You want the honest truth from someone who drives fast on a regular basis for the last 10+ yrs and yet has received less than 5 tickets in that time (all of which are dismissed) which should probably be more hundreds? Three letters... B E L nuff said! Nevermind the hype and the $300+ detectors. Every BEL I've owned (5 models total) has smoked out all cops in every scenario imaginable. In the most important and used band in North America... Ka, it can NOT be beaten for ANY amount of money... Period! With 360 degree for all bands and laser and upgradable, and zero falsing, for @ $230 it has no equal.
I have two BEL Pro RX65 and that's that.

Big Marcus

 

i don't really care whatever those "tests" results are under whatever circumstances. i know what roads i get on and i trust results on those more

 

Agreed with Rominl, real world testing and controlled environment magazine testing are two different things. Ive seen the V1 do it's wonders in different friend's vehicles. I've tried many other radar detectors during the time I first bought my V1. The comparisons were clear cut, the V1 shined and the others were lost. Needless to say i've returned those others and kept the V1 to date.

 

One of these days I am going to post a nice video and comparison I made between both of my units.
In the end it comes down to this; both have strengths and weaknesses, it's just a matter of which is more compatible with your driving style.
My ultimate conclusion:
V1 for highway (open road) or 8500 for lots of city driving.

 

V1

 

I actually had mixed results. I"m not really sure how to quantify it. Sometimes the V1 seemed more resonsive, sometimes the 8500 did. I own an 8500 X50, mainly because I forgot to return my 8500 on time

My 8500 has saved me many many times on the highway. I don't bother to use radar detectors in the city.. I just take it easy. I only really drive aggressively when I'm driving very long distances (100mi or more), or if I'm in the mood.

The V1 does have the benefits of the arrows. I'm thinking of switching to the V1 in the future just for the arrows, and for a change.


But you really can't go wrong between the V1 and the Escort 8500 X50.

 

V1 installed in the rear view mirror.

 

Woah! Where can I get this done in SoCal?!

 

With my limited experience with the V1, I found it annoying. The arrows didn't seem to be accurate and it had more false alarms then my X50. To be fair though, I only had a few car rides with it. I went with the X50 because it was cheaper and I was strapped for cash at the time.

I love the X50 and it has responded to every threat so far. The suction cup mounts are cheezy and I have had it fall off twice (in my 85 Jeep, the windshield isn't as curved). My friend who has the V1 swears by it and tried to convince me away from the X50. I have personally seen little difference between the two to justify me spending another $100, factoring in that I drive the speed limit 90% of the time.

I would really like to know if those tests by radar sites are completely unbiased. Most of them have advertising. I would love to see consumer reports test different units, but I do not see that happening anytime soon.

Opinions are like A-holes, everyone has one - Clint Eastwood

 

I heard the same about the millions of false chirps & useless arrows in the V1. Glad I have an x50

 

I have an old Passport 7500 in one car and a brand new Solo 2 (cordless) in any car. Both do a great job (Solo 2 is new though so don't have a lot of experience with it but it's already done it's duties ) - the 7500 has saved me thousands. I got the 7500 a long time ago because at the time it was the only detector you could turn X-band detection off completely.

I've heard the V1 can do this now too. If so, could be the one to get.

A Solo 2 came up in classifieds for a good price which is why I got it, plus I'm familiar with its operation, plus I liked the idea of being able to move it easily between our other 2 vehicles.

I'm wondering how the battery life is, but so far it hasn't used a set yet, plus I was impressed to learn it has a built in motion sensor which you can enable so it turns itself off when the car is parked!

 

I personally never used a V1, however I have a Passport 8500. Four years old and I definitely got my moneys worth with this unit. Till this day I am still very pleased with it. I find no need to upgrade just yet.

 

Well I saw the full page ad in Car & Driver for the new Escort Passport 9500i which takes a poke at Valentine1 with the arrow thing. I'm still trying to figure out which one to get. I'll have to do some more research on this. One thing is for sure, the folks at Valentine1 did not consider styling when they made the detector. The Passport models look better but it's something that will sway me from the V1.

 

have a 7 year old passport 8500, still kicking it and detecting threats, guess I'll stick with them

 

passport escourt 8500 works exactly the same as the V1 minus the directional arrows. I actually get less false alarms with the passport then the V1.