I heavily recommend Escort's Passport 8500 (x50). First of all, though, you should know that your only options are that and the Valentine V1. If you used to be considering anything other than one of those two, stop. Those are your choices. A or B. Escort or Valentine.
That said, in every test I've ever read, the V1 seems to out-perform the 8500 in distance of first detection (which is, of course, extremely important and pretty much the whole point) BUT only just barely so. The 8500 is usually right on its heels, while all other competition is left trailing in the dust.
So, with detection distances being as close as they are, it's going to come down to feature set and product design. In my personal opinion, that's the 8500 by a long shot.
If attractiveness matters, the 8500 destroys the V1. There is no contest. The 8500 is probably the best looking detector on the market and the V1 is probably the worst.
If features matter, the V1 does offer those little directional arrows which tell you if your strongest threat is in front of you, behind you, or off to the side (though it does not specify which side). Some say that's an excellent piece of information. I say, who cares? If there's a cop nearby, I don't care in what direction he's in. He's nearby. That's enough. I'm slowing down now.
The 8500, on the other hand, offers a much more inforative display of multiple threats. Whereas the V1 will count the number of signals it's currently picking up, it only displays the signal type and strength of the strongs. The 8500 (when set to "Expert" mode) will indicate the type and strength of ALL signals. This is absolutely invaluable information, once you get good at reading it.
Also, the 8500 is cheaper. I think it's $300 the V1's $400. In both cases, the unit is going to pay for itself in time regardless - it's merely a matter of how much time.
Whether you buy the V1 or the 8500 (because, remember, there are no other options), here's a quick lesson on different radar signals...
X-Band: This is the cheapest type of radar, and because of that, it's also the most common. This is the EXACT same signal motion detectors above the doors in supermarkets use, so those are going to get picked up too. X-Band is also the easiest of the bunch to detect, so you can usually pick this stuff up a mile away. A weak signal is either a nearby store or a distant cop. If you're in a town, assume the former, but on a highway, assume the latter.
In 'city' mode, the 8500 will automatically ignore weak X-band signals. In 'highway' mode, it will alert you of everything it sees. In 'auto' mode, it will try to determine if you're in a city or on a highway based on the number of X's it sees, and inform you accordingly.
K-Band: This is a little more expensive (for police), a little more rare, and a little harder to detect. It's also used occasionally (rarely) in motion detectors, so it might be a false alarm, but most likely is not. Never ignore K-band detections; no detector on the market will either.
Ka-Band: This is the most expensive of the radars and the hardest to detect. I wish I could say it was rare, but it really isn't. Although, it may depend on the budget of the police departments in the towns you cruise though. In any case, Ka-band radar is your worst enemy. The 8500 and the V1 are the ONLY (am I sounding repetative yet?) detectors on the market that can pick up Ka at a distance large enough to be useful. Be cautious of even the weakest Ka detections. The cop could be lurking right around the corner. The odds of this being a false alarm are extremely slim.
Laser: This shiznit is crazy 'spensive and next to impossible to detect. Quite frankly, any detector (my dear ol' 8500 included) which claims it can detect Laser before you've been hit with it is probably lieing. Unless you're the one that got shot, that beam is nearly invisable. Thankfully, Laser is incredibly expensive and super-rare. You don't have much to worry about, unless your detector tells you. Because, if it knows there's Laser in the area, the cop has already shifted out of Park.
VG2: A few years back, police figured out a way to tell if you're using a radar detector or not. It's called VG2 and I haven't the faintest idea how it works. The radar detector companies responded by learning how to pick up VG2. Basically, they built a radar detector detector detector. When VG2 is spotted, the device turns itself off automatically, as to remain stealthy. Just about everything on the market has this capability, but I've never actually seen it happen with my 8500. Maybe the fuzz 'round these parts don't use VG2? I dunno.
Wow, so this turned out to be one long post. Damn. Well, I hope it was useful. Happy shopping. And, slow down.
by michaelwgng » Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:15 pm 
