Radar Detectors - Give me your opinions.
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Radar Detectors - Give me your opinions.
I've been checking out different models for the past few days, and was curious as to what detectors you guys & girls use.
Give me your brand, model etc. along with your experience using it. My search came up with zero ...
Thanks,
Xjet
Give me your brand, model etc. along with your experience using it. My search came up with zero ...
Thanks,
Xjet
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From: TEXAS, Texas, US
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Rep Power: 0 Xjet - as far as quality goes. I just retired my first Escort (before the Passport line) that I bought in 1985. I never had any problems with it ! It's just big as he!! and doesn't pick up laser.
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From: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Rep Power: 0 Beltronics 980 is a good radar detector, but if you don't need one soon, there will be a successor to the 980 this summer/spring. 
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Rep Power: 0 << i agree with the Passport 8500, but dammit, do a search. this has been brought up many times before, it can't be THAT hard to find. >>
Hey AFlyer,
Go up to Products & Parts, type "radar" or "detector" or both in the search field. Then come back and tell me what you get bro. You think I'm some inexperienced web surfer that just bought a PC yesterday?
Xjet
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Rep Power: 0 << << i agree with the Passport 8500, but dammit, do a search. this has been brought up many times before, it can't be THAT hard to find. >>
Hey AFlyer,
Go up to Products & Parts, type "radar" or "detector" or both in the search field. Then come back and tell me what you get bro. You think I'm some inexperienced web surfer that just bought a PC yesterday? >>
he meant to use the search function, IE, the forums....
i have the Passport 8500 and i gotta give it
i've done a side by side comparison with the V1 and the V1 detects stuff .5-1 second sooner than the passport. the V1 also sounds more annoying but has direction. the Passport 8500 is V1 quality but not V1 price[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
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From: inside my civic, Louisiana, US
Rep Power: 0 im not sure what i got and dont want to go look(walmart brand..$50)..it does help out tho.. The only problem is that the a$$hole cops dont leave their radars on all the time; they usually wait till your close and then clock you, and its too late. That happened to me like 3 times. The best thing to do is buy a radar Scrambler. It messes up the radar in the cops car and they cant get your speed. I'm not sure where you can buy it, or how legal it is; but i remember seeing an advertisement for it. It claimed that the company would pay your speeding ticket if it didnt work!! I only wish i still new the name of that company.
[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/IMG]
[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/IMG]
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Rep Power: 0 My apologies to Aflyer ... 01civicboi showed me where the multiple forum search function was. I didn't realize this site had one, so I was wrong and stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out gents. 
Xjet
Xjet
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Rep Power: 0 With radar detectors you have to get the best or else its not worth buying. My family has had quite a few in the past and I think the Valentine one is the best. True, it is near 400 bones but its is probably worth it if you drive fast. I plan on getting one soon, just need to make my car fast first.
I have the Passport 8500. It's a very nice detector, and highly sensitive. It's programmable and uses onboard flash memory. (settings aren't lost when car is turned off) The problem with radar detectors, as mentioned before, is cops will wait until they're up to you and then turn on their radar. This kind of renders all detectors useless. The object then is to speed, but not to the point where by the naked eye, you're noticeably faster than everyone else. This way the pigly won't be provoked to rapidly snap on his radar at you. Just my $0.02.
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Rep Power: 0 no offense taken xjet, it just gets old seeing the same topics come up again and again. i aplogize for goin off on you. anyway, the passport is great, i got mine for just under $300 after tax, and it's saved me many a times. one thing though, don't go for the laser hype. if the laser detector goes off, 80% of the time you're screwed because of the range and accuracy of laser guns.
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Rep Power: 0 The Valentine 1 is hands-down the best radar detector you can get. Car and Driver just completed their tests of all of the radar detectors, and the V1 was head-and-shoulders above the rest (for like the 5th year in a row). Once you've used one and are familiar with using the directional radar indicators, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. Sure it costs a bit much ($400), but I never understood why people will choose a second-rate product just to save a few bucks.
Car and Driver radar detector test (Feb. 2002)
Car and Driver radar detector test (Feb. 2002)
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Rep Power: 0 the V1 is the best as well as the most annoying[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] i love the fact that it points out direction.
oh well, i'm satisfied with having #2
oh well, i'm satisfied with having #2
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Rep Power: 0 V1 is probably the best, but I find the Car and Driver test results to be a little unbelievable. They put the Valentine One so far ahead of the rest, when is it really that much better? Car and Driver is getting money from Valentine One for ad space.....any connection?
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Rep Power: 0 Well if they're getting paid off, this must have been a long-term deal or something. Because the V1 has placed first in every single one of C&D's detector tests since before I can even remember.
Bottom line - when I was looking for a radar detector, every single opinion board and chat forum I visited had countless people who swore by the V1. Just take some to do some research - you will not find another detector with anywhere near as large a following as the V1 does.
I've had the V1 for almost a year now and have not gotten a single ticket during that time period, whereas I had gotten THREE separate speeding tickets the month before I purchased the V1. This is DESPITE the fact that I am now even more of a speeding **** than I was before I got the V1. Top 1/4 mile times? Bah - who cares about that - how about top 80 mile times? I've made it from Houston to Huntsville (80 miles) in 45-50 mins before (avg speed 96-106 mph). Now there would be no way I would even think about doing something like that unless I was confident I had the absolute best protection money could buy. And that's what the V1 gives you - top-notch radar/laser detection and the only directional indicator available. I even have the concealed display ($30 option) so people won't try to crowd my car late at night trying to read my radar. And all of this is direct-wired into my fuse box, so it starts instantly when I turn on my ignition and I can still use the free power slot to charge my cell phone.
My V1 even saved my a$$hole from Bubba in some Central Texas jail. It saved me about 3-4 times when I already had a warrant out for my arrest for an unpaid speeding ticket 6 months earlier. I do the Huntsville to Houston and back to Huntsville drive on I-45 about 3-5 times a week, and I swear every single time I will be doing between 80-90 mph and there will be dudes who will start following me. Once I start getting bacon alerts on my V1 (usually in the wooded area north of Conroe), I'll slow down to about 70 and then cruise through the wooded area. But there always are one or two cars that just whizz by, and a mile later I'll see them pulled over by a cop on the side of the freeway.
If you do a lot of city to city driving or just plain like to speed, it would be a wise investment to buy the absolute best protection you can get. The V1 serves as my eyes and ears on all of my long drives (I average about 4000 miles/month), and I have yet to be disappointed in its performance.
Bottom line - when I was looking for a radar detector, every single opinion board and chat forum I visited had countless people who swore by the V1. Just take some to do some research - you will not find another detector with anywhere near as large a following as the V1 does.
I've had the V1 for almost a year now and have not gotten a single ticket during that time period, whereas I had gotten THREE separate speeding tickets the month before I purchased the V1. This is DESPITE the fact that I am now even more of a speeding **** than I was before I got the V1. Top 1/4 mile times? Bah - who cares about that - how about top 80 mile times? I've made it from Houston to Huntsville (80 miles) in 45-50 mins before (avg speed 96-106 mph). Now there would be no way I would even think about doing something like that unless I was confident I had the absolute best protection money could buy. And that's what the V1 gives you - top-notch radar/laser detection and the only directional indicator available. I even have the concealed display ($30 option) so people won't try to crowd my car late at night trying to read my radar. And all of this is direct-wired into my fuse box, so it starts instantly when I turn on my ignition and I can still use the free power slot to charge my cell phone.
My V1 even saved my a$$hole from Bubba in some Central Texas jail. It saved me about 3-4 times when I already had a warrant out for my arrest for an unpaid speeding ticket 6 months earlier. I do the Huntsville to Houston and back to Huntsville drive on I-45 about 3-5 times a week, and I swear every single time I will be doing between 80-90 mph and there will be dudes who will start following me. Once I start getting bacon alerts on my V1 (usually in the wooded area north of Conroe), I'll slow down to about 70 and then cruise through the wooded area. But there always are one or two cars that just whizz by, and a mile later I'll see them pulled over by a cop on the side of the freeway.
If you do a lot of city to city driving or just plain like to speed, it would be a wise investment to buy the absolute best protection you can get. The V1 serves as my eyes and ears on all of my long drives (I average about 4000 miles/month), and I have yet to be disappointed in its performance.
