To read Valentine's ad in the car mags, it seems his is the only one to get. Is it true? $400!
I see Cobra detectors for $109 at Costco, and others say Escort is good.

 

I have an escort that I bought about 5 months ago. It was $300 and so far very reliable. It's saved me quite a few times. :)

 

I have had my escort for about 3 years now and am still very happy with it.

 

Another Escort user here (and a happy one at that!). :seeya

 

hmmm, anyone ever heard of one of these that promise to pay for your ticket? thats the one i want!

 

I think the V1's are overated and over priced. Some members swear by them though. :skep:

 

I'm one of those who swear by them!!!... Over the years I've owned most of the better models of detectors at one time or another, the Valentine One is by far the one I have been most impressed with. The biggest difference is the information it gives... Knowing how many radar signals as well as the DIRECTION they are coming from is information I don't thiink I could do without now that I have gotten used to having that information!!

 

If i were to buy one, Valentine would be the only brand id consider.

 

Ihave had good luck with my Escort.The owner of Valentine used to be a engineer for Escort,they are probably very similar in design. :steering:

 

The Escort 8500 is a very good unit.



[Modified by FlyboyZR1, 1:02 PM 1/27/2003]

 

That tells me one of two things... either he got fired for poor work, or he thought he could do better. I tend to believe the latter.

I'm a V1 user, although I never considered or tested the other brands. There's a website that rated the Escort as #1 though, that makes for an interesting read. Personally, I'd rather see all the radar alerts, and decide for myself whether it's a cop or not. It's great for around town.. even near stores and other stray sources - keeps me honest for a few seconds at a time!

The Escort may be quieter, or more convenient, but maybe less likely to warn the driver, and isn't that what we spend $300-400 bucks for? You can buy V1's on ebay.. won't save you much, but I think the warranty may be still good as long as you have a legit serial number.

 

Get the V-1. It is the best detector available at any price bar none :seeya

 

I had a K-40 back in the day, it paid for all my tickets for one year. I just paid the money up front, sent them a reciept, they sent me a check. It more than paid for itself. Had the hookup on keeping them off my record to though :D .

I wonder if they are even still made, I got out of being interested in detectors some time ago. I found I got more tickets when I had one than when I did not.

 

V-1 is great!! I like knowing where the "bogey" is located. With my previous detector, I was always looking behind, to the side, up ahead, etc....
It is pricey, but I think that it is worth it....


:seeya

Matt

 

:iagree:

 

:skep:

V1 is the only thing that will ride in my car.

 

It would be an interesting test to ride with both the Escort and V1 at the same time (assuming they didn't set each other off.)

So, who wants to donate me their Escort? ;)

 

I'm not sure, but I believe V1 is the only one with a rear receiver as well as the usual front facing receiver.

Best Buy now sells Escorts for $284

I have a $90 Cobra and it works good enough to keep me happy :cheers:

 

I am in the market for one now, just can’t decide what to get. It will be the Valentine or the Escort. Years ago I bought a cheap P.O.C. the only thing that set it off were McDonalds, Banks, Supermarkets and anything that had a set of automatic doors. It did tell me on two occasions that I was going to receive a ticket in the very near future. So it was right twice. I guess you get what you pay for. :D

 

The V1.

That is the final word in all things radar detector.

Several years ago, 1987 or so, Mike Valentine LEFT Escort. He and his co-founder were at odds. Mike was the engineer, his partner, I donno what he did.... Call it a divorce.

Mike was left with some $$ and a no compete clause. He formed Valentine Research, and they released the g-Analyser.

The no-compete clause lasted either 5 or 7 years. During the time he was selling the g-Analyser, he was designing the V1.

I think the V1 is the best product of its kind. The front and rear sensors do the best at receiving signals. The side-to-side is the result of 2 sensors (it averages the 2 signals and decides if its a side signal).

Over the years, Car&Driver has voted the V1 the best. So has most of the other testers.

and then there is radartest.com. what a joke. the owner of that site is a consultant to the radar detector industry. Valentine won't deal with him, so, the V1 gets trashed.

Automobile Magazine a few years ago, published an "article" from radartest.com... you shoulda seen the hate mail. wow.

One last interesting detail. Escort went bankrupt a few years back. They were unable to compete with the V1, or, other brands for that matter. There tech went south. Cobra/Uniden bought them out and kept the name.

I have had my V1 for nearly 5 years now. And I love it. I would only replace it if Valentine replaces it. Maybe.



[Modified by bogus, 9:37 PM 1/27/2003]