Bel Express 930 - Beltronics' Top-of-the-Line "Economy" Model
Written: Jan 11 '04
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Pros: Price, Text display, Performance, Voice alerts
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: For the price, the Bel Express 930 is a great unit which is comparable or better than many $100-Range units out there.
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| soupcraze's Full Review: Beltronics Express 930 Radar Detector |
The Bel Express 930 is the high-end model in the "Express" series of detectors from Beltronics. They are below the Vector series when it comes to performance and features. Seeing some of the Express models at Circuit City, I was very tempted to give them a try. I purchased the Bel Express 930 and the Bel Express 920 at the time, and later returned them. Here's what I found.
-Price-
*At Circuit City, you can find the Bel Express 930 for $159.99. The actual MSRP on it is $169.95. However, if you search the internet, you can find the Bel Express 930 for about $115 or so. Even though the Express models (Excluding the 946) share the same frame, the Bel Express 930 has the strongest resembelance to a Vector series detector. The Bel Express 930 is the only one in the series with the red text display, the nice kind you'd find on a Vector. The Bel Express 930 also resembles the Whistler model-line except for the fact that it's all-black (The text display makes them look similar). However, the Bel Express 930 is quite more costly than a detector such as the Whistler DE-1753 which it's comparable to. The Bel Express 930 also has less features than the more expensive Whistlers such as the Whistler DE-1763, Whistler DE-1783, and Whistler DE-1793SE. However, for what you pay, you get more performance rather than just having features such as a compass or anything like that. If you want some of the best performance that you can get for the price, the Bel Express 930 is a great choice. It might not have all of the bells and whistles that some gimmicky detectors might have, but it's made by Beltronics, and they sure know how to make a great detector.
-Performance-
*I decided to put the Bel Express 930 up against a Whistler DE-1753. The Beltronics is more expensive by $20 or so depending on where you get. But regarding features, both of the models are very similar. I took the Bel Express 930 to the typical stretches of road where I usually encounter speed traps with K and Ka band radar guns. When it came to K-Band performance, the Bel Express 930 out-did the Whistler DE-1753 with better range. Both detectors offered enough time to slow down on K-Band, but the Bel Express 930 gave a "comfort zone" where you can slow down, go for some time, and then receive a visual on the cop. The next test was with Ka-Band, and the Bel Express 930 completely out-did the Whistler DE-1753. The Whistler DE-1753 gives a fair amount of time to slow down on a Ka-Band alert. It's good enough if you're doing around 10mph over the speed limit. The Bel Express 930 gave a few seconds of extra time which could be crucial for any lead-footed driver. Then I decided to mount the Bel Express 930 against a competitor from the more expensive Vector series, that being the Bel Vector 985. The Vector gave more range on both K and Ka band alerts. However, the Vector can cost substantially more money, that being with a Vector 940 which will go for about $150 or so cheapest online. You'd be saving $40 or so with the Bel Express 930 and only sacrifice a bit of range. The Bel Express 930 is very comparable to a Vector, but if you're all about the neatest features, then the Bel Express 930 won't come close to a Bel Vector 985. As for the overall performance, the Bel Express 930 is better than most of the detectors you'd find in the ~$100 price range. It's very comparable to what Whistler has to offer, but it does manage to edge it out with performance. However, it's out-done by the more expensive Vector line of Beltronics detectors, but the price gap between them is quite substantial. If you're a driver that might find yourself doing around 15mph or so above the speed limit and are on a tight budget, the Bel Express 930 is a great buy.
-Features-
*In comparison to the more expensive Vector model line, the Bel Express 930 has less features. Also, compared to the Whistler detectors above the Whistler DE-1753, the Bel Express 930 has less features. However, it does get you what you need. Excellent performance for the price. Compared to the rest of the Express model line, the Bel Express 930 offers the great red text display which you'd find on the Vectors or the Whistler detectors. The Bel Express 930 has voice alerts which many people find to be very useful in identifying the threat. It can be easier than memorizing tonal alerts or using only visuals. As for the ease of use, the Bel Express 930 is a fairly easy to use detector. It has four buttons on top of the unit. One is for power so you can turn the detector on and off. The other button is to dim or brighten the display. Then there's the single volume/mute button. This is annoying since you have to hold it down to make the volume go up or down. This is more annoying than having two discrete buttons to adjust the volume settings on the detector. Then there's the City/Highway mode button which allows you to switch between the different modes. Overall, it's a fairly easy device to use.
-The Verdict-
*The Bel Express 930 is the high-end model of the "economy" models from Beltronics. Beltronics knows how to combine value with performance though. It will perform better than the Whistlers and other $100-Range products available on the market. However, the margins aren't so large that I would not recommend a Whistler. They are great detectors too, and many people have loyalty towards Whistler. The Bel Express 930 didn't perform as well as the more expensive Vector series. Once again, the margin wasn't all that large, and the Bel Vector 940 is substantially more expensive than the Bel Express 930. If you're a lead footed driver and need something on a very tight budget, then the Bel Express 930 would be a great choice since it provides the nice red text display, features you need, and the performance you need in the real-world to evade cops.
Curious about the Whistler DE-1753?
Whistler DE-1753
Recommended:
Yes
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soupcraze
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Member: Soup Enthusiast
Location: Chicago, Illinois
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