Asking what's the best radar detector around here is like asking which is the best color.

 

I had an escort and was following a friend with a Valentine 1. He would get an alert at least 1/4 mile before I did. Gave the Escort to the wife and purchased a Valentine. Get used to the arrows and you'll love it. I don't believe any detector will save you from laser. Just look for them outside the car or in plain site.

Cliff

 

You obviously dont know how to program the V1,you have to get a little deeper than the manual. The manual just does not explain how to program it where most of us can really understand how to get the most out of the unit.. I did some digging on the net and now have my V1 programed for both city and highway that nothing else can come close to.

 

I lived by my Valentine 1 in my previous 2002, 2006 & current 2008! Also if you are interested Valentine also offers upgrades to it when offered. LIVE BY THE ARROWS!

 

........Car and Driver did a road test on a half dozen models in the last 3years or so. Do a search on their web site.

 

SoCalenergyman...show me!

 

V1 guys will come on here and say that the V1 picks up much earlier than the Escort 9500i in some bands, different tests have proved otherwise sometimes, BUT, it doesn't matter ....they both pick up so much in advance that you could coast down to the proper speed by the time they got you. The biggest reason I sold my V1 was the false alarms, V1 has a LOT and if you travel the same route every day over and over it drives you nuts to the point you try and ignore them, then the one time you don't look at those "ARROWS" because it is just another false alarm YOUR BUSTED!! The new Passport 9500i uses GPS technology that you can cancel out the false alarms and it remembers where they are and won't go off when you drive by them, BUT, if there is a radar gun set up on the road at the same spot as the detector has blocked that false alarm, it will still go off warning you because the GPS location is different than the original location. It also is much more stealth looking, the V1 is big and ugly and looks like it belongs in a 1979 Peterbilt truck. The arrows were cool though, but it has fallen behind technology wise.

AND most important this topic has been beaten to death!! You need to work on your search skills if you can't bring up at least 1,000,000 threads on this subject.

 

Buying a radar detector is like deciding which suspension to get. Everyone has different situations that they drive in. The advanatages to one over the other have a lot to do with what you want it for.

I recently bought a Beltronics 955. I only care about picking up cops out on open roads that are lightly traveled. Laser is zero issue to me. I'm more concerned with picking up a cop on an open road out ahead of me. I don't care about the arrows either because out on the open road there either is a cop or there isn't one. If there is one, I really don't care which direction he is, I'm slowing down anyway.

The 955 I bought picked up a lot of false Lasers out in the country. When I called Beltronics, they told me it's due to all the cell towers. It was going off so much I had to look at the unit every time to see whether it was laser or not (I use it mostly on a motorcycle where I can't hear it). They told me I could send it back and they would adjust the sensitivity to laser.

Instead, I took it back to where I bought it and traded it for a 995. It is the same basic unit except that each band can be turned off separately. Interestingly, even with laser on, it has not been picking up as many false lasers as the first one did, so maybe that unit was simply out of wack.

Anyway, I'm happy with the 995.

 

V1....and I just got nailed this morning...63 in a 45. LEO had a LASER ULTRALYTE LR B

That's what it says on the ticket. The V1 never made a sound

 

Why do all of you that talk about "Beating a Dead Horse" on the detector subject respond to the thread?

Just about every possible topic in this forum has already been discussed to the enth degree...However, it does provide me with some humor listening to the complaints.

 

The laser beam is very narrow. It's possible that the LEO nailed you with a low hit that kept the beam below the V1 sensor. They aim for front plates (a good reason not to have one) or headlights. Interestingly, the color of your car makes a difference as to how likely they are to get a good, fast read. Black is best at being difficult to read off of, silver is worst and other colors are somewhere in between.

Laser is just plain deadly. The only advantage to a laser detector is the slim chance you'll get reflected scatter from a car in front that's being targeted. No car in front = certain ticket!

 

Hey Steve - how in the world are you??? Haven't seen you around lately.

 

Pm me

 

 

There is only one, V1 - everything else is a waste of $$.

 

V1 Here. Had most of the brands...escort, whistler, cobra, Beltronics... V1 IMO is the best.

 

That answer is the exact reason why NOT to get a V1, by the way the poster 6 posts before yours, just got a ticket with his V1.

 

Both are comparable in performance, except for the arrows. One other item usually not mentioned is the service offered by V1.

For a nominal fee, they will update your unit when they develop new technology. You can discover if your unit is out dated by logging on to the V1 website, and checking your serial number.

That's go to be worth something . . .

 

It is worth something, the amount you have to pay for shipping to get it upgraded (and maybe damaged or lost, plus the amount of time you are dectorless). The 9500i comes with a USB port, you update it by plugging it into your computer, now that ought to be worth something.

 

yeah, it's worth something. Or, you can buy a Beltronics (btw, it's the same basic guts as a Escort now), and IF it needs updating, you can throw it away and get a new one and still be cheaper than a V1. Of course, the Beltronics won't be able to point itself to the trash can, so you'll have to find it yourself