I have the Valentine 1, and it has made me pretty fearless on the road. You still have to be constantly on guard for them pacing you or them trying to merge into traffic after you pass and come up behind you. Also some of our state partol's instant on guns signal the Ka then the V1 says its a junk signal, so you have to watch out for any Ka. But the V1 was totally worth it in my opinion, I feel naked without it.

 

I take mine off and slide it under the seat when I'm parked in a questionable location or when I'm going to be parked in the sun for a while, it gets burning hot.

 

Because mine sits so high (see pictures) on the roofline, it's barely noticable outside the car, and could easily be mistaken for a garage door opener.

That said, if I have to leave the 8 parked in a questionable location, (which i would rarely do), i just press the quick release button, unplug and stash under the seat.

 

Do you guys get decent rear detection with the detector up that high?

 

Just fine, it misses the seat and gets a view out the back window.

 

Up

 

i bought the 8500 last week, so far so good. not giving off a lot of false alerts.

ps: anyone know what band CT police use both local and state?

 

Up

 

The Valentine One is the best radar/laser detector on the market today.

http://guysoflidar.com/radar-detecto...ctor-test.html

http://guysoflidar.com/radar-detecto...adar-test.html

http://guysoflidar.com/radar-detecto...-rdd-test.html

http://motortrend.com/features/consu...r_buyersguide/

"This year, the measurement of the radar and laser detection abilities of each of the over $200 units gives the Valentine One ($400) a small edge over the competing BEL Vector 995 ($260) and Escort Passport 8500 X50 ($300 with red display or $340 with a blue display) units."

V1 is the best in laser detection:

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...213&highlight=

http://www.laserveil.com/laser-detector-performance/

http://www.laserveil.com/laser-detec...adar-detector/

http://www.laserveil.com/laser-detec...ice-laser-gun/

http://www.laserveil.com/laser-detec...adar-detector/

http://www.laserveil.com/laser-detec...ice-laser-gun/

V1 has the best rear radar detection because it is the only detector with 2 antennas to locate radar:

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...214&highlight=

V1 is the least detectable detector by RDD's or Radar Detector Detectors in states where radar detectors are illegal. The Spectre III is the most used RDD in the world and it can only pick up the Valentine One if it is 166 feet or closer which is better than the X50 which can be detected 954 feet away.

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...383&highlight=

The Valentine One which accounts for only .6% of radar detector sales wins every poll when it comes to being the favorite detector. The X50 doesn't even get an approval rating as high as George Bush's worst rating.

http://www.radardetector.net/The-Ult.......-5523t.php

Which of the "Big 3" is really the best overall - in your opinion?
V-1
64% [ 45 ]

RX-65
12% [ 9 ]

X50
20% [ 14 ]

Other (state which and why)
2% [ 2 ]

Total Votes : 70


Here is a poll on a BMW M3 Forum:

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showt...ight=valentine

What kind of Radar Detector do you have?

Valentine 1 129 people

64.82%

Escort 8500 47 people

23.62%

K40 4 people

2.01%

Other 19 people

9.55%

TOTAL VOTES 199 PEOPLE


Here is a poll on a LOTUS ELISE Forum:

http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/show...ight=valentine


What do you think is the best Radar Detector?

Bel Pro RX65 0

0%

Escort 8500 X50 8

16.33%

Valentine One 38

77.55%

Cobra Pro 9780 0

0%

Whistler Pro 73 0

0%

Escort Solo S2 2

4.08%

Whistler 1788 1

2.04%

PNI Silver B. 0

0%


Voters: 49


Here is a poll on another site:

http://www.socaleuro.com/forum/showt...ight=valentine

Best Radar Detector?

Escort Passport 6

9.68%

Valentine One 44

70.97%

Cobra 3

4.84%

Beltronics 5

8.06%

Uniden 0

0%

Other 4

6.45%


Voters: 62 people



http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...ghlight=#42353

Radar Roy from Radarbusters.com said this about the Valentine One, "Just spoke with Carl Fors from SML, his website will be going online tonight with the 2005 results. He has declared the V895, 8500 and the Valentine One as the top performers. Motortrend, who was also at the test, will be declaring the Valentine One as the top detector based upon its detection of laser.

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtop...=4696&start=90

Radar Roy said, "There were results that they (Guys of Lidar) got during the test that I was not exactly pleased with, such as the discovery of the Blinder not having Stealth Mode installed and the Valentine beating out the Escort and Bel in the range tests. Even though I don’t sell the Valentine, it does have slightly better range than both the RX65 and the 8500 and I also show this same fact on my site. Would love it to be the other way around."

Here is a link and video of the V1 alerting to radar quicker than the X50 and sometimes the X50 didn't alert to the radar at all. They are quick pulling the radar gun's trigger and the X50 is filtering it out and the V1 is picking it up every time.

http://www.radardetector.net/V1-vs.-...otout-865t.php

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...ZmQzMXk1NDE%3D

V1 wins in POP detection:

http://media.putfile.com/JammerTestscom_tests_V1X50_POP

V1 wins because it detects a certain laser gun in stealth mode while the X50 remains silent:

http://media.putfile.com/JammerTests...nd_X50_stealth

 

As hard as it might be to believe, the Valentine One, 16.2 cu. in., is smaller than the Escort X50, 18.95 cu. in., and the Bel RX65, 16.32 cu. in. The Valentine One is wider because it has 2 antennas and not 1 like every other radar detector, but it is shorter and not as tall which gives you more mounting options.

As far as weight goes,

Valentine One -> 181.5g (6.40 ounces)
Escort 8500 X50 -> 253.7g (8.95 ounces)
Beltronics RX65 Pro -> 236.6g (8.35 ounces)
Beltronics STi Driver -> 291.6g ( 10.29 ounces)

As you can see, the 8500 X50 is the largest in size and the Bel STi Driver is the heaviest. The Valentine One is the smallest and lightest radar detector of the Top 4 radar detectors made today.

 

I can't say for sure which one performs the best in every situation, but I did a quick search and the very first page I went to did NOT have the Valentine as the best. This is from radartest.com and actually has the Bel Pro RX65 as the best overall performer. Valentine did get best windshield mount though.

From radartest.com:

How We Ranked Them by Categories

Best overall performance BEL Pro RX65
Best instant-on performance Escort Passport 8500 X50
Best POP-mode performance BEL Pro RX65
Best windshield mount Valentine One
Best visual displays BEL Pro RX65
Best audible alerts Escort Passport 8500 X50
Best laser performance Valentine One
Best price/performance ratio Escort Passport 8500 X50


So, it is possible to [quickly] find other opinions from reputable sites that have other detectors rated above the Valentine. I have the X50 and it has performed very well for me so far. And that's really all that's important to me.

 

Read and learn a little.

http://www.valentine1.com/lab/V1Hater.asp

 

But why? I'm not a V1 Hater. And I've seen the article. If I didn't know better, I'd say you hated everything else out there! I made a very objective post and cited ANOTHER site's findings, just as an example! And, I simply said that the X50 has worked well for ME... I didn't claim it was the best out there, did I?

Geez.

 

Im with Olorin2....., seems like we have a Valentine rep in here trying to sell us on their product. I never stated one was better than the other, in fact I probably would have bought the V1 if the price was lower.

 

I am not a V1 rep, the only people that can sell the V1 is Valentine Research and I do not work for them.

You can get a cheaper V1 by calling Valentine Research at 1 800 331 3030 and ask for a returned V1 and you will get 10% off the retail price of $399. It will be the latest version V1.8 POP2 w/ Euro-mode and 3.826 firmware and that comes with all the accessories and a 1 year warranty.

 

lol, mr. valentine must have a google spider that searches for strings of text that contain V1 and 8500.

Then he sends in wonderboy here to post about it.

Look, I've used the passport and V1 side-by-side, individually etc. for hundreds of miles each. Both of them were excellent radar detectors. I got the V1, in part because of the DIY hard mount thread, and in part because it had a good rep.

At the end of the day, both radar detectors will give you a massive heads up about cops running speed traps, which is why you buy one in the first place.

If someone wants a passport, knock yourself out. If you want a V1, good for you. It's not a religion though, or at least shouldn't be.

Ok, now that I have my unbiased bit out of the way, I really do love the V1's directional arrows. Means I can start speeding sooner, as I know I've passed the radar source. It's also helped me find a few very, very well hidden cops, that I wouldn't have known to look for. (at least not where to look)

 

Wow this is close the way i am thinking right now is that i cant go wrong with eather one but try and prove to me witch one is better.

 

The top detectors are close in performance. Which one is best frequently is a matter of who has the latest version released. (like the software world for example). The one thing extra the Valentine has is the ability to send it back in for an upgraded. The escort all you can do is buy a new one and try and sell the old one.

 

I think the X50 has a reprogrammable controller that allows for future upgrades. I'm not sure, however, if you have to send it back to Escort, or what.

 

Mike Valentine was the designer of the original Escort.

The Valentine uses all military spec construction throughout.

The Valentine detects to the rear as well as the front.

The new Escorts/Passports are about 7 notches under a Valentine.

Nothing wrong with buying a lesser radar detector, but please don't try to tell me they are as good as a Valentine.

Nothing is as good as a Valentine.


Nucleus

 

that is a good point. UP Up UP

 

Escorts are as good as the Valentine