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Blinder M-20 Xtreme

($349)
Blinder M-20 Xtreme

In appearance the Blinder is a near twin of the BEL and Escort. The European-made product is a dual-transceiver design, with both units intended to be mounted in the front of the vehicle. Although few laser attacks occur from the rear, the supplied interface box supports up to two more transceivers, available at additional cost. For extra-large vehicles the $599 M40 model provides four as standard.

The Blinder's transceiver housings are rectangular, similar in size to those of the Escort and BEL.

The power control and alert system are more rudimentary than the BEL's and Escort's, better than the Lidatek's and far superior to that of the K40 Defuser. The ear-splitting audio alert could use a volume control; our target-car driver complained of near deafness after a few hours of being subjected to the din.

In our last test an earlier Blinder model turned in disappointing scores. But from what we saw on this go-round, they've apparently devoted some time to improving their product.

The Blinder M20 Xtreme comes with a Speeding Ticket rebate, free for the first year of ownership and renewable at extra cost ($49 for Year 2, $69 for Year 3) up to a total of three years. There are some minor caveats--professional installation is a requirement, though occasionally waived--but it's a straightforward and comprehensive offer to reimburse any owner who receives a laser speeding ticket.

Bottom line: Not even close to Escort- and BEL-level packaging sophistication, but good jamming performance

Rating:

Rocky Mountain Radar RMR-C450

($269.95) Rocky Mountain Radar RMR-C450

Rocky Mountain Radar receives credit for inventing the bogus radar jammer, an event we were the first to inform the world about well over a decade ago. (Automobile magazine, "The Little Jammer That Couldn't", June 1993). Then they introduced the bogus laser jammer, which we amply documented in stories for Automobile, the BMW Roundel, Car Audio and Electronics, AUTOTronics and a host of other magazines, both here and abroad.

More recently, Rocky Mountain Radar hooked up with a Korean manufacturer of cheap radar detectors and bingo, here's the RMR-C450, a radar detector that RMR claims can also magically jam all radar and lasers. When introduced, it was known as the RMR-D450. Rocky Mountain Radar has a long history of immediately renaming their products as soon as word spreads in the media that they're ineffective. (Within weeks of my 1993 Automobile magazine story hitting the newsstands, they'd already relabeled both of their jammers.) This strategy also gives RMR what appears to be a broad product lineup, despite the fact that all of their working models (the jammer-only models are complete hoaxes) are based on only three platforms, meaning that six to eight models can be identical inside, differing only in appearance.

The jamming ability of the Rocky Mountain Radar RMR-C450 (or RMR-D450, take your pick; it's the same box) was nonexistent, failing entirely to jam any of the guns. (If you're truly curious, open its case; you won't find anything inside that's remotely capable of jamming anything.)

We did find, however, that by removing the Rocky Mountain Radar RMR-C450 from the dash and substituting its cardboard box, a slight reduction in maximum laser target range was achieved.

If you're looking for a less expensive alternative, Rocky Mountain Radar offers the Phazer II ($179.95), priced lower because it's not a detector and claims only to be a jammer. But having tested the Phazer, both the original and the Phazer II (look for a Phazer III not long after this story comes out), we can say with complete assurance that it jams absolutely nothing.

Bottom line: Save money: put an empty cardboard box on your dash instead.
Rating: no stars