Saw the cop before the detector went off.
It stopped working within two weeks. Turns out, the fuse had blown on the cord. I waited over a year before I put it in my next car. It picked up a cop going the other direction on the freeway between AZ and CA fairly well... but I saw the photo radar van about a block and a half away and had already slowed before the detector picked it up. It was on highway mode in the city, and it never went above one bar while picking up the van. Not the greatest detector out there.

returned it toi factory
I purchased a Cobra radar detector, the 3 times it went off i was aprox 1 block from the cop, the reason i purchased this model was it was said to have a 2 to 3 mile range, NOT
So i called the Cobra manufact. and they told me to return it to them, cost of shipping UPS was $15.00
It has not been returned yet, but it was new and in sealed box, but not what i expected. Had I bought it from Radio Shack or Best Buy i could have returned it for another one

It's a good as it gets
It's about as good as it's going to get if you expect this to be comparable to the Escort X50 It's not so if you expect that type of accuracy look towards a higher costing Cobra Detector. Overall the Emergency vehicle detection system really does work and has alerted me numerous times. I have a story to tell you about it. I was driving to see a friend I live in Anne Arundel County Maryland and my friend lives in Montgomery County MD. I was on a country two lane road in Montgomery County and the emergency vehicle alert system went off and alerted me a good two minutes before the ambulance was close to me. So it gave good enough warning and I had time to pull off the road to let the amublance roll by me.

Doesn't work
It does not pick up laser. I got a ticket after 5 days!