hmm, i dont remember if it was Car and Driver or Road and Track.. but one of them did a comparison test on Radar Detectors and the V1 came out on top...

to be honest, i trust their word

 

C&D did a test in February of 2002, you can read it at http://www.caranddriver.com/article....&page_number=1
The Valentine came out on top, Escort 2nd, and the Bel 980 (essentially the same as the 940 but with additional more or less useless bells & whistles) came out 3rd. I understand what you're saying about who to believe, it can be hard to decide. Unlike C&D and other mags, radardetectortest.com accepts no advertising from any maker, which being a terminal cynic I personally find persuasive in their favor. Again, you might want to read what radardetectortest.com have to say about their testing on the site. Personally, I don't think any of the units are much good against laser, which while it's increasing as a threat is still much less common than radar, varying somewhat by one’s location. Since I have found a relatively cheap Uniden detector to be quite useful for the last 10+ years (especially when used with a good level of alertness on the part of the driver) I'm just not persuaded the extra $240 for the Valentine (or even $110 for the Escort) is anywhere near worthwhile.

Dan

 

The V1 and Passport 8500 are definitely #1 and #2, but since most, if not all magazines/testers are biased in some way, I think you'll be OK with either one. I did see the radardetectortest.com and the Passport 8500 won, but if you read the testimonial on the V1 page (I think it's on there), the Passport 8500 used in the test isn't an over the counter one. They said it may have been rigged to work better than standard ones.

Whatever the case, I think you'll be OK with either one. I almost bought the Passport 8500 over the V1. Only reason I got the V1 was because I already had one, and this one is the newer upgrade (cheaper for me).

 

The 8500 has certainly one more shootouts with the V1 than the other way around. If you look at the Escort home page, there is a link to a number of articles. Some of the shootouts only test what they buy off the shelf. I was sold for a time on the V1, it sure looks like I good unit. I read all the reviews of each that I could find and ended up with the 8500 if nothing for it's lack of falsing. I really like it, though it's the only detector I have owned.

 

For what it's worth, radardetectortest.com (gettin' REAL tired of typing that ) claims that if a unit they test cannot for some reason be obtained anonymously (e.g., a new model) they will test an anonymously obtained sample as soon as possible and if there is a marked discrepancy in the 2 results, they will obtain a 3rd anon sample then average the results of the 2 anon units. So they say, anyway. Personally I'm as convinced by their authority as I am any of the other sources of this info, but I agree, just about everyone has SOME axe to grind (as I said, TERMINAL CYNIC )

Dan

 

Pictures of the V1 in my car.

http://ryan.nebraska.edu/evo/v1/DSC01236.jpg
http://ryan.nebraska.edu/evo/v1/DSC01237.jpg
http://ryan.nebraska.edu/evo/v1/DSC01238.jpg
http://ryan.nebraska.edu/evo/v1/DSC01239.jpg
http://ryan.nebraska.edu/evo/v1/DSC01240.jpg
http://ryan.nebraska.edu/evo/v1/DSC01241.jpg
http://ryan.nebraska.edu/evo/v1/DSC01242.jpg
http://ryan.nebraska.edu/evo/v1/DSC01243.jpg

 

They're both good detectors - I've used the 8500 before, and I'm thinking about getting a V1 now, due to the arrows.

I've always been suspicious of radardetectortest.com as it seems it exists solely to be mentioned in every Passport ad. When was the last time they actually did a test?

Car and Driver, on the other hand, is one of my favorite magazines. I trust their opinion more than some no-name site, and if you read their testing methodology in the article, it sounds like they did a much better job of simulating real world conditions than flaky radardetectortest.

 

I think the current evaluations on their site were done in 2003, in 2001 they also did detector tests for Automobile magazine (whose editor David E. Davis ran C&D for decades and is one of the most well known & respected automotive journalists in the field). The magazine describes the guy who runs radardetectortest as "an internationally-recognized authority on speed-measuring technology and electronic countermeasures... he also has conducted the majority of the radar-lidar detector tests performed in the U.S. over the past decade". My guess is any of the detectors which typically appear in the top 3 will give decent service, I just don't believe the evidence supports spending $300-$400. Again, anyone who’s interested should go to the site & read the faq, which outlines their testing methods, etc. http://www.radardetectortest.com/art...ategory=F.A.Q. before deciding who is or is not flaky. They also have some interesting observations regarding the fact that CD editor Patrick Bedard has been on the Valentine payroll for 20 years, which strikes me as a potential conflict of interest.

Dan

 

Don't take offense at my comments about RadarTest - it was just the impression I got after reading their site and comparing it to the C&D radar shootout one day, while shopping for a detector.

C&D did a great job of explaining everything about all the radar units (angles of sensitivity front and back, ranges, etc) with illustrations. They explained how they had acquaintances of relatives of employees purchase the detectors, so there would be no chance of receiving 'ringer' units (which I guess has been a big problem in these comparisons in the past).

RT.com just has a couple star ratings for each detector with no details, and I remember the V1 rating being very low for no particular reason (lower than some bargain-bin detectors), while anything and everything manufactured by Passport was rated as giving God-like omniscience of all patrol cars nearby. This makes me kinds of suspicious, ya know?

Of course initial impressions are sometimes wrong, and RT.com may be the true geniouses while C&D are corrupt fools. I have a hard time believing they accepted bribes from V1 to skew the results though, but I did read the link you gave and found it gossip-y but perhaps with a grain of truth However, you've got to read this link and see the other side of the story - about the past of the RT.com lead guy: http://www.valentine1.com/lab/V1Hater.asp

In the end, I think it really boils down to whether you want to pay the extra money for the arrows. I think they're kinda nifty

 

Ok I’ll put my two cents in. I’ve owned a Snooper, Bel, Uniden and the Valentine. I speed quit a bit; I bet there is not a week/day that goes by my car does not see a 100 mph. Out of all of the detectors that I’ve owned the Valentine 1 is the best! I get warnings depending on the road, anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 miles away. Once you figure out how the arrows work on the Valentine, you will never want to use a detector that does not have them! The arrows are a big help in figuring out if the signal is real or if you have actually passed the spot where the alarm is coming from. They also help you spot the police car faster. The Valentine 1 also counts the number of source of radar that it is receiving. This really helps out when the police are using a more than one car for speed trap. Now there are a couple of things that I do not like about the Valentine 1, like the LED’s need to be different colors so its easier at night to figure out the band the warning is coming from. The volume control needs to have something that locks it place so that it does not move. It would also be nice if you could program the unit to beep 4 times then go to a mute setting so you do not have to hit the mute button. But over all the Valentine 1 is the best detector that I’ve ever used. I do not put much merit in any web site that rate products that they also sell. If you have the money buy the Valentine 1!

 

Thank you - I was just about to post that. Craig Peterson (the idiot behind radartest) claims to have consulted for every radar detector manufacturer, which is a lie as he has never consulted for Valentine Research, but he has approached them more than once. Here's another interesting site regarding Mr. Peterson and his somewhat questionable ethics:
http://members.tripod.com/~spreeman/escort-baloney.html

 

I've tried both... The passport 8500 gets my vote! That's what I have now.... BTW, I've mounted it high on the windshield beside the rearview mirror on the passenger's side. It's quite visible for me but much less obvious that the thing sitting practically on the dashboard with the coiled thick power cord hanging off of it
My remote mute button sits in the lower right part of the instrument cluster right under the useless round pseudo gauge thgat says "Lancer". I'll post pictures later tonight.

 

I haven't met either guy, so I don't feel competent to judge which one may or may not be an "idiot", but it's pretty obvious there's bad blood between them. My own personal experience leads me to believe I can get the protection I need from the $162 Bel unit, which I am ordering from Amazon. The way I use a detector visual alerts aren't all that important. If the audio alarm goes off, I slow down, an approach that has worked so far. I don't know if Bedard's involvement with Valentine materially sways their tests or not, but it sure wouldn't be a precedent setting event in the course of human history if it did.

Dan

 

I don't mean to flame anyone or just argue for the sake of arguing, but I think it's ill advised and naive to trust magazines in these matters. Magazines live and die based on adverstising revenue. They are definitely not unbiased. I believe The Wall Steet Journal or another major newpaper took one those magazines to task precisely for having conflicts of interest and promoting their customers products in deceptive ways. Those "Valentine is best" shootouts are highly suspect because some the testers are actually in the payroll of Valentine, but they write as though they are doing some kind of impartial test

I don't know for sure about www.radartest.com but they definitely and unequivocally estate that they are not beholden to any radar detector manufacturer. Those are pretty strong statements and could result in serious lawsuits and possibly criminal charges if they are false.... . They claim to be totally impartial. None of the V1 suporter magazines make that claim.....

The Passport is not the only detector that gets high marks in their tests, and the V1 does not get bad marks. It just does not score at the top.... The V1 is a good detector, but I've tried them both and I prefer the Passport 8500. I think it is smart to have an open mind and do some research. I think that too many folks just believe blindly what others tell them.... Check things out, you could just save a ton of $$...

Cheers,

Manuel

 

Well said, Manuel.

Dan