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GAkron:

I bought the Whistler Pro 78SE from Barney’s Electronics in May 2009. The radar detection is less than stellar. I do pick up all speed signs and banks anywhere from 1/8 to a 1/4 mile away and have noticed “one” state highway patrol coming from the opposite direction using constant on x band and the occassional local using instant on ka from extremely short distances (i’ll see the cop the same time the detector does). The signature id on ka band is a nice feature, but no where near enough warning. most of the time it never alerts to the cop even though i know they are running radar. i’ve never had a laser warning even though I drive 80 highway miles a day to and from work. maybe the unit i purchased was defective or in all likelyhood it’s just not good enough to handle the instant on radar and laser guns. i’ve mounted the unit high and low on the windshield so that’s not the problem. i’m very disappointed after having read the reviews on the Pro-78 and watching all of the Videos before purchasing. What a rip-off. My advice, save your money like i’m doing now and buy the Valentine 1 or the 9500 ci.
Rating: 1 / 5

AndyP:

I bought into the hype and some early favorable ‘professional’ reviews on this product (and am now convinced the website that posted it was probably paid by Whistler to hype up the release) and purchased it back in late June. I could have easily gotten a similar quality product for much less…or better yet, spent more and got a better, more reliable unit. Convinced that it wasn’t working as advertised, I purchased a V1, the ‘King’ of radar detectors, and compared them in my car side by side. First off, the 78SE gives TONS of false alarms. Often it would go off when the v1 wasn’t making a peep. Sometimes, it would go crazy when I was out in the middle of a road surrounded by corn fields! Is this because it is more sensitive? I think not. I had tested them on some speed signs set up in my area, and the V1 would go off a 1/4 mile or more before the Whistler made a detection. A 1/4 mile in the world of radar is an eternity–the difference between getting a ticket and not. By the time the 78SE starting making weak little burps warning you to start being on the lookout, the V1 was already going off at full blast. The v1 would also detect the speed radar when it was up and over a hill–presumably from the minute signature bouncing off different objects alongside the road. Again, not a peep was heard from the 78SE.

I am not saying I expect the 78SE to be as good as a $400 V1. I do, however, expect the performance to be enough to serve its purpose, which is warning you of radar before the cop has your speed. This detector simply won’t do that, which makes owning it more or less pointless IMO. The numerous false alerts make you on guard when you don’t need to be, and eventually you will simply ignore all the warnings–even the legitimate ones. When the real threats arise, it is doubtful you will know before the cop has your speed–MAYBE it will provide a small benefit in the most optimal conditions (a flat road going perfectly straight)…but how often is that the case? Save your hard earned $$ for a detector that will work…or if your dead set on spending less than $200, do more research and see if you can find something better or at least cheaper!
Rating: 1 / 5

O-Dawg:

I had an older Whistler brand detector for a couple years, very similar to this one. The voice alerts are identical even, so it was a smooth transition. The menus are about the same, only with extra options. The casing on this unit is nice, looks great with no shiny “chrome” on the top to blind you with the sun. The blue text LED display is pretty sweet, top notch. Very handy that it comes with extra wire to just connect up to the fuse box. The mount is nice too, good suction cups, they have yet to fall off.

The only issue I really have with it is that it is overly sensitive. I don’t mean a little bit, but a lot. I have everything turned down as far as it will go. As in, city 2, filter 2, etc. Which helps some, but this thing will drive you crazy if you don’t dial it in right away. Pretty much just went off 85% of the time, sometimes other cars would set it off. Or large box type trucks going by would trigger an alert. After getting most of the pulse and pop and Ka extra turned off (you know, all the selling points) it does a pretty decent job. It does pick up radar, it’s just unfortunate that it picks up so many other things too. So much so that it makes me sort of ignore it, so when it really does go off, I am slow to react.

I tried to give it time, see if I could just get used to it, but honestly if I were not over my 30 days I would just exchange it for another model.

Rating: 3 / 5