have used radar systems for years. Getting ready to buy a new one for the vette. Any thoughts on what will do the best job. Price is not the issue but do not need to over spend.

 

Escort 9500i

Your basic 8500 with GPS feature added. It will track where you get false alarms and canc out those freqs on your most traveled route.

It has speed assisted range and will display your speed when you are tagged with radar.

 

Escort 8500 here (dare I say no tickets in years?).
Valantine has a good reputation. Somethings better than nothing.

 

My vote is for the Valentine 1. It will see in both directions.

 

I have an Escort Solo S2 cordless. Excellent detector IMO.

 

Use the "search" feature for the forum and look for 'Valentine' or 'Escort' as those two seem to generate the most discussion. There will be an abundance of thought and opinion as it is a very regular forum debate.

Regards-

 

You will get a variety of opinions on this one. Try and Google some reviews of Escort, Valentine, and Bel. All are pretty good and run $250+. I have an Escort 8500 X50 and have not been disappointed.

 

V1 got my vote

 

I have similar experience and going in position ... bought the V1 and very happy. Valentine's customer service during my search was amazing and what tipped the scales ... quick, polite, personal emails answering my detailed questions on features, performance.

 

V1

 

Anyone have the optional remote display ($39.00) with the Valentine, and how did you connect it?

I currently have the Escort 8500, with it's remote display, and have been happy with it for years. Planning on putting it in my wifes car when I sell my 350Z.

 

Escort 8500 X50 works great. Valentine looks like a piece of hardware from Sputnik.

 

If you want the best, it's two detectors in one, it's the V1. It's all about the arrows.

 

I have the V1 but a friends Escort 8500 gives an earlier warning.

 

V1 for sure. Saved my A$$ numerous times. And it tells in what direction the signal is coming from. IMO, this is the best!

 

It really does. Mike should let loose of a few bucks and hire an industrial designer to update the style and ergonomics of that dinosaur.

It is even more enlightening to open one up and look at the internal construction. The V1 looks like a 1970s Chinese portable radio inside, the Escort 8500 looks like state of the art military technology inside.

Of course what it looks like isn't as important as how well it works. Both the Escort and Valentine detectors are sensitive, with which one has better range going back and forth depending on who is doing the testing and how they set up the test range. Escort does a better job of reducing false alarms. I consider that very important because I frequently drive in urban clutter.

Escort's expert mode display is more useful to me than the cruder information available from the Valentine too. Others may like the V1's arrows, but the multiple source strength bargraphs of the 8500 are more informative, if you understand how to interpret them. It is trivial to determine whether the source is ahead or behind using the expert mode display and a bit of knowledge of microwave propagation in a cluttered environment. It is also easier to spot an actual traffic radar hiding in clutter.

On the open road, I'd be satisfied with the performance of either one. But in urban settings, I think Escort has the better system. More importantly, the 8500 integrates with the ZR-3 laser jammers, which are more and more necessary as the cops switch from radar to laser. A detector alone is worthless against laser. Active countermeasures are the only way to avoid being caught by laser speed guns. The ZR-3 is very effective against the current crop of speed lasers.

 

Thanks everyone. This is what I actually was hoping to read. I know they all work. Mine now is 4 years old but I was hoping to see how any two might compsre. I know we all have our preferences.

 

I have the V1 and for me....the arrow indicators are INVALUABLE!! You get to know the strength of the signals and how they change and what that means by virtue of which direction the signal is coming from!

I also have the remote display....my v1 is wired into the rearview mirror and I have the mirror attachment for the V1 also. The connector box that you need for the remote is hidden behind the mirror, and the wire to the remote goes along the upper windshield across the driver side (tucked up into the molding so you can't see it at all) and then down the column molding and under the dash...comes up under the steering wheel and the remote sits right atop the steering column in front of the dash. Too bad there isn't some way to connect to the heads up display! That would be awesome.

 

V1.

 

http://www.radarbusters.com/support/product-tests/5.asp