... Determined not to get caught again I bought a second hand Snooper S5-R from my brother in law, a device he had used without issue for 3 years. When originally purchased it cost £199.99, yet I managed with a sweet smile and much begging to get it for £50.
The Snooper is a small black box ... Read review
Advantages: simple installation, easy to use, detects all speed cameras up to 2 miles away Disadvantages: bleeps an clicks are annoying
...I bought a second hand Snooper S5-R from my brother in law, a device he had used without issue for 3 years. When originally purchased it cost £199.99, yet I managed with a sweet smile and much begging to get it for £50.
The Snooper is a small black box powered from the cigarette lighter of the car and sits on the dashboard alerting the driver to static speed cameras (GATSO) and mobile laser speed cameras. When I say that the box is ... ...I would strongly recommend the Snooper S5-R. It works and works well, requires no software or updates meaning that once it is positioned in the car it is ready to go and ready to save your licence from endorsement. It does however lose one star from the rating because the bleeping and clicking can get very irritating. ... more
Last year in the United Kingdom 2.1 million people were caught travelling at excess speeds on the roads incurring 3 points on their driving licence and a £60 fine. I personally accounted for 2 of those offences counted above and was livid that each time I had been captured by static cameras located at the side of the road when driving in an area where I was unfamiliar with the layout of the area, the location of the cameras or the speed limit of the road. In the second instance I was on a country road that was classed as a 40 mile per hour area yet all of the similar roads approaching it were the national speed limit. Determined not to get caught again I bought a second hand Snooper S5-R from my brother in law, a device he had used without issue for 3 years. When originally purchased it cost £199.99, yet I managed with a sweet smile and much begging to get it for £50.
The Snooper is a small black box powered from the cigarette lighter of the car and sits on the dashboard alerting the driver to static speed cameras (GATSO) and mobile laser speed cameras. When I say that the box is small I mean it, as it's actual dimensions are 11 x 4 x 1.5 cm and with suction pads it fits securely into the car and doesn't move around at all even when playing at speed on winding roads. Design wise the S5-R is built for functionality and due to the colour doesn't need removing from the car every time I leave it.
The comprehensive instruction manual I have states that the S5-R can detect GATSO cameras 300 metres away and the handheld laser and radar guns up to 2 miles away. When a threat (as the cameras will now be referred to) is detected the box starts to bleep and the LCD display on the top displays a number of bars to indicate how far away the threat is. The volume control is located on the right hand side and has the ability to go from barely audible to deafening. As you approach a threat the beep is replaced by a clicking sound and the display bars will increase until eventually you should see the threat with your own eyes and have an opportunity to adjust your speed accordingly.
I have been using the S5-R now for 6 months and have had no problems with the device; it has worked and worked sometimes far too well. When driving around London the bleeping and clicking is almost constant as the 360-degree coverage means that nearly everywhere you go a threat is detected. After 30 minutes behind the wheel the bleeping and clicking is extremely irritating and I personally turn the volume right down and have positioned the box so that the bars sit in my line of sight.
Calculating value for money of a radar detector is a tricky business. How do you know it has failed to save you a further endorsement on your licence unless you get a summons through in the post? What I can say is that since I installed the S5-R in my car I have the confidence to drive at speeds I feel comfortable with without constantly checking my speeds in areas I am unfamiliar with which means I can keep my attention focussed on the road and other road users.
If you want to drive with confidence and without fear of a speeding summons popping through your letterbox I would strongly recommend the Snooper S5-R. It works and works well, requires no software or updates meaning that once it is positioned in the car it is ready to go and ready to save your licence from endorsement. It does however lose one star from the rating because the bleeping and clicking can get very irritating.
Advantages: A great gadget that can alert you to accident blackspots, Can help you not to get points on your licence, Fascinating to see how many cameras aren't active Disadvantages: Expensive, Prone to false alarms (though these still make you keep an eye on your speed!)
Snooper make products that detect radars... now, before you all start thinking they are illegal toys for boy racers, think again. Snooper products are perfectly legal in the UK and it's apparantly statistically proven that drivers who use these sorts of products are less likely to be involved in an accident - a UK survey was conducted in March 2001 by MORI that concluded radar detector users had 24% fewer accidents than none radar detector users. ... ...are many different models of Snooper that perform slightly different functions and can incorporate different gadgets such as GPS (global positioning system). One of the more middle of the range models is the snooper S5-R.
The S5-R is about the size of a standard computer mouse, but thinner and more rectangular. It's black, and has an LCD text display on the front side of it. There's a volume control on the side to adjust the audio alerts. To use ...
angeelu 17.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Snooper S5 R
Advantages: none Disadvantages: Cheap build, doesn't do the job, very annoying!
...detectors, I opted for the Snooper S5-R which is made by Performance Products of Runcorn - a device which is supposedly the culmination of years of research and development. I had my doubts about its likely performance, as the few internet reviews etc that I could find seemed to rate it highly, but on digging a bit further, often seemed to come from sites that were affiliated/sponsored by the manufacturer. However, I decided to give it a shot, as ... ...The expected performance of the Snooper S5-R is documented on many websites, but in reality, I found these to be vastly overstated. Snooper are however, very careful to state on their literature that the detector will pick up Gatso's, radar guns etc, UP TO a certain distance. My experiences with this detector are somewhat different...
In the week that I kept this detector for, I did not get the opportunity to try it against a hand-held police radar ...
mstocker 03.12.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Snooper S5 R
Advantages: alerts you to speed cameras from a good distance, easily fitted, hardly any false alerts Disadvantages: can pick up signals from traffic lights, and a few roadside fixtures
i bought this snooper s5r as i was reccomended it by a well known vehicle spares store. i did originally purchase another brand which was £400 but that one was based on the public entering details to download onto the actual unit so not actuall alerting you to all speed cameras. so i decided to take it back as i was having problems with it powering up anyway. i talked to the salesman and he reccomended the snooper s5r as it was new on the market ... ...s5r and fitted to the bottom of the windsecreen in the centre which is where i find it works the best. ithen had to travel along the m25 where there are many speed traps and a lot of gatso cameras hidden at the side of the road. i was very surprised when i approached cameras at how soon i was getting alerted to cameras ahead. it was alerting me at least 7 seconds before i could even see the camera. also a traffic car has had the camera on me from ...
danjo1974 15.11.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Snooper S5 R
Advantages: Easy to install Disadvantages: Mistakes petrol stations for Gatsos
...have been given a new Snooper rather than having had to fork out nearly £200. However, I found it to be incredibly frustrating because although it did forewarn of both gatso and mobile speed cameras it also mistook petrol stations for cameras as well.
I nearly became a paranoid, gibbering wreck, on any journey lasting more than 10 minutes when I could have thought that the whole of the Hampshire Constabulary traffic division were hunting me.
Please ... ...licence (courtesy of Bedford Constabulary - what is it with the A1?) and regularly nearly run out of fuel. I do not however need therapy after each outing to recover from the stress so eagerly induced by the Snooper S5-R.
I wonder why my father-in-law gave it away? ...
tentonne 07.04.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Snooper S5 R
I heard the hype and thought it must be somthing, after parting with £199.00 I could not wait to try it.
I drive a route to work passing six gatso cameras and detected none.I borrowed a friends bel 550 it found them all I have been in touch with the supplier and performance products who have been as useless as the sr5 itself .
I have since trawled the internet and found many negative reveiws on this product,my advice would be think long and hard ...
phil2006 04.02.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Snooper S5 R
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
Database is not up to date, laser detect is questionable (*)
