worrying tho if the alarm didnt go off.Maybe it was because the Police were just setting up and the M3 was its first victim.

I do drive on the quick side when its safe and I'm able to do so but as observant as I am it would be reassuring to have this piece of kit to help out but thanks for the info

AndyBrew

Hi peeps

The laser detector will only detect the laser by which time you have already been done

You will have to get a laser diffuser to stand a chance against those nasty things!

I have a geodesy unit and its excellent very small as well so you can just whip it out when leaving the car, and its very robust someone I know drove over one !!!! and it still worked fine

So in short you need a GPS device for ixed cameras, a laser diffuser to tackle the laser detectors and a radar detector although these are becoming less commonly used by the boys in blue, not far off a grand in total

Supercue

iTrader: (1)

Theres me thinking £400 was enough but a grand!!!

James_Harvey

... or the Snooper 6 which does radar, laser and gps
Not a diffuser though... arent these legally shady?

[Edited by James_Harvey - 9/8/2003 6:47:46 PM]

Supercue

iTrader: (1)

The Snooper6 sounds the bizzo but have you got one?

uksti

I agree with AndyBrew - got the radar detector (Snooper S5) after the 6 points in one go - added the road angel and laser diffusers later. AFAIK they're still borderline

Sounds like the Enterprise when starting up but 18 months on no more points.

Baz

SiDHEaD

I thought the police could only use hand-held devices from outside of the car. Therefore they may have just simply timed him on VASCAR, or just decided it was too fast and to have a "quiet word".

Andy

Impret-Sir

iTrader: (1)

I have had my Road Angel for about a month, not been that impressed with it so far, it seems to give a lot of false alarms, and yesterday I drove right by a Truvelo camera in southampton and it didnt make a sound! Luckily I was doing about 10MPH in traffic!

misty

Had my Road Angel about 3 months. They will pick up laser, locals sit in a van in a layby near me , so I deliberatley went down. Picked it up about 150m away. Also picked one up at side of road on a tripod, again about 150m. Don't know if they could have booked me by then though? but at least I had fair warning!
dave

AndyBrew

My Geodesy hasn't missed a camera yet And it has pointed out a few I didn't know existed on the M1

It only beeps when your exceeding the speed limits and it gives you more warning depending on how fast you're going etc. its quite trick and incredibly simple to update literally just plug it in ya phone socket.

My laser diffuser has a switch on the steering column, it buzzes when it detects the laser, zaps a load of scrammbling stuff back at which point you turn it off. They have another pop with the gun and your doing a better speed and everyone's happy Although its never gone off yet LOL!!!

I spent £700 on diffuser, and GPS and that included about £100 fitting so add a radar detecting onto that and your looking at about a £1K.

AndyBrew

A laser all happens in a split second, it is a single beam with no scatter hence if your laser detector goes off and your doing over the speed limit then its just informed you of your 3 points LOL!!

They also have to aim at something flat to get the laser to bounce back hence why the aim at the number plate and diffuser are mounted either side of your plate

cw42

iTrader: (1)

I have had my road angel since I bought my scooby about 6 months ago. I use it mainly on drives out with smacs (see scoobysmacs)and on drives out where I am not familiar with the roads. I only use the laser detector part in convoys, as like has been pointed out, if it goes off, you've already been done.
£400, although a lot of money for the unit, is a small price to pay for the peace of mind you get knowing you are 99% sure it will pick up all of the fixed camera sites on your route.
The blackspot feature is also worth mentioning, as this enables you to slow down, and assess the road ahead with more warning.
Yes, it does have gaps in the coverage at the moment, I put a fixed camera site in the unit today near oldham, but that is the beauty of the system, if you see a new site, and they are going up really quickly at the mo', then you just pull alongside, and put it in.
Next time you go past that site, it warns you, sorted.
You can also put in sites that are notorious for mobile cameras, or just put in a position you know where the Police have a habit of hanging out.
The unit is very versatile in that way.
As you can tell, I am more than happy with mine, and one last thing, the SPECS SYSTEM that is employed on motorways is very stealthy, and the road angel picks it up everytime.
chris.

Pro Boy

Got one,but believe that if you input a site when you get an update if lots confirm that site all who update that get them, 400 quid well spent

Danbo

Got mine on a group buy for £310, very happy with it. The update feature is great and simple to use. Well worth it.

jhdee

Had my Road Angel since July. Done around 5000 miles all over the uk in that time. i'm impressed with the unit even though i'm convinced the lazer detector is next to useless - been "gunned" a couple of times on the m-way with no alarm !!!
do like the way it picks up specs cameras and gives a repeat warning for the duration of camera run.
have also used the gps output to provide positional input on Autoroute on my laptop - very simple and easy to set-up and cheap if you already have the laptop & Autoroute. certainly worth considering but still not total protection

jhdee

Supercue

iTrader: (1)

Well chaps looks like the Road Angel has got to be purchased. Just need to give the Missus the good news

Pockman

Hi,

I also use the serial (NMEA) data output of the Road Angel, connected to a IPAQ Pocket PC running TomTom navigator software.

This gives me a great SatNav sysetm, with voice guidance in addition to the Road Angel's camera warnings.

The IPAQ was about £360 and the software £100, but if you own a Road angel already it's well worth doing and costs a lot less than many other SatNav solutions.

Ta,

Chris.

Supercue

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Chris that would be good as I travel all over the UK. More so as I'm off to Portugal next year for Euro 2004 and will have to drive from Santander to Faro. 6 kids causes mayhem on the wallet when it comes to flights and a hire car!!

WRBlue-STi7-Prodrive

what about the valantine 1 - isnt this meant to be one of the best!!

Anyone got one?

WRX Wannabe

Coming back along the M4 @ 9.30AM there was a police car ON THE HARD SHOULDER doing speed checks with hand held laser gun

I could not see that far ahead but my road angel went off and i looked @ the unit and it was on 80MPH, i still slowed down anyway but cars were going past me

It dose work and IS worh £400 (IMHO)

Supercue

iTrader: (1)

Well it's done. Been out and bought one and within 10mins saved me from a nickin. I pulled onto the A127 WOT and immediately got an alarm. Slowed down and what trundles up my behind my bumper but an unmarked Volvo V70 plod-mobile!! For Essex Scoobies the reg is Y608TRY (Plod has a sense of humour..Y TRY!)dark blue. No pull but very reassuring.

Thanks to everyone who chipped in

Supercue

donutman

was considering a valentine 1 but at £500 odd pounds they are pricey,and they do not look very nice.i bought a road angel last night for £299 off ebay,i just need to get it now the demo looked good. the guy from halfords says there is a jammer for the unit available from road angel but i could not see it in there site

cw42

iTrader: (1)

supercue, good buy, well done. Do you mean to say the road angel picked up on the police car behind you?? So the lazer must have gone through your back window, and onto the detector on your windscreen!
donutman, there is no JAMMER available for the road angel, there is however a DETECTOR available.
Have you subscribed to the update service yet donutman? and did it cost you extra?
blackspot
is the proper website, click on the road angel, and you are taken to the product pages, where you can get the detector for £40.
chris.

WRX Wannabe

I got my detector when i got the road angel as it was £379 without or £399 with

BuRR

I agree - the Road Angel is a good GPS detector, that becomes even better when you double it up as a GPS addition for my wife's IPAQ (or my XDA)

cw42

iTrader: (1)

Burr, do you mean using the road angel with a pda, and using it as a navigator?
I have a sony clie, would it work with one of those?
chris.

eclipse

http://www.performancefx.co.uk

Ordered mine from here yesturday £335.00 all in for road angel should be with me tomorrow morning.

Supercue

iTrader: (1)

Chris I dont have a clue how or what it detected but like you can only assume it picked up the signal through the back of the sensor.

I bought the complete package Laser and all.Have updated mine on Blackspot so everything seems ok