I have the Bushnell, the pocket radar and a Stalker Sport.
The Stalker is a ton better than the others in terms of consistency, accuracy and ease of use…plus gives you readings within .1 MPHs.
Lots of ghost readings with the Bushnell. The pocket radar can be difficult to get good readings (if you hold the button in it will take readings every 3/4 of a second, which isn’t really useful for baseball…you need to get the timing right).
However, the Bushnell does not necessarily read a ball as it crosses the plate. The difference is in the range of the guns.
A Bushnell has about a 90’ range. If you’re sitting further than 90’ from the pitcher, it will only pick up the ball when it can read it. So, it may pick it up later (if you’re 120’ from the pitcher, it might pick it up 30’ out of the pitcher’s hand).
See the range here:
A pocket radar has a range of 120’:
http://pocketradar.com/faqs.html#WhatistherangeofthePocketRadar
A Stalker Sport 2 has a range of 300’. It will pick it up out of the pitcher’s hand unless you’re sitting over 300’ from the pitcher.
http://www.stalkerradar.com/sportsradar/sport2.html
If you’re 150’ from the pitcher, the Bushnell will pick it up 60’ from the pitcher’s hand (or at home plate). At 150’, the pocket radar will pick it up 30’ from the pitcher’s hand. If you’re 150’ from the pitcher, the Stalker will get it out of the pitcher’s hand, because the pitcher is within the range of the gun.
So, at that distance, the Bushnell read slower (as everyone knows, the ball slows down several MPH as it gets closer to the plate due to resistance and other forces), the pocket radar 2nd, and the Stalker will give you accurate #s from the pitcher’s hand.
There may be a difference in the number of samples each gun takes if you hold the trigger down, which would also affect the readings, but not sure.
I would also imagine the Stalker is calibrated slightly better, but each of the guns give fairly accurate readings within their range.
That being said, if you want real, reliable numbers, you can’t beat the Stalker. It gives me confidence that the readings I’m getting are correct.