NOTE: This is not a radar detector unless you purchase the S4r-neo or the optional Snooper S100 RLD unit for around an extra £100.
I do a fair amount of driving in my work and my personal life, and have, for some time been getting more and more paranoid over the increasing number of fixed ... Read review
Advantages: Gives voice alerts rather than bleeping, shuts up if you are driving below the speed limit, tells you the reported speed of the road, records and monitors your speed limit, you can record your own high risk zones Disadvantages: Database is not up to date, laser detect is questionable
...the S4r-neo or the optional Snooper S100 RLD unit for around an extra £100.
I do a fair amount of driving in my work and my personal life, and have, for some time been getting more and more paranoid over the increasing number of fixed and mobile speed cameras around. Between my house and my daughter’s boyfriends, there are no less than 5 cameras, a slight slip and that’s 15 points on your licence and an instant ban.
... ...magical in convincing me the Snooper manufacturers knew what they were about, having been in the business a long-time. This was apparently the machine to go for. I returned to work to churn over my options and rushed back to the shop at 5pm to buy. For someone who thought nothing about chucking away £8K on a new car, I spent more time considering my options for a Snooper. They are not cheap and I wanted something that worked.
NOTE: This is not a radar detector unless you purchase the S4r-neo or the optional Snooper S100 RLD unit for around an extra £100.
I do a fair amount of driving in my work and my personal life, and have, for some time been getting more and more paranoid over the increasing number of fixed and mobile speed cameras around. Between my house and my daughter’s boyfriends, there are no less than 5 cameras, a slight slip and that’s 15 points on your licence and an instant ban.
Now I am not manic driver by any stretch of the imagination. However, a near miss with a police van just outside my office about 6 weeks ago, while moving with the flow of the traffic, I got hit doing about 34 in a 30 zone getting me rather worried.
I spent a few restless nights waiting for that ticket to arrive in the post, thankfully it didn’t. It did however, get my mind chugging over on the topic of snoopers. I did some research, as many of the lower end of the market ‘detect’ the cameras, and are, I believe, erratic in their behaviour. I have heard stories of them being set off by electronic doors, cashpoints and other detectors.
After browsing the web, checking out the ops on Ciao and a long conversation with the gentleman at Halfords, I narrowed my selection to two machines, the S4 Neo and the Road Angel.
The young man talking to the assistant who served me, was magical in convincing me the Snooper manufacturers knew what they were about, having been in the business a long-time. This was apparently the machine to go for. I returned to work to churn over my options and rushed back to the shop at 5pm to buy. For someone who thought nothing about chucking away £8K on a new car, I spent more time considering my options for a Snooper. They are not cheap and I wanted something that worked.
SO DID IT? Read on and make your own mind up. The S4 Neo is a very attractive bit of kit measuring about 6 by 3 inches with a little plastic transparent button on the top and a small screen display on the front. The first thing you need to do is register it on-line. If you don’t have an internet connection you can buy a dedicated modem for around £30, which will enable you to update the unit through a normal telephone line.
WHAT DOES IT IDENTIFY? The S4 Neo is recorded as the first camera that combines GPS (more later) with 360 degree laser detection, and is purported to record:
• Gatsos (catch you from the back) • Truvelo Safety Cameras (catch you from the front) • SPECs Camera Systems (for anyone who isn’t aware, this is when cameras are sited in two locations a few miles (or less) apart. A shot is taken of your registration numbers at both locations, and your average speed is calculated for the distance measured, look out if you are over! You will get a ticket. • Laser Guns (grr - are they never switched on? - I have now been advised that on motorways at least, they are triggered by speed at around 75 MPH and therefore if the Neo doesn't go off when you hit one, this is not necessarily a problem) • Digital Cameras (naughty ones these as often positioned high and difficult to see) • High-Risk zones where mobile cameras are often sited • Schools (these are an optional extra for no extra charge and only alert at opening and closing times)
HOW DOES IT WORK? Unlike some snoopers and similar products, the S4 neo works using GPS (Global Positioning Systems). When connected correctly, the unit works through connection with skyborne satellites which home in on your receiver and identify your location to within a hares whisker.
The information is contained on a database that is downloaded to the unit via your PC, and then when you enter an area where there is some form of speed camera, it identifies by voice:
• The type of camera, e.g. GATSO, SPEC • The recorded speed limit for that stretch of road OR • High risk zones where mobile cameras are often located.
At this point, if set to SMART mode, providing you are driving below the indicated speed limit, the unit will go into silent mode and simply flash on the screen until the danger has passed.
REGISTERING YOUR UNIT Don’t be fooled. Once you have bought the unit, you cannot start using it until you have taken it home and registered it. A CD is supplied with the necessary software, and the system can be registered by phone, (office hours only), fax, post, or of course on-line at www.s4neo.co.uk. You will be required to provide your personal contact details via their secure server and select a chosen payment method for future downloads.
Snooper generously (NOT) give you 6 months free downloads, and then you can pay by direct debit £4.95 a month, or an up front fee of £99.95 which covers you for a further 24 months of updates. In contrast, the Road Angel gives you 12 months of free downloads and then a lifetime subscription for £99.95. Without selecting a payment record, you will be unable to register the unit.
All the required cables to connect the S4 Neo to your computer are supplied. The unit took around ½ hour to update, although it is a little quicker for subsequent updates. I have a 1MB broadband connection, and would therefore err on the side of caution if you are still surfing on a 56K modem, as I should imagine it would take considerably longer to update.
WHAT NEXT? Get out there are test it. I would heartily recommend the first few times you use the unit, you do so in an area you know well, particularly if you are familiar with all the speed cameras. This will enable you to evaluate its accuracy.
A dashboard suction support is provided and you can literally stick it on to your windscreen, what is important is ensuring the unit has clear access to the sky so it can connect to the satellites. The first time you do this, you are looking at 10 – 15 minutes for the unit to kick-start. After this, the unit takes about 20 seconds to register each time it is switched on.
It is powered through your cigarette lighter socket, and is completely portable. Although if like me, you tend to use this socket for your mobile, then there is the option to hard-wire the unit direct to the battery. This does not affect portability as you can still disconnect the unit from the back. All the kit needed for hard-wiring and the cigarette socket are provided.
For those that do not wish to have it placed on the front windscreen, you can also place it on the rear window, although I do like the fact that I can see it.
MY VERDICT The S4 Neo was ridiculously easy to set up and install in the car. I particularly like the fact that not only does it warn you of danger ahead, verbally, but, providing you are driving below the speed limit, it shuts up. This might sound like a strange thing to say, however, I have also trialled the Road Angel, and it bleeps and gets louder and faster as the danger approaches. I am afraid in my city, where cameras are breeding faster than the local rabbits, it wouldn’t last two minutes.
HOWEVER, I would err on the side of caution. I have already returned one Neo to the dealer because despite going through 8 laser cameras, the unit did not detect one of them. I understand that sometimes the police site the vans but don’t switch them on, but is this the case everywhere? As the units were sited in about 5 different counties, what on earth is going on?
UPDATE: As mentioned above I have today discovered they apparently don't activate unless you are driving over the limit.
In addition, the camera database maintained by Snooper is not as up-to-date as they might have you believe. I have driven around the city deliberately going through every camera imaginable. I have found at least 4 in a 3 mile radius of my house, including one at the bottom of the road that were not stored on the database. In this instance, you do have the capacity to record the location yourself, and feed the information back to Snooper next time you perform an update. Despite having notified them of these cameras two weeks ago, they have not yet updated their database. I recognise they have to corroborate the information, but this unit is not the cheapest, and I believe they have some obligation to meet their customers needs.
The S4 Neo has 3 driving modes, 'Al'l, 'City' and 'Motorway'. The advantage with selecting your road choice is that, say for example, you are driving on a motorway, you will not get alerts for a 30 MPH camera on a side road within your desired notification distance. This ranges between 100 – 1000m. Likewise, if you driving on a side road, you won’t get a notification of a 70MPH camera giving you false licence to drive around the country like a maniac.
The unit has the capacity to permanently display either time, signal strength or speed (KMH or MPH). One thing I have noticed is the GPS recorded speed is around 4 – 5 MPH less than that recorded on my Speedometer, which may explain why I didn’t get a ticket when I went through that camera outside my office.
You also have the facility to record up to 50 of your own known high risk zones.
ADVANTAGES • Gives voice activated alerts and tells you the recorded road speed • Looks cute • Easy to fit • Easy to register • It can be programmed to tell you when you are driving over a certain speed, handy if you are concentrating on road conditions rather than watching the clock so to speak.
DISADVANTAGES • I should imagine it is a highly ‘stealable’ product, and therefore you must remember to hide it each time you leave the case • Snoopers database is not as up-to-date as it would be • If you want to detect radar cameras, you have to buy an extra detector known as a S100 RLD which is not widely available from high street retailers and costs around £100 - £150 depending on where you buy it. • It is not the cheapest (nor the most expensive) selling at £379.99 in Halfords, although there are on-line sites which sell it cheaper • When it doesn’t detect laser sites, it does make you a little worried about its accuracy • Someone, somewhere, in theory, knows exactly where you are and what speed you are driving all the time the unit is being used.
In honesty, I am glad I bought it, for me at least, it is preferable to the Road Angel, which I suspect would quickly have been destined to lie in the possibly useful gadgets drawer never to see the light of day again, but for now I will persevere with the S4 Neo, and endeavour to get hold of an S100 RLD which also detects radars and improves laser detection. If anyone knows where I can get hold of one on the high-street, please let me know.
The S4 Neocan also be used on a motorbike and full instructions are provided for fitting. An optional earpiece can be bought to allow the rider to listen for audible alerts
There are a whole host of accessories available for the S4 Neo available from the manufacturer, although most are cheaper on various websites.
The NEO will not work correctly with heat reflective windscreens installed on some new models of cars.
FINAL THOUGHT These units are not a licence to speed, and there is growing evidence that for users, they reduce the number of accidents at blackspots and camera sites by around 25%. They are legal in the UK, however, not in many other European countries. In some countries you can apparently be prosecuted and deported simply for having one in your possession.
I would have originally given this unit two stars, but having now trialled the Road Angel and returned to the NEO, I will move this to between three and four. I am going to persevere, as I believe that as GPS becomes a more widely used facility, the database accuracy will improve, and something is better than nothing.
At £379 with an extra £4.95 a month for downloads it is not cheap; a 2 year warranty is provided with the unit, and this is extended for as long as you subscribe to the download service.
As someone pointed out, you can drive within the speed limits, invariably I do, and my licence reflects that. HOWEVER, I visit many unknown places and often speed limits aren't clear.
When you are sticking with the flow of traffic and trying to establish where you are supposed to be going, keeping a close eye on the speedo is not always an option.
UPDATE: Over the last two days I have done a 500 mile round trip to Sheffield, and being in an unfamiliar area, my main focus was on the roads and the traffic, the Neo proved invaluable in alerting me to the presence of cameras without having to constantly worry about my speed (which as it happens remained below the limit)
Advantages: Informative and Accurate enough to protect you most of the time Disadvantages: "most of the time" is not as good as "all of the time"
...A POSSIBLE SOLUTION
The SNOOPER S4 NEO is different from the 'traditional' RADAR/LASER Detector in that it (like 'Sat-NAV' guidance devices that give you directions) also uses 'GPS' Global Positioning Satellite technology to advise you of where a lot of the traps are. Then there is the fact that it also comes as standard with a LASER detection device built in to it. Some of the Traps it May be able to offer detection against can be listed as follows:
... ...buy an accessory device from SNOOPER that will also give you RADAR detection facilities!
# 'SPECs' Cameras - Fixed cameras on high towers that read your number plate a bit like a bar-code reader does. Look a bit like double revolving 'Gatling'-Style Machinegun muzzles. One takes your number plate down as you enter the stretch or road and another at a further known distance down the road. If it calculates that you have travelled the known distance ...
Whinger 19.09.2005 (20.09.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Snooper S4 Neo
Advantages: Superb warnings of fixed locations Disadvantages: Vulnerable to mobile cameras without the extra S100RLD attachment
...look no further than the Snooper S4 Neo.
Before I go into the product itself I want to give some background of cameras as hopefully this will give better understanding of this product and how it compares if you’re thinking of buying.
The Camera teams use 3 main methods of detecting and measuring the speed of vehicles these being Radar, Digital and Laser. There are other monitoring techniques but beyond the scope of any detector. Below you will ... ...to see how well the Snooper works.
The unit works by using GPS, global positioning satellites, and knows exactly where you are to a matter of centimetres and direction of travel. When you buy the S4 you need to register it and download the camera locations from the snooper database, but it also gives you accident black spots, high risk zones (typical mobile locations) and even schools. There is a cost involved here, the first 6 months being free ...
rexon1 04.07.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Snooper S4 Neo
Advantages: Detects fixed camera locations and hand held laser. Disadvantages: Doesnt detect mobile cameras or hand held radar.
...with a laser gun the snooper will be able to detect "scatter" and therefore warn you before they target your car. Whatever you believe it has this extra feature. You may also set this to alert you to the presence of a school, where potentially there are children who may not know the dangers of crossing the road so it lets you slow down even if you dont know the area your driving through. It also lets users input their own locations. For example you ... ...hazard, you may press a button storing the location to warn you the next time you pass it. It is also very compact and will fit in your pocket easily when you leave the car which can be a disadvantage of some other brands. Another nice feature is that it tells you the speed you are travelling at according to satellite. I found my car speedo reads slightly under the actual speed of travel. I have found it useful when travelling on strange roads, however ...
il_cacciatore 17.10.2006 (06.01.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Snooper S4 Neo
Advantages: It works...but Disadvantages: Little more to pay+does it work?
...faster,(ditto above)
Hence buying a SNOOPER S4,for which i paid £279 + £100 for the additional radar detector.
First up,to actually make this thing work you need to register online because it wont work otherwise(security so say) to register it costs!!!!!!
Now i paid about a hundred quid for 3yrs which includes updates for that period.So you have to be online(or do a lenghty phone session).
The downloading and updating is very simple and please ... ...its a real doddle,just plug in to your cigar lighter and go.
Does it work?
Yes,superb so far and living in Bournemouth it goes of often.
There is a pleasant ladies voice advising of upcoming speed cameras with the speed limit you should be travelling at..
There are NO false alarms as mainly it works by GPS satelites.
You can tell it to warn you at any distance you require and even to what side of the road the camera is on.
But as there are ...
dean693 29.12.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Snooper S4 Neo
