very bright excellent visibility display, very sensitive on k (only k band is used around here by police), useful features like sws and vg-2 detection

audio to quite even at full volume, severe falsing in city especially in areas with many alarms and near stores

good looking radar with many useful features,excellent visual display with voice, works very well on freeway, very annoying in city due to an extremely high amount of false alarms, highly recommended for highway travel especially in rural areas

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uniden 6499. the bel 880 is far superior to the uniden

Different tones for bands that are easy to remember so you don''t have to look at the screen. Ka, K, and laser have good range. Sturdy construction that has lasted for 2 years.

Lots of falses on x, but that is normal in cities and major roads. Laser is not loud enough sometime.

Great overall radar detector. It was a good pick in the $120-170 price catagory. It has stood the test of time giving me good warning many times of the last two years.

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None

Good sensitivity in x, k and ka! Nice bright display with the dim feature.

Falses a lot but after time you can learn the differance between what is false and what is probably not. The voice is a bit annoying.

Very sensitive on X,K and KA but also falses alot. I would have given this unit a 4.0 but due to the amount of falsing I will have to knock it down a notch to 3.

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My first detector unit.

Very good sensitivity on all bands, Including Ka.
Solid and compact. Just the right amount of bells and whistles.
If you can't see spending $300.00 for an Escort 8500 or $400.00 Valentine One. This is the best detector to have in $120 to $170 price range.

False Alerts in the City. Most of the false alerts are in the X band and are easly recognizable.
The window mount requires a screw driver to re-adjust if moved to a new vehicle.

After allot of research, I determined that the Bell 880 is without a doubt the best detector you can purchase in the $120 to $170 price range.

It's a compact, solid feeling unit. The text display is bright and clear. The tone for each band is unique, so you don't have to look at the display.
It has all the features you would expect in a high end unit.

This detector is very sensitivity on all bands, including the important Ka band (most of the cheaper units don't perform well in this band). It receive 4 out 5 stars at www.radartest.com. If your considering mid to low price detector, don't go with anything less. You can't beat it.

Best of all, this detector works. I can't count the number of times it has sounded off and down the road was a COP laying in wait.

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I've owned two previous detectors. RadioShack, I don't remember the model (it was junk). A Uniden 737 (don't by one, it was not a fuctional detector). The Bel 880 is far better then both of these.

sensitive to X,K,Ka. Saved me on the first day. Excellent at sniffing out K,KA

Poor voice quality.(sounds like a robot on pcp) Difficult to hear tone or voice with the radio on.(The speaker facing the passenger does not help the problem) Lot's of falsing (my garage door registers ka, the winn Dixie K and the discount auto parts X)Skimped on mount quality. I expect the windshield mount to break anytime. Lots of movement when attached.

I would have put the money spent on the 880 toward an escort 8500, since the reviews claim virtually no falsing. I do like this better than the cobra as the cobra was near deaf to Ka.
If the 880 would not false so much, it would be an outstanding detector. I do not desire to know when I am approaching a supermarket.

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My cobra esd 6160 is no match for the 880. 6160 near deaf to Ka. At least the 880 picks up all bands.

Ease of use

Falsing, Cannot clearly disquingish sounds beteeen X and Ka band.

As I continue to use this product I get more and more disgusted. In most cases by the time the unit is starts signaling the radar source is already in visual range (ooops busted!!!). The voice alerts sounds retarded and one can barely distinguish between sounds used for X, Ka bands, vital difference in my opinion because the unit seems to go off all day with false X band signals and I tend to tune it out. My next beef is the stupid display, why is when I select the lowest intensity I cannot get a signal meter (dumb #%#@ engineers). I'm looking at getting back my trusty Escort 5000 used or an Escort 7500. Having a good set of eyes is will provide you with comparable radar detecting at no charge if you are considering this product.

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Escort 5000 (Was stolen and replaced with Bel 880)

The Bel 880 has great Sensitivity. The voice message is clear, and the display is very easy to read. The windshield mount is by far the best I have seen. It even has a quick release.

The basic day to day items are very easy to use (power, volume, mute, automute, dark/dim, etc.) but some of the programming is hard w/o the manual. But once it is set it is remembers your settings, so no big deal.

I paid $129.00 plus $5.00 for shipping.
I have had a lot of radar detectors, but this one is the best I have seen. My Bel 645I was close, but I do like this one better. The sensitivity is great, the display is easy to read, and the voice message is clear. Very good windshield mount. This radar detector comes with both straight and coiled cord as well as a soft carry case. Falsing seems minimal. Some people say that some detectors false more than they do. The detector is just doing its job by detectecting X,K,KA etc. If it happens not to be a cop DONT BLAME THE RADAR DETECTOR. The more sensitive the detector the more it will "false". This is the price you pay for long distance detection. I would strongly recommend this product.

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I have used the following other radar detectors. Whistler, Bel 645I, Cobra 9200, Radio Shack(model too hard to remember)

Awesome radar detection
Loud, clear voice
Very small size
Bright text display

Lots of false alarms near supermarkets

This is my first radar detector and I can't believe I waited so long. It has saved me twice in the first 3 months I've used it. It picks up cops about 1/2 mile away. There are many false signals near supermarkets, but it's easy to recognize them as falses. Real police radar is so strong it causes the detector to have one long beep rather than short consecutive beeps. There are probably better detectors out there, but not in this price range.

The cost of this detector is less than your next speeding ticket, so why not?

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None

Bright display, fair sound, excellent detection on Ka and K. Lots of nice features and VG-2. Voice is ok, but kind of robotic. Bleeps and boops for the different bands are easily distinguished.

Mounts are very frail, unless you use Velcro. Lots of city falsing on X and some K. Not "cordless".

This product is leaps and bounds better than anything I've used. The price is reasonable for the performance. Usually I've gotten "cheapy" $80 units. I originally bought a cordless Escort Solo for my bike and it was (in my opinion) worthless. I got the battery operated unit for my bike, but the display was too dim and the volume too low, and the detection next to nonexistant, (as well as VG2 visible). After checking reviews, I decided on the 880 since it was the best radar detector sold in the area. The display is BRIGHT, which is what I need in direct sunlight. The volume could be louder, being on a bike, but it is ok. I had to hardwire the power supply but it was well worth the effort compared to the Solo, which was outperformed by a 5 year old $50 Uniden. The Bell also cost about $50 less than the Solo. Needless to say, I think it's worth the money.

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I've used various radar detectors for 20 years. This is the best unit by far, except for the city falsing. Most recently an Escort Solo.

nice display and clear sound. Comes with all mounting brackets(windshield, visor and loop and hook connector if you prefer) Voice is a nice feature. Not to big in size - unlike the Cobras; they are the size of a lacrosse bat!

windshield bracket could be a built a little heavier to limit vibration but works none the less.

So far, I can't complain about this unit. I purchased it after much research and found this unit to be the best value for the dollar comparing it to Cobra, Uniden, or Whistler. It has great range and sensitivity to all of the major bandwidths that you will encounter. After the 1st week of owning it, it has saved me 2 LARGE speeding tickets - One of which would have been doing 70MPH in a 50 MPH zone. It does however have a tendency to pick up the odd garage door or automatic door when passing by the local Walmart, however, it is a small inconvenience that I will more than happily put up with instead of not detecting anything at all. AFter a few weeks of ownership, you get a feel for what alerts to pay attention to, and which ones to forget about. Most false alarms last for 1-2 seconds then disappear. This is not bad. If your not sure if it is a false alarm or not; slow down. All radar detectors false once in a while. Thats what a highly sensitive radar detector is supposed to do and this one does it's job marvelously. It's better than getting a ticket. I would highly recommend buying this radar detector if you want a reliable detector that won't let you down.