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      03-27-2008, 08:23 PM   #1
jonack
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Radar Detectors

Are they worth it????

If so, which one do you recommend? Cost? Where do I get it?
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      03-27-2008, 08:30 PM   #2
TunedM2C
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Yes and Valentine1.
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      03-27-2008, 08:35 PM   #3
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Thank you, Tuned1, I was trying to decide which one would be best also.
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      03-27-2008, 08:39 PM   #4
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i have the Passport X50...saved me about $1800 in tickets already...better range than the V1 too...
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      03-27-2008, 08:43 PM   #5
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I have a Beltronics pro RX65, has saved me a few times. From what I could figure out when shopping a few years ago, your best bet is either with Valentine, Escort or Beltronics (although my understanding is that Beltronics owns Escort now, but still market under both brand names)
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      03-27-2008, 08:44 PM   #6
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Gotta go with the Valentine 1 - honest it's true: once you live with the arrows you can't live without em.
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      03-27-2008, 08:56 PM   #7
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Oh, and to answer the question are they worth it, I would have to say yes, based on the total fines of how many tickets I would have gotten, plus the rising insurance premiums, I think I have paid mine off easily.
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      03-27-2008, 08:57 PM   #8
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I spent a few days researching and finally bought a V1.

Honestly if you live in a city it is basically useless around town (except maybe on the interstates through town) ... too many false positives ... as far as i can tell the main value of a radar detector is on interstate travel where you hope your detector picks up the reflection off another car.

there is a passport model that allows you to use GPS to mark out false positives (manually i believe) but i finally decided that sensitivity was my #1 metric and everything i read said the V1 was best ... albeit the newer passport was very close.

additionally i was surprised how useful the directional arrows on the V1 are.
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      03-27-2008, 08:57 PM   #9
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      03-27-2008, 08:59 PM   #10
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Honestly if you live in a city it is basically useless around town (except maybe on the interstates through town) ... too many false positives ... as far as i can tell the main value of a radar detector is on interstate travel where you hope your detector picks up the reflection off another car.

I agee completely, although my wife was saved from one city street speed trap by hers once:thumbup:
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      03-27-2008, 09:09 PM   #11
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      03-27-2008, 09:09 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3to1 View Post
Honestly if you live in a city it is basically useless around town (except maybe on the interstates through town) ... too many false positives ... as far as i can tell the main value of a radar detector is on interstate travel where you hope your detector picks up the reflection off another car.
That's where the GPS feature of the Passport 9500 comes in. You can lock in false alarms and it will ignore them.


I've owned a V1, a Passport 8500, and now a 9500. Between the V1 and 8500, it's a wash. Both are great at detecting threats, and each one has features that are nice.

The 9500 takes things to a whole new level though. With the other detectors, you tend to start to ignore hits around town, and it slows your reaction to things at other times. With the 9500 it knows how fast you're going because of the GPS and can adjust sensitivity based on it. If you're tooling around a parking lot at 5MPH it ignores just about everything which is nice. If you get false positives on routes you drive regularly you can lock in the location and it will ignore them. It also talks to you and tells you what kind of hit is being detected, which I have learned to really like.


On top of that the sensitivity of the LASER detector seems to be improved over the 8500. I actually got a LASER hit the day I got it (driving from FL to IN) that saved my ass a ticket. I've had it go off a couple of times since then before I actually got clocked. I still don't think any of them are going to detect most LASER traps, but this one is better than any I've ever used.
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      03-27-2008, 09:17 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeremyc74 View Post
That's where the GPS feature of the Passport 9500 comes in. You can lock in false alarms and it will ignore them.


I've owned a V1, a Passport 8500, and now a 9500. Between the V1 and 8500, it's a wash. Both are great at detecting threats, and each one has features that are nice.

The 9500 takes things to a whole new level though. With the other detectors, you tend to start to ignore hits around town, and it slows your reaction to things at other times. With the 9500 it knows how fast you're going because of the GPS and can adjust sensitivity based on it. If you're tooling around a parking lot at 5MPH it ignores just about everything which is nice. If you get false positives on routes you drive regularly you can lock in the location and it will ignore them. It also talks to you and tells you what kind of hit is being detected, which I have learned to really like.


On top of that the sensitivity of the LASER detector seems to be improved over the 8500. I actually got a LASER hit the day I got it (driving from FL to IN) that saved my ass a ticket. I've had it go off a couple of times since then before I actually got clocked. I still don't think any of them are going to detect most LASER traps, but this one is better than any I've ever used.
Yeah I almost went with it... I think if it only had the directional display similar to the V1 I would have chosen the 9500. That and the rear detect. By every review I've read, the V1 and 9500 are of equal quality detecting hits from the front. The V1 has the rear sensitivity and directional read-out. The 9500 has the GPS advantage.
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      03-27-2008, 09:29 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joelk View Post
Yeah I almost went with it... I think if it only had the directional display similar to the V1 I would have chosen the 9500. That and the rear detect. By every review I've read, the V1 and 9500 are of equal quality detecting hits from the front. The V1 has the rear sensitivity and directional read-out. The 9500 has the GPS advantage.

The 9500 has rear detection.
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      03-27-2008, 09:51 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeremyc74 View Post
The 9500 has rear detection.
lol well i obviously didn't do enough research! thnx for the info.
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      03-27-2008, 10:29 PM   #16
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      03-27-2008, 10:31 PM   #17
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I have the RX-65..but the x50 is nice as well...The other one looks like an old CB and gives off falses.
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      03-27-2008, 10:34 PM   #18
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I have an Escort 8500 X50.... It has awesome range, and I absolutely LOVE THE MUTE BUTTON on the cord. Best improvement ever!!!

My pops always had a Valentine1. You can't go wrong with that one too.


I think either the top 2 escorts or V1 is a good choice.
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      03-27-2008, 10:48 PM   #19
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I had a Valentine 1, that is, IMO, the best there is out there. The directional arrows are the best feature available on any detector, and the range was better than my friends Passport 8500 at the time, we did a side by side comparo. However, now that I no longer have one, I dont see the need for one, not to mention if you get pulled over with one of them on your window you will be getting a ticket.
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      03-27-2008, 10:48 PM   #20
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The 9500i is awesome. I have it and will be doing a hardwire as soon as the wire comes in. Like mentioned above the GPS features are amazing, it really is the next step in radar detectors the same the V1 arrows were. As a bonus you can turn it into a full time digital speedo as well. It's feature list is just too large to list here. Well worth it!
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      03-29-2008, 06:55 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by novabimmer View Post
i have the Passport X50...saved me about $1800 in tickets already...better range than the V1 too...
My Passport + Lazer shifters let me be the chronically FAST driver that I am.
I can never be without...if you know what I mean.
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      03-30-2008, 02:54 PM   #22
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Valentine 1 is what I have and what I recommend. I can't live without it.
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