silverEVO8

iTrader: (12)

Thanks Dan, I guess this type of thing is really one of my pet peeves.... Thanks to passionate people who follow certain vendors or brands with religious fanaticism, other folks get fooled, pulled along and lose their money and /or waste their time.. Point in case is this Valentine polemic.
When I started looking at radar detectors, I bought some real pieces of **** (got the tickets to prove it too ). later on I talked with more people and read all kinds of posts on various boards and they all seemed to point towards the V1 valentine being the best detector in the world (and probably the only one worth a crap).
OK, so I borrow a friends V1 and use it, it blinks and makes all kinds of noise all the time, arrows blink, messages flash, very impressive, very exciting. The write ups are phenomenal, multi-directional protection, bogeys on the right, bogeys on the left, bogeys behind and before... Oh my goodness, I had to have one. OK, I order it and use it but before the trial time is over, I send it back. Why? all the chirping, lights and messages were too much, got on my nerves, I would either go nuts with worry or just ignore the thing. I figure I'd best just drive carefully, slow down and forget all the worry....
Of course, I forgot to do it and got more tickets, worse of all, I find the cops will single out high performance cars and will give you even undeserved tickets. I went back to the detector market. This time I did a more throrough search and found more articles, more tests and more comparos. The Passport 8500 gets very high marks, so I bought one. I can tell you from my experience that the passport 8500 seems to work very well and has a lot less falsing than the V1. IMHO, I prefer the Passport hands down. For me the V1 bandwagon was not the ride I like Of course, your mileage might vary....

Now, about believing magazines and sycophants... I've been reading car magazines and peoples posts to forums for a long time... I've had hard experience and paid good money for my education, the magazines and blind followers of certain gurus or brands are often wrong and totally misleading I hope nobody gets their panties up in a wad about this, but I've said it before and I'll say it again.. Beware of hype and glowing endorsements by magazines and forum followers... They'll exaggerate the benefits and gloss over the defects and bad points of whatever pet deity they decide to worship and their products, regardless of what a POS they might be.....

It's your money, your time and your car... Don't be a blind follower and don't fall for slick advertisement and glowing praise by a bunch of sheep.... I did it, and it's cost me good money, time and aggravation.... Caveat Emptor

osunick

iTrader: (8)

not to be overly pedantic, but did you try the various "logic" modes with the v1 before you sent it back? Does the 8500 use standard rj-11 phone cable like the v1? I find this aids the custom install immensely. I guess one nice benefit of owning the v1 is that I can sell my old one on ebay for $280 and get the passport if it's truly better.

silverEVO8

iTrader: (12)

It's been a long time since I tried the V1. Frankly, I can't remember what I tried but I'd guess I did much as I have with the Passport 8500. For instance, the Passport offers a variety of programming options including one where it can display 8 simultaneous radar threats and their relative strength. You can also disable the detection certain frequencies (of course, you'd best be sure of what you are doing..). I've played with the programming and have set it to my liking.

You are right that you can probably sell the V1 for a good price and then buy another detector with equal or better performance and pocket the difference. That is exactly what I was talking about. People just automatically believe what some magazines and what some blind faith followers say about certain products...

Actually, the V1 might just be the best choice for you... After all, a feeling of comfort and certainty can be a most powerful component of your level of confidence and satisfaction with any product. I chose the passport 8500 although I could have possibly gotten just as good a detector for a lesser price because I was swayed by reviews, reports and the features touted in the promotional materials I read....

As I said before: Caveat Emptor...

wi_whoami

iTrader: (3)

I just bought a new V1 after selling my old one (7 years old) for $300. The Passport is a very good detector, but I've found that on the interstates, the V1 is much better at detecting real threats miles away. Also, after owning one for a while, I don't need to look at the detector to tell what is and is not a threat - just listening to the tone, frequency, etc. gives me that. If it is a threat, then I check out where it is via the arrows.

I just wanted to point out if you compared an old V1 vs. a new Passport 8500, that would not be a fair comparison.

But buy the one you feel comfortable using.

instigator

iTrader: (7)

The bogey counter and locator feature put the V1 well out in front for me. I love those features and don't know how I everlived without them.

As far as the falsing goes, that can be easily fixed on the V1. I don't think you guys realize how customizable the V1 is. You can turn off any or all bands and with the logic and advanced logic features, mine rarely falses. I love it.

Kinmar_X

iTrader: (2)

wow way to steer this thread off course.

I dont have the V1 but i am pretty sure that you could put the actual unit anywhere you wanted as long as it is still in range of the remote display.

silverEVO8

iTrader: (12)

I the Passport (and some others) The radar detector itself contains the antennas, etc. I believe it must be mounted as if you did not have a remote. The remote is only to read the signals when the main unit is dimmed or silenced.

dmc60

For what its worth, I was an over the road truck driver for about ten years. I quickly learned that the Cobra radar detector I bought in 1989, was obsolete in about 12 months. Then I bought a Bel Vector something or another, which was replaced by another Undetectable Bel, I think it may have been a 645 without integrated Laser Detection. I later Added a stand alone laser detector that they made to go on top on the unit. Later on I bought a Bel 645 Sti with integrated laser.

Now I'm going to tell ya right now it you are going to speed and use a radar detector alone to keep from getting tickets, your in for a surprise. I played the speed game with the cops in all 48 continental United States. I had a couple of different Jammers, a cb radio with a linear that would talk and listen up to twenty miles. I had a 760 Xlt Uniden Scanner, and later on a Uniden Bear-Tracker.

I got better info on where the cops where using the scanners and the cb radio than I did with the radar detectors.I can say that the radar detectors did save my but more than a few tiimes. But so did the scanners and other stuff.
I finally gave up all of the high speed driving about the last 2-3 years I drove trucks. It just wasn't worth the stress, and $$$$.

Back to the radar detectors I really wish Bel had an upgrade program like Valentine does, because the consumer is just getting ripped off, having to buy a new radar detector every couple of years. I still have the Last two Bel radar detectors I bought, and they work. I'm getting ready to test the 645 Sti and see just how an eleven year old radar detector, stacks up against current technology. And if it needs replacing then I will be leaning awfully hard towards the Valentine, although I really like and trust Beltronics.

Does anyone know what it costs to have the Valentine upgraded? I played around with a couple of serial numbers off of some units I have seen on Ebay, and Craigs. And have seen prices at about $229 for an upgrade. How often have you guys running the Valentine been spending $$$ getting upgrades from them?

I have read a good many tests lately and Believe that the New Bel STI, the Escort/Passport 8500-X50, and the Valentine to be the Top units on the market right now. All three are undetectable, by RDD.

Sorry this was so long.

Just my .02

sblvro

iTrader: (2)

I have not had an upgrade since 2005(it already had the POP2 feature).

RaDaRkInG

Nothing beats the Valentine One.

http://guysoflidar.com/august-2007/r...ctor-test.html

DC2TMike

iTrader: (4)

+1.......... Here's my setup. Might be for sale soon.

dmc60

Ok in all fairness to V-1. I happened across another serial number (fairly recent number) that I checked and on the Valentine website. It indicated that the particular unit didn't have POP, and the upgrade would only be $79.

So I would have to assume that the units that haven't been upgraded in many years are the more expensive option. It seems that Valentine will just send you a new unit in that case for $229. Which is a viable alternative to throwing away 3-5 hundred bucks every few years. Currently Bel has a lame trade in policy of $80.00. The current top of the line windshield/visor mount Bel (STI) is $499. So in order to keep up a guy is spending $419 to keep up vrs, $79 with the Valentine, or even in worst case scenario $229. Still a better deal.

Valentine users: tell us about your experiences with sending a nonworking or malfunctioning unit in. This would be interesting to know as well.

dmc60

DC2TMike:

Thats a sweet setup. Did you have someone wire the display into your mirror or did you do it yourself?

DC2TMike

iTrader: (4)

I had custom work done, thanks.

dmc60

So I guess you had someone do it for you. I sort of suspected it was custom, either way..