Valentine 1 :INCREDIBLE:

[Jeffo]

a buddy of mine has one and it is awesome, but i have a hard time shelling out that kinda money since i don't speed as badly as i once did. i still drive 75-80 all the time, but my ventures into the triple digits have slowed down.

 

[shojuan]

I just got an ****** Passport 8500 X50, I couldn't justify the extra $100 for the Valentine 1 after doing my research and reading many reviews. So far I am very satisfied.

In case your wondering this was prompted by me getting a ticket on Monday. :hpoop:

False economy for anything less. IMHO you should have spent the extra hundred bucks. You would understand once you had the V1. Have a job? Then eat beans and rice for a couple weeks and spend the extra $100.

Seriously, your research and reading has led you astray. You should return that passport and pony up the difference for the real deal.

All it will take is one more ticket and you will be out a lot more cash than a measly $100.

 

[platoribs]

False economy for anything less. IMHO you should have spent the extra hundred bucks. You would understand once you had the V1. Have a job? Then eat beans and rice for a couple weeks and spend the extra $100.

Seriously, your research and reading has led you astray. You should return that passport and pony up the difference for the real deal.

All it will take is one more ticket and you will be out a lot more cash than a measly $100.

My older V1 claims to pick out a radar source up to 1.5 miles ahead & behind and 0.5 miles to either side and tells you which is which. After owning it for over 5 years I'm a firm believer. I most heartily agree with SHOjuan about the difference being worth it. Getting my last ticket fixed in Illinois cost me ~$750.00. Taking it in the teeth and getting a suspended licence could have cost me my job. No brainer, oh yeah, I don't speed quite so much anymore either.

 

[Slo-Sho]

Then eat beans and rice for a couple weeks and spend the extra $100.

 

[MilTownSHO]

IMHO you should have spent the extra hundred bucks. You would understand once you had the V1. Have a job?

I did ALOT of research and my unit got just as good if not better on all the readings then the V1.

I have ridden in a car with a V1 (A SHO none the less) and was impressed by its abilitys, in fact its what made me consider getting a new detector in the first place. I happened to run into the guy on Monday and he even admitted ****** has passed by the V1 for now. Back in the day V1 was unbeatable, I will give you that... but the story has changed.

I will be returned my ****** actually though, in favor of a Beltronics Pro RX65, its the same thing as my ****** with two more features. Only reason I'm doing this is because I can get the RX65 for $165 through a friend brand new.

So now to put it in perspective. I think I'll keep the extra $235 bucks.

By the way, until two days ago I havent had a real job for almost 3 months, that was one of the reasons I looked at the competetion before purchasing a V1.

 

[mosho93]

By the way, until two days ago I havent had a real job for almost 3 months, that was one of the reasons I looked at the competetion before purchasing a V1.

What happend to the Saturn Dealership Jason?

 

[faxon]

Someday when I have everything else I want, I will throw down for a V1. Until then, I have had great luck for the last five years with extensive use of "rabbit" technique and a cobra detector. The Ka band, which the cobra has no problem with, seems to be pretty universal in this part of the world.

 

[shonole]

Some folks seem to forget that a radar signal has to reach your car AND return back to the source with enough strength for the radar unit to make a speed determination. For the target vehicle to detect that same signal the only requirement is that the signal reaches you with enough strength to sound the alarm. In other words, with good equipment you can detect the radar signal from farther away than would be required for that same signal to clock you.

With instant on you can pick up scatter from other vehicles/objects before you are within direct sight of the radar gun.

I too hear that this POP crap isn't an acceptable method of clocking. In other words, go to court on those. And of course if you get hit with POP, make sure you have no tailgaters and slam on the brakes to scrub off extra speed ASAP.

My 10 year old V1 still works great. That said, the new units are much improved (hard to imagine) and so are some of the radar guns out there. I probably ought to start thinking about getting a new one. It doesn't pay to have the factory update the older ones.

While it is true that radar does pick up scatter, if radar is utilized properly by an officer, it IS unbeatable. And as far as "with good equipment you can detect the radar signal from farther away than would be required for that same signal to clock you", this may be true, but radar travels at 180,000 miles per SECOND, so you better be REAL fast if you are gonna slow down in time....

 

[MilTownSHO]

What happend to the Saturn Dealership Jason?

I don't work there anymore lol, making ALOT more money now, finally!

 

[Shoaz]

While it is true that radar does pick up scatter, if radar is utilized properly by an officer, it IS unbeatable. And as far as "with good equipment you can detect the radar signal from farther away than would be required for that same signal to clock you", this may be true, but radar travels at 180,000 miles per SECOND, so you better be REAL fast if you are gonna slow down in time....

There's a big difference between the distance at which a sensitive detector can detect the radar gun and the distance at which the radar gun can get a lock on a target. This is what was mentioned previously. If you wanna get techie: in a one-way link the power diminishes with the range squared (i.e., it take four times as much power to double the range), but for a radar that wants to detect it's own reflected energy the power diminishes with the range to the fourth power, (i.e., it takes sixteen times as much power to double the range).

So you can detect them way before they can lock on to you if you have line of sight. Plenty of time to do something about it in many cases.

And FWIW I agree completely with MilTownSHO. I like the ****** 8500 and wouldn't buy anything else right now. I've never been a big V1 fan, although for a long time they were certainly a top pick. And I certainly don't miss the arrows although I do see why some folks like them.

 

[MilTownSHO]

I just returned my 8500 X50 today and am getting my RX65 on Thursday, I miss the 8500 X50 already. I have my old radar detector back in my car temporarily and its horrible!

O well, two more days and I'm getting a slightly better version of the 8500 X50 for cheaper. Gotta be more careful for a little while though...

 

[qiksho]

My old trusy Whistler saved my but this weekend as I was cruisin about 85 in a 65.

Up here in ND they must have old technology, my pos whistler picks up all the local PD very well

 

[SHO-93-ATX]

one question: Whats POP?

thanks,

Bret J.

 

[MilTownSHO]

one question: Whats POP?

It is a form of instant-on radar.

 

[SonicRiot]

Anyone tried the new ******?

And how does Valentine1 monitor POP? It's instantaneous. Does it scramble the laser somehow?

 

[FordLover]

The V1 IS a very impressive device, I however was one of the ones that didn't have 400 to drop on a detector. So I went and picked up a bel 945 something or another for about 230 bucks including a 3 year no questions asked waranty from circuit city. For nearly 50% of the price of a Valentine, I got 90% of the detecting power of the V1.
I did a side by side test of the two detectors and found that the V1 would warn about 2 seconds earlier most occasions. But the bel always warned plenty early enough to slow down before I was within range of the cop to get a solid reading. Also the V1 falses ALLL THE TIME!!!! When my bel goes off, it's 98% of the time a cop.

There are certainly things I like about the V1, and there is no question I'd have one if I wanted to spend 400 bucks.

Also one thing I've noticed, radar detectors tend to not work nearly as well after 2-3 years of use/sitting in the sun. The V1's don't seem to have the same nose-dive in effectiveness for some reason, at least not that I've noticed.

 

[MilTownSHO]

Anyone tried the new ******?

Read my posts above!

 

[SonicRiot]

oh, there's 2 pages.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

So I went and picked up a bel 945 something or another for about 230 bucks including a 3 year no questions asked waranty from circuit city. For nearly 50% of the price of a Valentine, I got 90% of the detecting power of the V1.

Hardly.

I did a side by side test of the two detectors and found that the V1 would warn about 2 seconds earlier most occasions. But the bel always warned plenty early enough to slow down before I was within range of the cop to get a solid reading.

YOU said it. TWO seconds. Thats a whole lot of time. Especially when traveling at high speeds.

Also the V1 falses ALLL THE TIME!!!! When my bel goes off, it's 98% of the time a cop.

Every detector has false readings. With my new V1 in "Full logic" mode, it filters out nearly all of the false readings (normally X or K band used by motion sensative doors, etc). However, false readings or not, Id rather it be OVER sensative than undersensative, if you catch my drift

 

[MilTownSHO]

Calm down, its just a friendly discussion, or should be.

I'm more than happy with my RX-65, its better than the V1 and cheaper. V1 used to be the top dog, not anymore, they are falling behind.

I've done lots of research and testing myself.

Sorry Kenny...