Valentine vs Passport update
#16
07-21-2010, 06:44 PM
I had a Passport 8500 for about 6 years, and it worked well for me. But I decided to get a V1 this year, as it fits better next to the rear view mirror. So far I have no complaints, and I do like the directional information. I just drove 1400 miles from LA to Vancouver and was not bothered by false alarms at all. If I'm in an area with a lot of building intrusion alarms, I turn the volume down for a while so I can still hear it but it isn't a nuisance. You being in Oregon, I don't blame you for wanting maximum protection including laser shifters, as I find Oregon State Patrol to be everywhere when I'm driving through the I-5 corridor.
Oregon is the worst. They love their laser. I hardly ever see them using radar anymore. I also heard the V1 in "L" mode is really good so you do not get so many false alarms. I think I will be buying one shortly.
Last edited by BLKonBLK911C4S; 07-21-2010 at 06:53 PM.
#17
07-21-2010, 09:25 PM
There is no such thing as a false. The detector simply detects. The filters allow it or you to determine just how much filtering you desire. The ultimate filter is your brain.
The arrows on the V1 add situational awareness. The ultimate and best detector is the V1 in my opinion. I have had both.
The 9500 blocks out a spectrum. That can be a problem. Another issue is determining exactly what the area of signal denial is. Passport will not define.
Lots more to be said but this thread has been covered many times before.
Walt
The arrows on the V1 add situational awareness. The ultimate and best detector is the V1 in my opinion. I have had both.
The 9500 blocks out a spectrum. That can be a problem. Another issue is determining exactly what the area of signal denial is. Passport will not define.
Lots more to be said but this thread has been covered many times before.
Walt
#18
07-21-2010, 09:53 PM
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NY Metro
Posts: 358
Rep Power: 39 
Radar Debate
Thanks for the feedback; we can only protect each other in this economy (aggressive Law). So for the open clear road with minimal traffic we're on are own and with light traffic the V1 does the trick. I ride deep into the mountains of NY late at night. So I'm the only car within 1/2 a mile and more most late evenings; sometimes I'll travel 20 miles with passing no vehicles (not allowing for opposite bound traffic). It's actually a really pleasant drive. I see the Law and know I'll not see another for 30 miles; that true freedom. BUT how to cover the butt ? A little V1 protection will go a long way. Any knowledge of a coming hardware change from V1 ? 9500xi changes ?
#19
07-22-2010, 08:35 AM
You'll also get laser alarm on the V1 when approaching newer Infiniti vehicles with their active cruise control lasers.
My vote is for V1 hands down. I had both before.
My vote is for V1 hands down. I had both before.
Last edited by carrera mike; 07-22-2010 at 10:06 AM.
#20
07-22-2010, 09:59 AM
I have a V1 in my Carrera and I did have an Escort 8500 a few years back and I liked the V1 over that. I also currently have a Bel STi Driver and that is one hot unit! It is my travel detector and goes in the goat if I'm tooling around town in it.
#21
07-22-2010, 10:25 AM
I just took a 1200 mile round trip to Road America and slapped the V1 in one corner of the windshield, and the escort 9500i in the other. I wanted to test them side by side on the same conditions. Some say this would not work, that they would interfere with each other, but they did not appear to. Some cheap detectors give off K band signals which will be picked up by other detectors, but neither the V1 or the Escort give off an outgoing K band signal, which is why they are invisible to radar detector detectors I assume.
I've owned a 9500i for about 2 years now, and recently picked up a V1 as the previous owner of my M3 had his hardwired in and it seemed like a good solution. My buddies have always had V1's and have been happy with them. I have always been happy with the escort, haven't gotten any tickets, etc.
I do use laser shifters for lidar, so laser detection isn't that important to me. With laser, the minute the detector goes off is usually the minute you know you are getting a ticket....unless you get very lucky and pick laser scatter off someone getting tagged next to you. If you are out lone wolf on the road and get hit with laser, there is no slowing down in time.
Initial assumption: My initial assumption was that the V1 was going to pick up more junk signal than the Escort as they are known to do, but I figured the Ka and K band warnings from LEO’s would be pretty equal. Note, once out of a metro area, I find that a lot of the LEO's in rural areas in the Midwest shoot K band as well as Ka band radar, so while you get a lot of K band falses in town, it is important to have this detection out on the open highway. I was hoping not to have to test the Laser detection qualities as the tow vehicle does not have shifters installed, and in 1200 miles never did.
Conclusion: What I found was that my initial assumption was correct. The V1 chirps so much that I wanted to toss it out the window after 5 minutes on the road. Cat in the tree….beep. Cloud in the sky….beep. Overpass……beep. Navigator fallen asleep next to me….beep. X band X band X band…grrr. Now with that being said, you can shut the X band signal off on the V1 in the factory settings. I didn’t do it because I wanted to fully test the units on all bands, but I could have. Why it isn’t shut off from the factory, I don’t know. I did find a lot of inconsistencies in the false alerts between the two. Sometimes the Escort would make a beep at you, and sometimes the V1 would beep at you (X band or K band). Occasionally they beeped together. I found that the V1 was more sensitive to all the signal bands overall. The Escort is built to determine what is junk and what isn’t, and filter it out without making a sound, and it does a great job of that. The V1 is designed for situational awareness....alert you of everything and you can decide what is a threat and what isn't. Unfortunately, it appears the Escort filters out a little too much. It missed 2 LEO’s shooting K band in Wisconsin completely. The V1 lit up like a Christmas Tree on those occasions. The closest the two came to in performance was in Ka band warnings, but the V1 was always still a step ahead, usually by a few seconds. I was almost always on the brakes before the Escort ever made a peep (I wasn’t speeding, just checking my brakes of course
, I would never tow a race car on a trailer at 90mph, lol).
As far as the arrows are concerned, after using the escort for so long, you can figure out where the signal is coming from you from how the sensitivity beeps at you, it isn't rocket science, so I don't know that those are a really big selling point IMHO.
Anyway, needless to say the escort is for sale. The 2 misses **** me off, and the V1 gave a few seconds more warning on Ka band every time, and IMHO that is sometime all it takes to avoid a ticket.
I've owned a 9500i for about 2 years now, and recently picked up a V1 as the previous owner of my M3 had his hardwired in and it seemed like a good solution. My buddies have always had V1's and have been happy with them. I have always been happy with the escort, haven't gotten any tickets, etc.
I do use laser shifters for lidar, so laser detection isn't that important to me. With laser, the minute the detector goes off is usually the minute you know you are getting a ticket....unless you get very lucky and pick laser scatter off someone getting tagged next to you. If you are out lone wolf on the road and get hit with laser, there is no slowing down in time.
Initial assumption: My initial assumption was that the V1 was going to pick up more junk signal than the Escort as they are known to do, but I figured the Ka and K band warnings from LEO’s would be pretty equal. Note, once out of a metro area, I find that a lot of the LEO's in rural areas in the Midwest shoot K band as well as Ka band radar, so while you get a lot of K band falses in town, it is important to have this detection out on the open highway. I was hoping not to have to test the Laser detection qualities as the tow vehicle does not have shifters installed, and in 1200 miles never did.
Conclusion: What I found was that my initial assumption was correct. The V1 chirps so much that I wanted to toss it out the window after 5 minutes on the road. Cat in the tree….beep. Cloud in the sky….beep. Overpass……beep. Navigator fallen asleep next to me….beep. X band X band X band…grrr. Now with that being said, you can shut the X band signal off on the V1 in the factory settings. I didn’t do it because I wanted to fully test the units on all bands, but I could have. Why it isn’t shut off from the factory, I don’t know. I did find a lot of inconsistencies in the false alerts between the two. Sometimes the Escort would make a beep at you, and sometimes the V1 would beep at you (X band or K band). Occasionally they beeped together. I found that the V1 was more sensitive to all the signal bands overall. The Escort is built to determine what is junk and what isn’t, and filter it out without making a sound, and it does a great job of that. The V1 is designed for situational awareness....alert you of everything and you can decide what is a threat and what isn't. Unfortunately, it appears the Escort filters out a little too much. It missed 2 LEO’s shooting K band in Wisconsin completely. The V1 lit up like a Christmas Tree on those occasions. The closest the two came to in performance was in Ka band warnings, but the V1 was always still a step ahead, usually by a few seconds. I was almost always on the brakes before the Escort ever made a peep (I wasn’t speeding, just checking my brakes of course
, I would never tow a race car on a trailer at 90mph, lol).As far as the arrows are concerned, after using the escort for so long, you can figure out where the signal is coming from you from how the sensitivity beeps at you, it isn't rocket science, so I don't know that those are a really big selling point IMHO.
Anyway, needless to say the escort is for sale. The 2 misses **** me off, and the V1 gave a few seconds more warning on Ka band every time, and IMHO that is sometime all it takes to avoid a ticket.
Nice review... I've had V1s in my cars and I've been saved a few times over.
#22
07-22-2010, 10:46 AM
Great review - thanks!
As far as the arrows are concerned, after using the escort for so long, you can figure out where the signal is coming from you from how the sensitivity beeps at you, it isn't rocket science, so I don't know that those are a really big selling point IMHO.
SNIP
Anyway, needless to say the escort is for sale. The 2 misses **** me off, and the V1 gave a few seconds more warning on Ka band every time, and IMHO that is sometime all it takes to avoid a ticket.
SNIP
Anyway, needless to say the escort is for sale. The 2 misses **** me off, and the V1 gave a few seconds more warning on Ka band every time, and IMHO that is sometime all it takes to avoid a ticket.
#23
07-22-2010, 12:19 PM
There is no such thing as a false. The detector simply detects. The filters allow it or you to determine just how much filtering you desire. The ultimate filter is your brain.
The arrows on the V1 add situational awareness. The ultimate and best detector is the V1 in my opinion. I have had both.
The 9500 blocks out a spectrum. That can be a problem. Another issue is determining exactly what the area of signal denial is. Passport will not define.
Lots more to be said but this thread has been covered many times before.
Walt
The arrows on the V1 add situational awareness. The ultimate and best detector is the V1 in my opinion. I have had both.
The 9500 blocks out a spectrum. That can be a problem. Another issue is determining exactly what the area of signal denial is. Passport will not define.
Lots more to be said but this thread has been covered many times before.
Walt
To me I buy a Radar/Laser detector in my car to detect Police not Supermarket doors or any other non-police radar. With that said, anything that is not a cop is a false alarm!
#25
07-22-2010, 04:59 PM
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NY Metro
Posts: 358
Rep Power: 39
Radar Trash
Thanks for all the follow-up.
IAPorscheDoc:
" Anyway, needless to say the escort is for sale. "
I'll order the V1 with the remote this evening (just to provide background music as I zoom by Paramus and other areas of the NYC retail zone).
IAPorscheDoc:
" Anyway, needless to say the escort is for sale. "
I'll order the V1 with the remote this evening (just to provide background music as I zoom by Paramus and other areas of the NYC retail zone).
#28
07-22-2010, 05:08 PM
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NY Metro
Posts: 358
Rep Power: 39
Tickets ?
in my MiniS: a cop out of nowhere pulls me for 'doing 102 in a 65' turned out OK after a good lawyer but remember : they're revenue generators not police. Clean record with the pcars (so far).
#29
07-22-2010, 07:36 PM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Under Your Car
Age: 47
Posts: 573
Rep Power: 78
A buddy of mine bought the blinder radar detector/laser shifter system about 2 years ago. Can't remember what he spent, but it was over a grand IIRC. Sensors on bumpers, etc full hardwired system in his 993C4S. Is doing 85 in a 65 in town here, sees an LEO pulling onto the interstate behind him.....nothing has gone off, so he is in the clear and slows down. LEO speeds up behind him and turns on the lights and pulls him over.
Cop asks "Do you know how fast you were going?"
Buddy replies: "I sure do, but I know you don't"
Cop says "Actually that is correct, but the airplane above you timed you doing about 85. License and registration please....."
This is a guy who lives in an area where cops sit in a park and shoot laser at the bottom of a hill almost every day. If he sees them shooting laser, he will go home, get his c4s and go back and forth in front of the cops, then will pull in to the park and say..."Did I jam you all the way to the gun?" LOL. I keep telling him one of these days they are going to kick out his taillights and give him a ticket, lol.
Cop asks "Do you know how fast you were going?"
Buddy replies: "I sure do, but I know you don't"
Cop says "Actually that is correct, but the airplane above you timed you doing about 85. License and registration please....."
This is a guy who lives in an area where cops sit in a park and shoot laser at the bottom of a hill almost every day. If he sees them shooting laser, he will go home, get his c4s and go back and forth in front of the cops, then will pull in to the park and say..."Did I jam you all the way to the gun?" LOL. I keep telling him one of these days they are going to kick out his taillights and give him a ticket, lol.
#30
07-22-2010, 11:18 PM
I just took a 1200 mile round trip to Road America and slapped the V1 in one corner of the windshield, and the escort 9500i in the other. I wanted to test them side by side on the same conditions. Some say this would not work, that they would interfere with each other, but they did not appear to. Some cheap detectors give off K band signals which will be picked up by other detectors, but neither the V1 or the Escort give off an outgoing K band signal, which is why they are invisible to radar detector detectors I assume.
I've owned a 9500i for about 2 years now, and recently picked up a V1 as the previous owner of my M3 had his hardwired in and it seemed like a good solution. My buddies have always had V1's and have been happy with them. I have always been happy with the escort, haven't gotten any tickets, etc.
I do use laser shifters for lidar, so laser detection isn't that important to me. With laser, the minute the detector goes off is usually the minute you know you are getting a ticket....unless you get very lucky and pick laser scatter off someone getting tagged next to you. If you are out lone wolf on the road and get hit with laser, there is no slowing down in time.
Initial assumption: My initial assumption was that the V1 was going to pick up more junk signal than the Escort as they are known to do, but I figured the Ka and K band warnings from LEO’s would be pretty equal. Note, once out of a metro area, I find that a lot of the LEO's in rural areas in the Midwest shoot K band as well as Ka band radar, so while you get a lot of K band falses in town, it is important to have this detection out on the open highway. I was hoping not to have to test the Laser detection qualities as the tow vehicle does not have shifters installed, and in 1200 miles never did.
Conclusion: What I found was that my initial assumption was correct. The V1 chirps so much that I wanted to toss it out the window after 5 minutes on the road. Cat in the tree….beep. Cloud in the sky….beep. Overpass……beep. Navigator fallen asleep next to me….beep. X band X band X band…grrr. Now with that being said, you can shut the X band signal off on the V1 in the factory settings. I didn’t do it because I wanted to fully test the units on all bands, but I could have. Why it isn’t shut off from the factory, I don’t know. I did find a lot of inconsistencies in the false alerts between the two. Sometimes the Escort would make a beep at you, and sometimes the V1 would beep at you (X band or K band). Occasionally they beeped together. I found that the V1 was more sensitive to all the signal bands overall. The Escort is built to determine what is junk and what isn’t, and filter it out without making a sound, and it does a great job of that. The V1 is designed for situational awareness....alert you of everything and you can decide what is a threat and what isn't. Unfortunately, it appears the Escort filters out a little too much. It missed 2 LEO’s shooting K band in Wisconsin completely. The V1 lit up like a Christmas Tree on those occasions. The closest the two came to in performance was in Ka band warnings, but the V1 was always still a step ahead, usually by a few seconds. I was almost always on the brakes before the Escort ever made a peep (I wasn’t speeding, just checking my brakes of course, I would never tow a race car on a trailer at 90mph, lol).
As far as the arrows are concerned, after using the escort for so long, you can figure out where the signal is coming from you from how the sensitivity beeps at you, it isn't rocket science, so I don't know that those are a really big selling point IMHO.
Anyway, needless to say the escort is for sale. The 2 misses **** me off, and the V1 gave a few seconds more warning on Ka band every time, and IMHO that is sometime all it takes to avoid a ticket.
I've owned a 9500i for about 2 years now, and recently picked up a V1 as the previous owner of my M3 had his hardwired in and it seemed like a good solution. My buddies have always had V1's and have been happy with them. I have always been happy with the escort, haven't gotten any tickets, etc.
I do use laser shifters for lidar, so laser detection isn't that important to me. With laser, the minute the detector goes off is usually the minute you know you are getting a ticket....unless you get very lucky and pick laser scatter off someone getting tagged next to you. If you are out lone wolf on the road and get hit with laser, there is no slowing down in time.
Initial assumption: My initial assumption was that the V1 was going to pick up more junk signal than the Escort as they are known to do, but I figured the Ka and K band warnings from LEO’s would be pretty equal. Note, once out of a metro area, I find that a lot of the LEO's in rural areas in the Midwest shoot K band as well as Ka band radar, so while you get a lot of K band falses in town, it is important to have this detection out on the open highway. I was hoping not to have to test the Laser detection qualities as the tow vehicle does not have shifters installed, and in 1200 miles never did.
Conclusion: What I found was that my initial assumption was correct. The V1 chirps so much that I wanted to toss it out the window after 5 minutes on the road. Cat in the tree….beep. Cloud in the sky….beep. Overpass……beep. Navigator fallen asleep next to me….beep. X band X band X band…grrr. Now with that being said, you can shut the X band signal off on the V1 in the factory settings. I didn’t do it because I wanted to fully test the units on all bands, but I could have. Why it isn’t shut off from the factory, I don’t know. I did find a lot of inconsistencies in the false alerts between the two. Sometimes the Escort would make a beep at you, and sometimes the V1 would beep at you (X band or K band). Occasionally they beeped together. I found that the V1 was more sensitive to all the signal bands overall. The Escort is built to determine what is junk and what isn’t, and filter it out without making a sound, and it does a great job of that. The V1 is designed for situational awareness....alert you of everything and you can decide what is a threat and what isn't. Unfortunately, it appears the Escort filters out a little too much. It missed 2 LEO’s shooting K band in Wisconsin completely. The V1 lit up like a Christmas Tree on those occasions. The closest the two came to in performance was in Ka band warnings, but the V1 was always still a step ahead, usually by a few seconds. I was almost always on the brakes before the Escort ever made a peep (I wasn’t speeding, just checking my brakes of course
, I would never tow a race car on a trailer at 90mph, lol).As far as the arrows are concerned, after using the escort for so long, you can figure out where the signal is coming from you from how the sensitivity beeps at you, it isn't rocket science, so I don't know that those are a really big selling point IMHO.
Anyway, needless to say the escort is for sale. The 2 misses **** me off, and the V1 gave a few seconds more warning on Ka band every time, and IMHO that is sometime all it takes to avoid a ticket.
Jim