I've seen articles that rate the Escort as high as the Valentine, but never an owner of one who says the same thing.. Have you had a Vanlentine, or are you just happy with your Escort? Valentine, hands down!

 

my friend has a v1 and he is happy with it i have escort and I am happy with my so i say it is up to you which one u pick both are top of the line

 

+1 on V1. First mod I did to my car and paid for it self in the first 10 minutes of owning it.

I hardwired it myself with the kit it comes with using a how-to on this forum. Another good thing about the V1 is if they come up with a update you just send them your unit and they update it for free-now you don't have to buy a new detector when they come out with new technology.

 

This statement nails it

 

I bought my V1 b4 i bought my evo and it is my best mod.....V1 ftw!!!!

 

i love my v1, i still wouldn't have any other radar detector out there, definately worth the coin.

 

My V1 has paid for itself multiple times as well. I have it hardwired with a concealed display too. Best upgrade by far!

 

I've had the V1 for the last 5 years and it's the best $399 I've spent and it's saved me quite a few times. Coupled with the fact that it can be sent in for software upgrades, means it's not going to be obsolete in a couple of years like other detectors.

 

have used v1's and 8500's and i althrough i find hte x50 detects sooner/more accurately i cant stand to loose the arrows.

 

Of course the newest thing on the market is GPS linked detectors. I know that Escort makes one. I'm not sure of the others. I always thought that they would make a good combo and wished I had the expertise to design one, and then a year later I see an ad for one in Motor Trend magazine.
Every time you pass by a false signal you can mark it and the detector will note the coordinates and the frequency. I believe that you can tell it how many times you want to mark it before it will completely ignore that frequency at that location. And don't worry, the detector will still pick up a different frequency if it appears at the same location. And when I say frequency, I am not talking about bands. It will weed out separate frequencies within the same band. I think that this will be a lifesaver since so many automatic doors here in Oklahoma have gone from X-band to K band. I can't wait to buy one, but I have to spend money on winter tires (+ a set of rims) first.

Good luck on the purchase

 

Couple more thoughts, from someone who's had a V1 for six years or so:
(1) Firmware updates aren't free, as someone said, but they are cheap. Last time I checked I think they're $55 or so.
(2) They hold their value really well; check eBay some time.
(3) You can program them to filter out X band entirely, which is great because around here the only X band is from false alarms.
(4) You can do that with the other bands as well, but for my purposes I have programmed it to alert normally for Ka band, and alert me to K band only when it's clearly from a radar gun.
(5) Set up that way, I get almost zero false alerts, yet my detector is extremely good at picking up real alerts (almost always Ka band). Works like a freaking champion and I love the arrows.
(6) The magnesium case is amazingly durable; I once dropped it accidentally, and tried to catch it with my foot to soften the fall. Instead, I wound up effectively drop-kicking it into the wall, where it dented the drywall. And yet it has no marks on it and works perfectly.
(7) The only ticket I've received in years, was in another car and without my V1. It's fantastic.
(8) My brother has an X50 and we've used them side by side. They alert about the same, but the V1 is built way better and the alerts and arrows are much more informative and, frankly, the alert sounds are much less harsh to the ear.
(9) No detector will save you from laser (Lidar) or if the cop uses radar in instant-on mode just as he sees you, without using it previously on other cars to give you some warning.
They freaking rock.

 

I've got an 8500 and love it -although, it's my first detector. I can see how having the arrows of the V1 would be handy: I've had many fast and hard alerts where I don't see anybody around, and while jamming on the brakes, I'm frantically searching for the cop...

good times!

 

My girl just got me an RX65 for my bithday. It's quieter than my Uniden Pro58 but I'm not sure of it yet. I see alot of cops when it's not going off but it's already saved me a time or two.

 

Great radar detector, saved my bunch of times already.

 

I love my V1, this thing saved me from so many tickets.