denutter's Full Review: Valentine One V1 Radar Detector
I previously owned a passport 8500 for about a year. After totaling my sports car, I decided to give up speeding and gave the detector to my parents. My new found enlightenment didn’t last long after my 3rd speeding ticket. I couldn’t ask my parents for my detector back so I started shopping and reviewing again. Passport 8500 x50 vs. Valentine one seems to be the question of the year. I read EVERY review I could find on the net, including the “objective 3rd party tests”. The conclusion was that people who bought either radar detector believed they made the right choice. The one negative I consistently read about the V1 was that it gave way too many false alarms.
There were also a handful of reviewers who took both Escort and Valentine up on their 30 day return policy and bought one of each. Unfortunately, most of these folks had both detectors hooked up at the same time. Believe it or not, this is not an accurate way to measure the strength of the detectors, as they will cause interference amongst each other.
My decision may have gone either way, however it was greatly influenced by a couple friends who swore by their valentine one. My cousin consistently drives triple digits on the interstate and swears by his V1. Another buddy has made about one hundred trips from Florida to Indy and both are ticketless. So, I went to the website and paid the $400 + tax + shipping for the valentine one. I am a computer geek by profession so of course I read through the entire manual at work the second I received it. I couldn’t wait to get in my car and test the thing out. Of course all of the cops went into hibernation as soon as I was strapped.
Some time has passed now and I have some experience to backup my purchase decision. Keep in mind, I was not above sending the V1 back if it did not perform. I would have no problems going back to the beloved 8500. Lets start with false alarms: Yes, when you drive by a mall or even an interstate overpass that has stores off to the bottom, the V1 will go nuts. This is not a big deal, just look at the indicator and it will most likely be on x band. You can typically dismiss these alerts when you are driving in such areas.
The V1 arrows are really nice to have so you know where to look to find the threat. Are they essential or will they save you from getting a ticket? Probably not. Where the V1 shines is in laser detection. With my 8500, getting hit with laser was like having your alarm go off an hour late for a job interview. When it went off, you knew you were screwed because you could see the cop with gun in hand! I didn’t think that this was a draw back, after all, laser is a precise beam that does not bounce around like radar. With the V1, I have actually received advanced laser warning before I was in the cross hairs. This has given me enough time to hit the brakes. With more state troopers using wireless laser guns, this is an important distinction to make. I have also been through many photo radars and you get plenty of warning with the V1.
Although there are some user selectable options, I haven’t had the need to do anything other than plug it in and turn it on. Remember, I am a gadget freak…..for me not to mess with the settings, it must have been made to perform well. People have complained about the lack of an auto mute…,here is the scoop on that. The passport will sound the radar warning and when it gets out of hand, it will mute the volume automatically until the annoyance has past. The V1 requires that you push the volume knob in to mute the sound. Behind the main volume knob, is a smaller mute volume knob. This allows you to pick how loud the muted volume is. Imagine you are on your way to the highway but must pass through some strip malls to get there. The V1 can get annoying but you must remember to hit the mute button and NOT turn it off or turn it way down. It would be terrible to get nailed on the highway because you forgot to turn it back on or up. This really is not that big of a deal, I don’t care to speed on residential roads anyway.
The last drawback of the V1: you must hide it every time you park your car. It stands out from every other radar detector and people know it costs $400. Even the manual states that you are asking to have your windows broken if it is not concealed. With other detectors, you can get by depending on the area. Although the unit comes with a visor mount, I would not recommend using it unless both the front and rear of the detector have an unobstructed view out of the windows. The best placement is right below the rear view mirror.
For the marginal increase in price, you get more bang for your buck out of the V1.
TWO MONTH UPDATE:
The V1 going nuts in urban areas started on my nerves after a while. Simple solution: push the knob until you see the L for logic mode. This will mute most x band warnings that the detector considers not a threat. I will leave it in this mode unless I am on a long interstate trip.
The beauty of the directional arrows: you can tell when to ignore a threat. If there is a threat coming from behind you and its not getting stronger, you know you can ignore it. With other detectors, you would hear a threat, not know where it was coming from and ride the braks for a few minutes. With the V1, you can keep rolling.
I am totally sold on the V1 and just placed another order for my wife. The way I look at it, if it helps you avoid one ticket, it just paid for itself. Good Luck All!
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