radar detectors are illegal in a lot of places...check that out first before getting one...
that can be beat. these local ordanances go against federal law. (the fcc stuff about being allowed to recieve any signal sent. basicly regulation is on the guy generating a signal not the guy recieving it, since all a detector is doing is listening for a signal they can't be banned)
I had te passport until my jeep was broken into this summer, will probably get another soon.
it doesn't catch everything and it almost never will save you on lazer (I did have a luck save where I picked up the lazer signal when he hit the car in front of me, I locked up the brakes and had slowed from 105 to 65 before the van in front of me gave him a clear shot)
so it's a hit and miss sort of thing. don't let it fool you into thinking you can drive faster than you would normally, and if it does don't be dumb enough to admit it. (this is also the only way they can enforce the ban, if you admit that you thought you where safe so where driving fast, then they can say you where using the detector to enable you to comit a crime, they can ban that).
officially my radar detector isn't there to avoid getting tickets. it's to warn me when an officer is checking my speed so that I can be aware in case he writes a ticket, that way I can begin to look for deffensive evedence at the same time he's looking for incriminating evidence (no point giving him a headstart).
also many of the newer ones have emergancy vehicle locators. these work in 2 ways. 1 kind reads the signals that some emergency vehicles use to turn the lights green. the other (as it was explained to me) tunes in on a signal between the cops handset and his car(I was told some use the car as a relay point between the radio he caries and the station.)
regardless of how it works it does work, I usually get an alarm 20 or 30 seconds before I'm close enough to hear the sirens on a firetruck or ambulance (on the freeway). this is another way around local bans as it is a piece of saftey equipment.
so make sure you get this feature, it will help you beat the ticket if you get caught in a place that has tried to ban them, and you will sometimes get the vehicle locator going off, slow down, go around a corner and get hit with the lazer. it's handy to know where he's at even if his speed equipment isn't active
but like I said, don't count on them. not all cars have the beacons to trip the vehicle locator, so in that case his gun needs to be active, and most cops are smart enough to not just leave the gun on. lazer is a one shot at a time deal and leaves nothing for you to pick up. if your lazer detector does anything other than let you know that you just got a ticket you're damn lucky.
all that aside a decent detector is only about $75. I had mine for 4 years and in that time it saved me from about 6 tickets that I'm sure of and I have no idea how many that I slowed down after the signal but never did see the cop (doesn't mean he wasn't there).
at a price of anywhere from $180-$350 per ticket on the freeway I figure it's has more than paid for itself.
