i'd like to get a decent detector, is the sensitivity (and false alarms as mentioned earlier) with the V1 a real issue?

 

No.

I live in a huge metropolitan area. Keep in mind that you can "tune" your V1 to suit your preferences (turning X band off, for example) which will greatly diminish false alerts.

Personally, I prefer a radar detector that is more sensitive, and may false a time or two (on account of a supermarket door or what not) but inform me well before I encounter a real threat.

I still use my RX65 on my motorcycle, and even though it's a great radar detector, I feel totally naked with it. There is no comparing it to the V1.

 

V1. 9 years spirited driving no tickets. Sensitivity is good in radar detectors.

 

I just wish Mike Valentine would get off his *** and design a new V1 already. It's been 16 years since the V1 came out and even with their continued updates, it is old technology.

Yes it's old technology, but it still works the best!

 

Did not think LEOs keep their radars on full time any more? More like point, paint and GOTCHA.

By the time your radar detector goes off, they have you.

 

PM sent

 

The point and shoot happens much less frequently than you think. I'd say most of the time (70-80%) cops will have their radars on and scanning in real time. The cunning ones will play the cat and mouse game with you. Good luck if you're the only car on the road and they zap you. No radar is going to help you in that instance. I've been using radar detectors for 11 years straight now.

 

V1 all the way !

 

Here's an interesting site:
http://www.buyradardetectors.com/Pro...omparison.aspx

 

My V1 has saved my butt many times. I'm amazed at how far it will pick up on a radar.

 

Have the Passport 9500ix and with the downloads and memory it is the only one for me, know some who love their valentines and a few that got rid of them for the 9500ix

 

v1

 

If money isn't a issue the only detector is a K-40 caliber system.This system not only detects laser/radar but diffuses the signal back to the cop and he gets a false reading you will not get a ticket. Best of all you don't see the detector,it is hidden and hard wired with blue tooth signaling. a little light on the a pillar thats it.

 

While that is a pretty sweet radar detector setup, laser jammers are illegal in most of the 50 states. Depending on what state you are in, if you have a laser jammer and are the lone car on the road, you will most likely be getting pulled over regardless, if you've given the cop a false reading. They aren't stupid. When they see a sports car and get a false or error reading on their gun? Hmmm....

 

You should do some more reading on laser jammers. They are only illegal in Nebraska, Minnesota, Utah, California, Oklahoma, Virginia, Colorado, Illinois and Washington DC.

Modern jammers do not give the cop a false reading, or an error code. They simply give him nothing. The proper use for a laser jammer is to alert you, give you a few seconds to slow down, and then you disable it (via a killswitch) so that the cop can get a reading on you but by now you're only doing 5-10 over the limit.

There is no fool proof system, but increasing your knowledge on the subjects is what saves you from tickets.

I run a V1 combined with Blinder M25 laser jammers. I know exactly what local cops are running and know what to lookout for. I don't get mad when my V1 "falses" a K band alert because I know the chances of that being a police gun are next to nothing, and I have the mute button easily located so I can quickly stop it from chirping.

The V1 sensitivity has saved me many times and the arrows are simply invaluable. I know when my radar was being triggered by a cop driving in the opposite direction, hiding in the bushes behind me, or is way down the road which no other detector gives me.

And if your local enforcement runs laser, then a radar detector won't give you anything other than a "you now have a ticket" alert.

If I money was no option I would go with a hardwired Valentine 1 and Laser Interceptor jammers.

 

You're right. I forgot that only a few states have made laser jammers illegal. Although I am not so sure that modern laser jammers cause the laser gun to show a blank screen. Do you have any current information to confirm this?

 

There are a lot of videos posted on radardetector.net of gun tests and on youtube.

Certain guns with certain jammers can pick up an error code, but it's not like older jammers which would just blow out any reading that the old gun would get. Current jammers are designed to pick up the pulse rate of the gun, identify it, and respond with the same pulse rate so that the gun think's it just hitting a non-moving object.

It's not a flawless technology, but I've had mine pay for themselves at least 3 times over by now. Even if it gives me a few seconds before "punchthrough" (When the gun gets a reading), thats enough time for me to get my speed down and potentially save me from the ticket.

The biggest issue is surface area on a car. Big cars with big headlights and lots of chrome are the worst target because they reflect the most. A C5 with the lights down, no front plate (giant mirror to IR) and jammers would be nearly invisible (despite being a target for speeding otherwise).

 

Ive got the Passport and like it a lot

 

I was very fortunate to get included, with my used C5, the K 40 unit.
In the past I always had some sort of detector in my cars. Wouldn't leave home without it. Apparaently the K 40 is pricey but features front and rear detection units and a seperate front "stealth" laser diffuser (looks like easypass). Can't say I every heard the diffuser go off though, lucky I guess. Overall the unit is very impressive in it's sensitivity.

 

I'm running the Passport 8500x50-Blue, and am satisfied. Been from the Deep South to Northern California, couple of times to Central Texas, and up and down the roads of MS, and LA, so far, so good.