Let's Talk About Radar Detectors a Moment,...

[SSTony]

i wasted my money on cheap radar detectors in the past till i bought a v1. it might be a lot to dump down at first but trust me its well worth it. the upgrades can be free depending if its new but if things change you might have to pay for an upgrade. its well worth it.

[CamaroSkooter]

Originally Posted by Black LS3

Wow Guys,.. That Valentine 1 Radar Detector Costs between $450-$500 eh?

That Sounds like a Kick Ass Detector and it looks like it has a few extra Ad-On Accessories that you can buy to go along with it also.

When it says that You'll Never need to buy another Detector again because of it's Upgradeability.

Do you have to Pay for those Upgrades after a Certain amount of time? and if you do then in a sense you are buying another Detector "In a Sense" in order to Update or Upgrade the one you already have.

Kind of like my Garmin GPS, When i bought it,.. or I should say before I bought it all i read when that you could get updates for it off of the internet and how easy it was to update, I knew that you could "Buy Maps" for other Countries but what I didnt know was that after 1 Year you needed to Pay $65 Bucks to get More Updates to your own Country.

I kind of thought that it was like a Hardware device or something and all you did was Logon and Update it from Garmin.com when ever it needed updating. Hell I bought my GPS Unit 2 Years ago and the Chevy Dealership where I bought my 2SS is'nt even on the Damn GPS LOL... . Pulling in to the Dealership I was Driving Off-Road hehe,...

Anyway,.. What kind of Update and Upgrades are they that you get for that Valentine 1 after the first Year or Two? Do you have to pay for them?

If you think your detector needs an update, you go to their website and type in your detectors serial number, and the site will let you know if it needs any upgrades or updates. If one is needed, they tell you how much it will cost (which is not much usually), you ship it back to them, they do the upgrade and ship it back. The cost associated varies, but it sure beats having to purchase a whole 'nother radar detector just because the expensive one you already have is now outdated.

Originally Posted by Don O

If it doesn't have GPS to filter out the false detects you will missing out on the best part of a detector.

Don O

Right, because GPS is infallible...

[POWERFREAK]

+1 for V1. In the month before I bought it...I got pulled over 4 times...in the almost 2 years since...NOT ONCE.

as far as upgrading...I think it's $50. It's basically just a software update. Yes, there's a link on their website where you type in your serial # and it tells you if you need an update. Mine is still fine after almost 2 years, so I think that unless they do a major update...they are NOT gonna tell you to send it in.

It's also programmable...so you can tweak it. Check out http://radardetector.net/forums for suggested tweaks and lots of good info.

[Hesh]

Originally Posted by CamaroSkooter

Right, because GPS is infallible...

Its not that is in infallible, its a learning radar. If you know an area that picks up false alerts, you can progam them out. Its also a major benefit if you live in an area where there are speed cameras. It can be programmed in to the detector and knows where the cameras are and gives a warning before you get to them. Directional arrows are a gimmik. The V1 is a good detector without them. Has great range and sensitivity, but there are other detectors out there that are just as good with out the V1 price. Beltronics and Passport make some that are just as good as the V1 or better. TO the OP if you really want to do your research I suggest you go to this site. http://www.radarbusters.com/ There is an excop on there that test all the radar companies unbiased, and will give you some good advice. That is who I used to help me make my choice.

[monstertodd]

Does anyone have pictures of their radar detector installed in the Camaro?

[CamaroSkooter]

Originally Posted by Hesh

Its not that is in infallible, its a learning radar. If you know an area that picks up false alerts, you can progam them out. Its also a major benefit if you live in an area where there are speed cameras. It can be programmed in to the detector and knows where the cameras are and gives a warning before you get to them. Directional arrows are a gimmik. The V1 is a good detector without them. Has great range and sensitivity, but there are other detectors out there that are just as good with out the V1 price. Beltronics and Passport make some that are just as good as the V1 or better. TO the OP if you really want to do your research I suggest you go to this site. http://www.radarbusters.com/ There is an excop on there that test all the radar companies unbiased, and will give you some good advice. That is who I used to help me make my choice.

And the GPS thing isn't a gimmick?

I'm not trying to bust your chops or anything, but I find the ability to "program out" false alarms to be a bad idea.

I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to "program out" a speed camera (I thought a speed camera was similar to a red-light camera), but let's say you "program out" one of those radar drones that's part of a big sign that tells you what your speed is, but doesn't actually do anything else. Now, let's say a cop decides one day to park about 50-feet beyond one of these signs. You've effectively screwed yourself over. Your radar detector sees the sign, disregards it, and fails to pick up the nice officer. Bam, you're toast.

I just don't see how the GPS option is anything more than just a gimmick itself.

The directional arrows on the V1 aren't really a gimmick. The thing tells me how many "bogeys" are around, and the arrows tell me where the closest one is if they happen to be both in front of and behind me. I will agree that the arrows that point to the sides are kinda fishy, since the radar detector doesn't have sideways facing sensors, but even then, that just tells me the radar detector is determining that one "bogey" that was in front of or behind you is moving beyond the viewable area of the sensors and it simply deduces that it must be beside you.

Anyway, I agree on the website. Radar Roy is a very valuable resource that everyone should use when considering purchase of a new detector

[Black LS3]

Well I forget how much I paid for my Whistler but it wasnt a lot of money and not once did i ever get pulled over for speeding while using it so I can't say that it's been a bad Radar Detector at all for me. I dont know How Good it is, Probably NO Where Near as good as the V1 but to tell you the truth I was kind of hoping to maybe spend somwhere around $200-$250 for one.

I tried to find that V1 for sale and I see that there might be 2 different versions of it out there, 1 that has 2 Bands and I'm guessing that the other has only 1 Band. How do you know for sure which is the 2 Band Model?

Hesh,...
Which Beltronics and Passport were you refering to on http://www.radarbusters.com/

Were you refering to the 5 Star Model's?

[meanmike]

Radar detectors are a waste of money...

[Black LS3]

Originally Posted by meanmike

Radar detectors are a waste of money...

LOL,...

[POWERFREAK]

Originally Posted by meanmike

Radar detectors are a waste of money...

Radar detectors are a waste of money...if you never drive over the speed limit.

Getting tickets is a waste of money.

I can without a doubt say that my V1 has saved me from getting pulled over at least 3 times where I was driving WELL over the speed limit and it alerted me of a cop. AND, at least 10-15 other times were I was speeding (but not crazy speed) and I was alerted of a cop. So, waste of $$$...I don't think so.

I don't drive any faster because I have one...I have some common sense, it's just nice to know when there's a cop hiding.

[meanmike]

Buy the time it has detected the po po it's to late they have already got you....... The only time it may be benificial is when your in a lot of traffic, if your all alone then your screwed.

[POWERFREAK]

Originally Posted by meanmike

Buy the time it has detected the po po it's to late they have already got you....... The only time it may be benificial is when your in a lot of traffic, if your all alone then your screwed.

Only true with Laser or POP radar...Cops here still use KA band most of the time. Occasional Laser, but only state troopers and only during the day. Only been hit with Laser 2 times in the last 2 years. With KA, the V1 gives you plenty of time to slow down unless your doing over 100+.

[meanmike]

Originally Posted by POWERFREAK

Only true with Laser or POP radar...Cops here still use KA band most of the time. Occasional Laser, but only state troopers and only during the day. Only been hit with Laser 2 times in the last 2 years. With KA, the V1 gives you plenty of time to slow down unless your doing over 100+.

Then it must be the Valentine that I have. I was told by this by the guy who installed it (after I bought it) and a police officer and it seem's to be true.

[Don O]

Originally Posted by CamaroSkooter

And the GPS thing isn't a gimmick?

I'm not trying to bust your chops or anything, but I find the ability to "program out" false alarms to be a bad idea.

I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to "program out" a speed camera (I thought a speed camera was similar to a red-light camera), but let's say you "program out" one of those radar drones that's part of a big sign that tells you what your speed is, but doesn't actually do anything else. Now, let's say a cop decides one day to park about 50-feet beyond one of these signs. You've effectively screwed yourself over. Your radar detector sees the sign, disregards it, and fails to pick up the nice officer. Bam, you're toast.

I just don't see how the GPS option is anything more than just a gimmick itself.

The directional arrows on the V1 aren't really a gimmick. The thing tells me how many "bogeys" are around, and the arrows tell me where the closest one is if they happen to be both in front of and behind me. I will agree that the arrows that point to the sides are kinda fishy, since the radar detector doesn't have sideways facing sensors, but even then, that just tells me the radar detector is determining that one "bogey" that was in front of or behind you is moving beyond the viewable area of the sensors and it simply deduces that it must be beside you.

Anyway, I agree on the website. Radar Roy is a very valuable resource that everyone should use when considering purchase of a new detector

Justin,

You're not factoring the radar detector records the location AND signal band. So when you "program out" a speed warning sign in K band, but a cop setups up shop with his Ka band, bingo it is still detected. He obviously cannot be using the same band as the speed warning sign or his gun would be useless. I've had 4 detectors and the 3 previous were good detectors but annoying everyday back and forth to work with a dozen false alarms each way. Once the GPS enabled ones are "trained" you really response to a hit. They can also "mark" a location for speed traps, etc. There is a certain stretch of road on my way to work were the cops setup shop a couple times a month. My detector "reminds" me with "Speed trap ahead" every time I approach the marked location, about 500 ft from either direction. The V1 is really good, but without GPS they all are really annoying.

Don O