I have a bell 850 which 5 years ago was one of the highest rated. The valentine 1 is the hands down best you can get today. If I had the extra cash I'd get one myself.
i have owned various BEL models for 6 years. no complaints. highly recommended. but valentine IS the best.
I got an Escort Passport 8500 a few months ago. I can't imagine anything working better. It misses nothing and appears to give few false signals (i.e. microwave ovens, security systems, etc). It automatically switches between highway and city settings.
Valentine One used to be the clear cut favorite, but time is catching up to them. It's not that easy a decision anymore. One that gives it serious competition and often beats it in reviews is the Escort Passport 8500. Motortrend did a 2004 test where they gave the Passport 8500 a very slight nod over the Valentine One. Radartest.com gave the nod to the 8500 as well. I think Speedzones.com gave the nod to the Escort X50.
I didn't know you guys had radars in the states. I was under the impression you just had more cops roaming the streets and stuff. How often do you come across radars, and are they permanent radars or are they moveable?
The radar detectors are in police vehicles. They tag you with them as they see you coming or you whiz by to see if you're speeding. In many cases radar detectors are useless - one being when the police car is using a laser gun.
I love driving fast, especially since people in this country don't know how to drive on the frikkin slow lanes. However, the roads are packed with radars. I have all the permanent ones memorized by now, but it's the moving ones that screw me up. I pay a few hundred dollars a year just in radar fines. They do the police car thingie here too. he nthey have the tiny ones which you can barely see and then put them on different roads all the time. Also, there's the permanent ones which are huge and very noticeable, but are getting more and more sophisticated, i.e., catch you from a longer distance and at the EXACT speed limit. I'm thinking about getting this spray which is invisible to the eye, but distorts the plate number in the picture. Does anyone know if it's any good? The good thing is, the police are not allwed to chase you in this country. Not under any circumstances, they can't tail you at anything above the speed limit.
Oh wow this isnt even close... Valentine One is still years ahead of Escort....I have had almost every major detector from Cincinnati Radar(AKA ESCORT) for many years…for my money they have been the best!!! Well this year I got a Valentine One (V1) let me say that there is NO BETTER detector out there…Best of all, unlike Cincinnati Radar when new upgrades or improvements come out Valentine will upgrade your old version to the newest available… This was a major selling point for me if I was going to make an investment why not be able to use it 10 years down the road and not have had to BUY 5 new detectors from Cincinnati Radar..Keep in mind that you will have to pay for the upgrades on the V1, but for a small fee depending on the upgrades you get a BRAND NEW up-to-date V1… http://www.valentine1.com/upgrades/ Also I have been very happy with my past Cincinnati Radar detectors, but use the locator arrows on the V1 just once and I PROMISE you wont go back!!! http://www.valentine1.com/demo/demo3.asp As for the test here is a long list of some of them http://www.valentine1.com/lab/detectortests.asp Also about some of the test read this and see what you think http://www.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt5.asp I would be careful reading into other radar testers…you never know who they work for.. http://www.valentine1.com/lab/V1Hater.asp Keep in mind that Mike Valentine was the original engineer that designed the famed Escort at Cincinnati Radar, he knew how to make a better mouse trap and did thus Valentine One was born…. If you can buy the Escort and Valentine and use them both for 30 days and send the loser back.. I know Valentine lets you send it back if you don’t like it. http://www.valentine1.com/demo/Demo4.asp Other people tell their tales about Escort and V1 http://www.valentine1.com/moments/month.asp http://www.valentine1.com/moments/mom0104.asp what police say about Valentine One http://www.valentine1.com/moments/mom0704.asp http://www.valentine1.com/moments/mom0604.asp http://www.valentine1.com/moments/mom0304.asp Like I said TRY IT B4 you buy it and let us know what you picked.. I have both and picked the V1, I think you will too.. Oh yeah...havent been pulled over while the V1 was in the car!! I can say if your painted with lazer on the beltway I dont care if you have a "Lazer shifter" what you now have is a ticket... Also I have the woman useing the old Escort if anyone wants to buy it hehe
The good radar detectors do pickup laser. They're just not as effective. Last 2 trips up and back from Austin to North Texas, my detector identified at least 6 on radar/laser, with maybe 2 or 3 weak false signals in cities.
Bad time for you to change. You wasted about $100. Read the reviews. Most either have them neck-and-neck or give the edge to the X50. The X50 also seems to be better supressing false signals through cities.
I'm not saying that Valentine 1 isn't the best, but every link you provided came from their website. I seriously doubt (when their detectors are easily the most expensive) that they are going to show you any information that doesn't suggest they are the best.
That's why my Valentine 1 has all the X and K bands and Laser. With 360 degrees of coverage around the vehicle. It detects the bands of radar and detects lasers hitting cars aehad of you. It has EASILY saved me over $2000 in tickets I would have gotten. Plus the fact that they will update your existing Valentine with new code if needed over time. In my group of friends that drive all the itm efrom Hosuton to Austin, San Antonio, to ski in Colorado and Utah EVERYONE has a Valentine 1.
Valentine 1 is the only radar detector that is useful. The rest are just an annoying beeping noise. Both the Corvette and Porsche clubs recommend the V1 wholeheartedly. Also, if you're going to splurge, you will need one of these babies: Uniden Bearcat Scanner This feature is very useful, especially in an age of instant-on radar. As for lasers, the only thing that will save you is the good old Mark 1 eyeball. Remember they have to have an unobstructed LOS to lase your car, so they really can't hide anywhere totally out of sight. I've not researched the laser jammers enough to comment, but hopefully they can build one that can at least keep you from being ticketed.
I think some people didnt read my post in full I HAVE BOTH AND USED BOTH (see pic) Also, even though every link comes from V1 the links that are on their site go to the some of THE VERY SAME reviews that escort uses... How bout we have some more people talk about products they havent ever used!!!
"He's getting away doing 100!" "We're giving chase, but we're being hindered by this 35 speed limit!" lol. That's whack.
No offense Da-Glyde, but the fact people haven't used both means beans when the links that are being put out are studies done by 3rd parties and fairly scientific testing. As for Porsche and 'Vette clubs recommending V1's, whooptie doo. Is that like "the official orange juice of the Super Bowl"? I couldn't care less about endorsements like that. Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Automobile Magazine, Speedzones, RadarTest, etc. and others have done tests that put the Escort as good or better than the V1. The V1 also wins other tests. Those are endorsements. The point is - it's not as clear-cut as it used to be.
