Valentine 1 Radar Detector
 

Anyone have a Valentine? Does it work? Worth the money?

Yes. Worth the money. Absolutely. Wouldn't trade it for anything... well that's not true. I'd trade it for a 997TT in Germany where there's no speed limits.

But that's the only thing I'd trade it for!

Do a thread search to see the hundreds of posts on the Valentine One. I'm willing to be it's in the top five things discussed here. Some debate as to just how useful the arrows are, but frankly, when you use them for a half hour, you'd never go back to not knowing where the radar signal is coming from.

Germany has speed limits now, I missed a window of opportunity again. Detectors are great, but getting nailed with one in the car is like flipping the officer off. I've even heard the urban legends of the po po placing the unit under a tire before you re enter the highway, ducket in hand, have a nice day!

It seems to be a good detector. A lot of folks here have it and love it. But you could save about $100 if you got a Passport Escort X50. It doesn't have arrows, but arrows, despite their curiosity factor, doesn't mean it works better. In fact, many say -including Valentine owners, that it has more false signals than the X50.

If you wanna spend some money, get the Passport 9500i. If it was in my budget, I'd definitely get one of those. It allows you to lock out false alarms with its built-in GPS! It adjusts sensitivity based on your speed. You can mark known speed traps. Automatically adjusts volume based on interior noise... I want one!

That passport does seem to have some sweet features. IMHO, the best experience speeding is with an officer in the passengers seat, an experience I've been fortunate enough to have had.

How did you manage that? Friend? Driving course? An arrest that went horribly horribly weird?

Agree 100%. Every review I've read (popular mechanics, car and driver, etc.) rates the 9500i above the Valentine and right now the 9500i is the one I'd get. But I'm holding off buying in hopes the Valentine adds the features from the 9500i.

If only I could combine the features I like about both into one uber-detector!!

Is the Passport programmable? I do not know.

I turned off X band on my Valentine One and I rarely, if at all, get a false alarm any more. X band is only used in Ohio now.

Is the Passport upgradable? I do not know.

The Valentine One can be sent back for an upgrade to the latest and greatest for less than a hundred bucks, including shipping.

And there you have it. Arrows, which are more than a curiosity issue for me (when a cop shoots from the front stationary while another approaches from behind) and these two issues are what settled the Passport vs. V1 debate for me a while back.

Yeah! What did she look like? Spill the beans, man!

Family on the job, was treated to a late night run, nuff said.

Valentine One all the way. Once you live with the arrows, you'll never go back.

You can save $100 and I hear this from my friends that have Escorts that you don't need the arrows. If you're ok with just beep-beep-beep and not having any idea of where the police officer is, then go with the Escort X50, it's a great detector. The 9500i is more expensive than the Valentine and still doesn't have arrows.

If you want the best in the field, get the Valentine 1. Easily upgradeable, best range (see unbiased testing link I provided below), front and rear detection, and of course, the arrows!

Call up V1 and get a returned unit (same warranty, looks brand new) for $360 plus shipping, instead of paying the full $400.

Guys of Lidar

Get the Valentine One. The arrows alone are worth the $400.

X Band is only used in Ohio? Are you sure?
If so I will turn off the X Band and live with out the few false alarms I get.

I have a 9500i I love it.
The 9500 is very customizable. I have mine set up so I can track multiple signals. It tells me how strong each of them is and what band. It does not tell me if they are ahead of me or behind. But if its chirping I slow down.

I have many false alarm areas locked out. The 9500 will pick up new signals in an area that has been locked out. It does the lock out by gps location and the mhz of the signal And I rarely get false alarms unless I am in a strange area and have not locked out those pesky signals.

The Speedtrap feature is nice; I travel out of town a few days a week and there are a few spots the cops sit and its a good reminder to slow down.

I have tested this radar a few times on long trips. When the radar would go off I would reset my trip odometer and then watch the signal get closer and closer, most of the time I am picking the cops up almost a mile out. To me a mile is plenty of enough time to slow down. I dont need need more than a mile of chirping to slow down.


Also the 9500 is has a nice remote mount that I have placed to the right if my tach. It has a very faint blue LED showing its on and a very bright yellow LED that flashes when it detects a signal. I can post a picture of it if you guys want to see it.

When I chose a detector I wanted the least amount of false alarms and this detector in my opinion is the best at reducing the false alarms for me. Thats why I bought it.
But I would trade it for a 996TT the problem is that with a 996tt and no 9500 i will lose my drivers license.

X Band is used on the new red light cameras in new orleans. They apparently post your speed in the ticket.

It is also used at the speed detector at the foot of the causeway.

Thats enough for me....x band is staying on.

Thanks for the info max.

Valentine-yes
 

To some the arrows are a "curiosity" however I disagree. The other day I turned left at a light and a statey followed me up a hill, the detector howling with the arrow showing to the rear. As we progressed, the arrow showed to the front and the number 2 came up, both in the none X band. Sure enough coming toward me was a NYS Sheriff with his radar blasting. The thing is very sensitive and I get signals as much as a mile ahead of time, plenty to brake down and look "not guilty", if you get my meaning. Best detector I ever had and had an older Passport in my van until it broke and the techno at Passport said it was too old to update or repair.

AKL ;)

Randall, yes the Passport is programmable (I have X turned off).
I don't know if it's upgradeable. Sending it back to be upgraded seems inconvenient though. Other than the arrows, I'm pretty sure the Passport has all the features of the Valentine -and more.

Hey baseball, do you really want to wait to see if Valentine adds a GPS feature? Can you imagine that unit being any bigger? That thing's size as it is isn't quite discreet. Imagine a "boom box" from the 80s.

AKL, I'm not saying the arrows don't work. Clearly they do let you know where the signal comes from. But it's not the "where" that makes you slow down.

I guess I just want Valentine supporters to realize or concede that arrows are nice, but merely bells and whistles.

I love this debate.

How do you turn X off the V1? I seem to have lost my manual.

I got the instructions for overriding the software from the V1 web site.

Yer right, spring is coming and I doubt the V1 will be upgraded by then - I think I'll go order the 9500i right now. Thanks for helping me get off the dime Jeph :D

Smart move man. Eliminating false alarms, to me, is more important than knowing where the false alarm comes from. <-That should be my signature quote!

I think I'll sell my Passport Escort X50 (Blue) on eBay and get the 9500i as well. All this radar detector talk has been inspiring!

Be sure to post your feedback on the 9500i!

Remember if you are getting the 9500 it has alot of custom features. You can use it as a heads up display always showing your speed. And there are a few ways for the signals to get displayed. One is the standard letter and graph from left to righ showing the strength. There is another format that shows the exact mhz its picking up. My favorite is the multiple signal indicator.

The 9500 will always say "multiple signals detected" if it picks up more than one and it will display the strongest. With the multiple signals displayed you can view a few signals I think 5 but I have only seen 3 at a time. It also shows the strength of each signal in its own graph. To me this is the most useful display.

Jeph, you have led a brother astray, away from the almighty arrows.

I refer you to Isaiah 3:11. Nuf' said.

Oh Randall, do we really need to go there? If we're gonna go Old Testament...

It seems Mr. Valentine himself is being quoted in Deuteronomy 32:23.

I had to look up the scripture, but once I did.... LOL!!

I was actually led astray by all the reviews - Jeph just helped me get off the dime :D

If Jeph got you to open your Bible, he's helped you make two excellent decisions now :)

Here's some Bible trivia to brighten your Monday:

Where were motorcycles mentioned in the Bible? In Exodus, the roar of Moses' triumph could be heard throughout the land. (evidently, he wasn't running cats or a muffler)

Where was baseball mentioned in the Bible? In the beginning (big inning)

Where was marijuana use mentioned in the Bible? Stephen was stoned.

Why did the wise men who went to worship baby Jesus smell like smoke? They had come from afar. <-- say it with a Texan drawl and it will make sense.

And now, back to discussions about how to best cheat the city, county, or state out of revenue by using a radar detector... :D

Only on 986forum could we go from talking about radar detectors to quoting the bible :p

Nick

enough with religion! Anyone use the battery powered Solo? I was considering it but then talking to someone who has one said it is not loud enough, especially when the top is down. In looking at the reviews it does not rank as high as the others you guys are talking about.

Any comment?

My Passport 9500 is loud enough to be heard with the top down, but top down and radio on loud is a different story.
Passport makes and auxiliary speaker that makes the detector super loud. I did not go that route I mounted a remote display near my tach and it is bright enough that is always gets my attention.

I would recommend the remote display for any detector you get. Or get one you can set up a second loud speaker.

It would be great if we could wire a detector into the "tel mute" feature on many radios. As soon as the detector picked something up the radio volume would decrease, think about it. The user would have the display the beeping and the car radio decreasing in volume.

(I think this is the first time I've quoted myself.)

A man of my word... I'm selling my X50 for a 9500i!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270213396237
$5 off if you're a 986 member! Bid now already.

Dont worry I think Quoteing yourself is better than talking to yourself.

Research
 

I looked at research done by consumer products and other independent sources and it seems that the 9500i and the Valentine have just about the same performance, however when you actually look at the fine numbers, Valentine edges out the 9500i. Belltronics also did very well but not as well as the escort and valentine.

So you really can do no wrong getting either one. But my money is going to valentine. My brother has one and it has not let him down yet.

Chris

8 Ball,

I have the solo. For a cordless detector, it is awesome ! I will agree that you cannot hear it with the top down. I have to place it in the line of site to see the display with the top down and radio on. Batteries seem to last about 3 months. I do think you sacrifice range, but virtually no false alerts. I have had it for about 3 years now and have been very pleased. It is probably not as good as the Valentine or Passport 8500 / 9500, but if you are looking for a wireless detector I would highly recommend...

Here's a good comparison :

http://www.guysoflidar.com/august-2007/radar-detector-test.html

Nick