v1 hands down...plus the ability to upgrade over time

 

I haven't read this thread, but am considering purchasing a.......

K40
Kit Front & Rear

........so, talk to me about them !
Thanks ...........

 

No please don't get a K40!!!!!!! They don't jam laser at all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQsa5HltHe0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1aJ4uKkKjo

 

I never knew either. Glad I stumbled upon this.

 

Most people who complain about the V1's performance have not taken the time to set it up properly. Customization is the key to it's fantastic performance. It's not for the crowd that just wants to take it out of the box and plug it in....

For those that want to take the time to read the instructions and set it up properly, they will be rewarded with the best unit available for radar/laser detection

 

Woah.... Hold up man. Don't do it. The K-40 is probably the lowest performance detector/jammer you can buy.

The V1 is a fantastic super sensitive detector, but it's effectiveness as a counter measure is very incomplete. If you live in CT and you rely solely on a V1, it will be a matter of very short time before you have a ticket. CT uses a LOT of lidar on the highways, and the V1 isn't going to save you. You really need some form of lidar jamming/shifting. The V1 is also ineffective at warning you about red light and speed cameras.

If you want the absolute best package on the market, look into the Passport 9500ci. It's new M3 antenna actually provide sensitivity beyond that of a V1. It has GPS True Lock so it handles false signals better than anything out there. It comes with Escort's ZR-4 lidar detection/shifting (yes, that's a jammer). It also comes with a 3 year subscription to the trinity traffic camera database so it's capable of warning you if you're approaching a red light or traffic camera.

I guess we really shouldn't compare the 9500ci to a V1. It's an apple vs. fruit basket comparison. One costs $400, the other $1,600. One is a complete package, the other is just a detector.

I just spent a lot of time researching all of these products and I felt the 9500ci was the best product for my needs. YMMV. Here are some pics of my unit in my car: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-res-pics.html

 

So this week I took a drive down to the LA area after months of not using my V1. It saved me from two tickets from CHP units patrolling the 101 near Monterey. One warning came at least 10 seconds before reaching the police car parked on the right shoulder in a downhill right turn. Gave me plenty of time to duck behind a truck and match is speed. When the alert came from the V1 we were traveling 15 over the limit.

I've had my V1 since '02 and had it updated about a year ago for $50.

The $400 I paid for it is nothing compared to all the tickets it saved me in Florida and now California.

I understand that some of the units being discussed here are actual electronic countermeasures to police radar/lidar and these discussions always mention the V1 which is simply for detection.

With that being said...if DETECTION is what you need. The answer has always been V1.

Mike Valentine nailed it with the arrows. Those are what make this detector superior to all others. All the other things like sensitivity, true dual antennas, customizability, etc just add to the experience.

 

Even the best package is still a package. Packages generally suck. Scanner/Copier/Printers usually blow. Home theaters in a box always suck. GPS/Bluetooth phone bundles are generally attrocious.

The same goes for the Escort bundle. While their detector is very good, their laser jammer is weak at best. It's a LED jammer, not a laser diode jammer. LED's are very limited with their intensity and output.

While it may feel good to buy a nicely packaged bundle with everything integrated, unfortunately there are compromises. In the case of the Escort, you're giving up solid laser jamming ability.

Buy the best detector you can afford. These days it's either the Valentine or the Escort. They're both good units with each having a unique capability the other doesn't.

Buy the best laser jammer you can afford. Any of the laser diode jammers are going to give you excellent performance. I'm a Laser Interceptor fan, but there are a couple others out there that are almost as good.

With regards to red light cameras, if you're running red lights you deserve a ticket. There's no excuse for that. Speed cameras aren't an issue where I live (yet), however it's as simple as downloading them into my gps.

The GPS lockout feature on the Escort is kind of cool. I wouldn't give up my V1 arrows for it, but I like the concept. I've read concerns about it not working properly, but I don't see why it wouldn't. Anything that reduces false alerts is a good thing.

BTW, you head placement on that install is very good. You've made the most of the possible install locations. Unfortunately you don't stand a chance out there with the Escort heads

 

I have to disagree with you. I've had an SRX on my VW Passat (my other car) for over 7 years. That's pretty old technology. I've gone blazing into lidar traps, first car in the group, 25-30 mph over the limit, clearly the target and never gotten a ticket. The SRX works, there is no doubt about it.

The laser interceptor is a fantastic product, clearly more effective than the ZR3 or ZR4s from Escort due to it's design. If I was driving a larger vehicle in which I needed more protection than the Escort could provide, I'd certainly consider one. This product was on my short list when making this decision. I considered getting a V1 + LI + Cheetah. In contrast to the 'package' that I went with, this may have given me better lidar protection, but everything else would have been inferior to the 9500ci, maybe with the exception of the arrows. This combo would have been more expensive and it would have littered my beautiful car with three different gaudy products, a windshield mount, no integration and a ton of false alarms. I don't want false alarms in my Porsche. I want a nice quiet product that doesn't detract from the driving experience.

I personally think that to dismiss the 9500ci as another 'package' is naive and close minded. To each their own, your mileage my vary.

 

So do you want it pretty, or do you want it to work? I'll take function over form.

I have my V1 hardwired at the very top of my windshield with a remote display on my dash. It's not unsightly and having it mounted higher clearly gives the best radar reception no matter which unit you're using.

Saying that you never got pulled over doesn't mean your Escort lidar protection works. There is plenty of doubt about the Escort working (www.guysoflidar.com). The fact that you didn't get stopped proves nothing. Unless you pulled over and asked the officer if he got a reading, you're making assumptions. He could have been sitting there intentionally slowing traffic down, doing reports, waiting for someone going even faster, or was just flat out being lazy...

Let's be honest about the false alarm claims and the Escort.
A) You run the risk of getting hit by police radar sitting in the same spot you've previosly locked out. Even though it's supposed to be able to determine and seperate the different souces, stories are surfacing that this isn't working as well as they'd hoped.
B) I don't get a ton of falses with my V1. If you're not afraid to read the instructions, it's very simple to customize it so that it's as quiet as possible for the area you drive in. For instance, in FL it's illegal for police to use X band so I just go ahead and turn it off altogether. I also set K band to only alert if it goes over a certain signal strenth. Ka I leave on full alert as that's my biggest threat.
C) Lock out with the 9500 are great. That is if you never deviate from your driving route. You will still get falses with the Escort. It's up to you to lock them out. And as you drive into new areas, you'll be getting new falses. Over time they should for the most part go away, but it's not like you just plug this unit in and never get a false alert.

With that being said, I like the Escort. I wish Valentine and Escort would team up to come out withe a super unit that had arrows, dual antennas, and GPS. That'll probably never happen so I'm sticking with the unit I'm most comfortable with and find the most useful for my driving environment. However, you're flat out gambling with the Escort for Lidar protection. At least it was the least expensive of the two "package" systems... You could have spent even more on a K40 and had worse protection FWIW, a 2 head LI unit retails for $700 and the V1 is approximately $400. Garmin Nuvi with downloadable speed camera maps is approx $400. Total equipment investment $1500. And if one part of that system fails you don't have to send the whole thing back....

 

If I can have both, I'll take it.

You think because you can see through the windshield that radio wave won't reflect off of it....? The minimal advantage that the higher view point gives you is far offset by the fact that you will lose several db of signal through the glass.

Everyone thinks that because we can see through glass, because it's not made of metal that radio waves must pass effortlessly through the windshield. Have you ever noticed that radar operated door openers actually work when you approach them? They work because plenty of radio waves are reflecting off of you, and your body isn't made of metal now is it? Do you think that radio waves somehow travel through hard glass without reflecting off? Not the case.

The low location in my installation can actually see under the cars in front of me, giving me a substantial advantage over a higher mounted detector that is behind glass and behind an SUV or minivan.

You're not going to convince me. I've blown through more than a dozen traps in the last 7 years where I know I was clearly targeted (one just two weeks ago) and my ZR-3 equipped SRX did it's job EVERY time. Traps in CT, NY, NJ, over and over and every time, nothing. Oh, but wait... The guys of lidar.... They say it doesn't work, and wait, they posted that on the internet... So it has to be right.

They are one and only one source that don't seem to like the Escort shifters. I don't know who they are, and their claims are contrary to my many personal experiences. I can provide many links to many sources that say they work. There is a web forum, not unlike this one, that is dedicated to nothing but radar/laser detection where there are many real users who have tested them and found them to work well. Not as well as the L.I., but very well.

Have you ever used it? Have you ever used a ZR3 or ZR4?

The risk of locking out a real LEO is very slim. The software in the original 9500i (about 2 years ago) definitely needed some tweaking because the lockout radius was pretty big. Escort jumped on that pretty quick and came out with a firmware update (and the new 9500ix). Now, the radius is very small, the algorithms are improved and they have added Auto Learn and Auto Unlearn.

So, it is possible that a user could mistakenly lockout a real LEO by instructing the detector to ignore that signal, but with Auto Learn / Unlearn enabled, once the 9500ci passes that location again, if the source is not there, it will automatically remove it from the database.

I also drive with X band off. It's useless (in my area). But if I venture into NJ, where they use X band, and where I do drive from time to time, a simple button press and I have X band again. How easily can you re-enable yours?

Also, what you are doing with the K band, the Escort does automatically in two different ways. If you set the sensitivity to Auto, X and K band sensitivity are automatically attenuated when you are traveling below 45 mph. Also, if you travel less than 20 mph, the Smart Mute provides a single audible pop followed by silence and a visual signal strength indication. All automatic. Keep your hands on the wheel and shifter, the Escort has it covered.

You sort of have a point, but because of the automatic sensitivity, auto learn, smart mute, the detector is a lot quieter than my SRX, even in new areas despite the fact that it's 2-3 times more sensitive.

You'll get your wish, sort of. I doubt they will ever team up. But the patent on the arrow expires in Feb 2010 (or it might be 2011, can't remember). Once that happens, Valentine One is likely slowly drift out of existence. You see, Mike V. hasn't really changed that design in 15 years, nor has he introduced any new products. The only unique feature was patented, and he did nothing to secure the future of the company. In another year or two, Escort will be able to make a unit with dual antennas and arrows.

If Valentine does go away, so will those update that you guys pay $50 for. With the Escort units, applying an update is as easy as downloading a file. You do it yourself, using your PC.

Sounds like you're trying real hard to justify your choice. Like I said earlier. I researched this and consider all of the options. You do realize that the $700 LI package only covers the front of a car, right? That's leaving a gaping hole. I have been shot at from behind, by a cop on an overpass. No way to see him until my SRX went crazy, told me it was a rear hit and I looked in my mirror.



I understand the two benefits of the combination that you propose

1. More robust lidar jamming due to laser diodes
2. Arrows to help me determine if the hit is actual or false (really not needed once you have True Lock)

And I also understand the many drawbacks:

1. Three devices, two of which are windshield mounted
2. No True Lock
3. No Auto Learn / Unlearn
4. No Smart Mute
5. No Adaptive Signal Processing
6. Loss of Radar Detector Detector invisibility (particularly in regard to the Spectre IV)
7. Reduced off axis Ka band performance
8. Reduced 35.7 GHz Ka band performance
9. Junk mode ignoring real threats
10. Reduced audible ability to distinguish bands
11. More difficult programming routine making it hard to re-enable X band when I go into NJ
12. Increased risk of parking lot smash and grab theft
13. Loss of arrow/directional indicators on lidar
14. Loss of web based firmware updates
15. Lost ability to intergrate the unit into my car in a fashion consistent with the vehicle's quality. For example, with the 9500ci, this is all I see:

You can't really custom install the devices you've suggested, not like this.

Look, the products you've mentioned are all very good products. They're just not for me. I understand the risk that you think I am taking with the ZR4 lidar jamming. I've spent well over a hundred thousand miles driving with my Escorts and I am very pleased with their performance.

Thanks for looking out for me....

 

I enjoy the heated, but friendly and informative debate. Thank you both for your well thought out comments.

 

You're very welcome. As you can see, I also really enjoy a good civil debate. They are fun, entertaining and informative.

 

Holy crap! You guys are making me tired!

A couple quick solutions to both of your quandaries:

1) Buy both detectors

or

2) Sell the fast vehicles and buy a 1985 Puch X-50-3 moped, it seats two comfortably and has a luggage rack...

 

I have had a V1 for over 10 years in 3 different cars. I've had a Blinder Xtreme M40 for 4 years, and a Escort 9500i for a year, just upgraded to a 9500ix. I've been running the V1 and Blinder in my M5 for almost 90,000 miles, and I installed the Escort over a year ago. I run both right next to each other so I can give you a pretty good comparison.

The Blinder has saved me 10 tickets, all at least 20mph over, and three in the triple digits. If I could only have one it would be the Blinder. You don't need the rear units, so I'm taking them off and installing them in my Cayman.

The V1 is more sensitive than the 9500i in almost all cases, and the arrows are very, very useful once you know how to use them. BUT, it drove me absolutely nuts around town with false alarms. Pull into Kroger and I get 9 bogies.... I got so many false alarms I was just ignoring it. So I got the 9500i for eliminating the false alarms. I have them both mounted above my rear view mirror, (hardwired) and in town I turn the volume off on the V1, but leave the lights on. When I'm on a trip out of town, I turn on the V1 volume. Around town the 9500i wins hands down just because you can eliminate the false alarms. When you do get a signal, you know it's real and you hit the brakes.

On the highway, most of the time, the V1 lights before the 9500i, and I believe it is the more sensitive detector. Also when the 9500i lights, I have no idea where the signal is coming from - a real pain when you could have a cop coming up behind you.

So, for around town driving, the 9500ix is the better machine. I would choose the V1 for highway driving. If I could only have one, it would be the 9500ix. But I would give up both for the Blinder - it's paid for both of them a few times over.