Snooper Sapphire

I purchased a Snooper Sapphire two years ago along with a lifetime database update. The lifetime update has now proven to be useless, as I have upgraded to Vista 64bit and the drivers are not available. None of the Snooper specs tell you this, in fact they are quite clear that it runs on Vista. On 64bit it does not. So the kit is now worthless and Snooper won't do anything about it. Snooper need to look up the definition of the word "lifetime".

NOTE: TOTALLY INCOMPATIBLE WITH VISTA 64BIT

Bought the Snooper Sapphire,got it home,registered it,paid subscription.But no matter what i tried i could not get anything to download to the unit.Returned to store for refund.Still waiting for my subscription to be refunded.

Snooper Sapphire is Small, neat, does the job. Cheaper than a Road Angel which it replaced, with quite a few configuration options. Inbuilt battery only lasts about 3 hours so best to have it on a supply from the car; fortunately for me it plugged straight into the old Road Angel lead.

When I bought mine, Halfords "expert" told me that the Sapphire plus did the same as the Camera detector but with Cameras for free. Also that I could get the updates on monthly DD. WRONG on BOTH COUNTS.

Check the manual, which says (page 9) that there is a £4.95 a month option. 6 months free THEN minimum contract 6 months.

So don't expect to pay ANYTHING for 6 months.

If it turns out to be crap who wants to pay £190 plus another £100?

Snooper won't admit to the existence of the DD option unless you read them the extract from their own manual.

My Snooper Sapphire was bought as a Xmas present and hence went over the 7 day return period so the web based company would not accept returns of the product. So just a word of warning if you buy this product try it out straight away on your known mobile laser sites as this product definitely doesn't do what it says on the tin!

Would I have bought the Sapphire knowing what I know now - definitely NOT. Even the mobile laser site which caught me in October 2006 is not on the download from the enigma database yet. Nuff said.

Once you have managed to get a connection with your PC, the Snooper Sapphire GPS Speed Camera Detector does download database updates quite quickly. Please check out the help pages online to get you past the unrecognised USB device. I always think it is shameful to release a bit of hardware that has these sort of problems in this day and age.

It is slow getting a signal, and if it is cloudy or you are in woods it is even slower. My Tom Tom device would have locked on about 10 minutes before it.

However, it is very effective at spotting all camera types, and the warning is good too. Just a shame it is such a hassle to get this far.

If looks mean anything then this is a beauty! It fits nicely into your pocket, and it is easily transported from vehicle to vehicle. Battery life is about 3 hours. I broke the car charger on the very first outing, so fortunately have a handy USB charger that fits in the cigarette lighter, just a shame the connection to the device is so flimsy, and is a non-standard USB type connection. It could have so easily have been a mini USB connection like my camera.

I spent over 4 hours on the phone trying to get the Snooper Sapphire to work, turned out to be a simple registry fix. On second download PC could not recognise USB item, even after uninstalling and reinstalling drivers. Did not pick up on local school zones or fixed cameras. I took it back to suppliers.