I'm lookin to get a radar detector and i can get a Bel 980 for cost price but cant get a v1 for cost. The bel 980 is gonna be 150 and they will hardwire it for me. How does the bel 980 compare to the V1??

Thanks

 

It doesn't compare to the V1 so spend yer cash on a great detector and avoid tix or spend your cash on a so so detector and get tix that cost $$$$$$$. You decide.

 

I've lurked here for a while. From what I've seen there is a huge bias towards V1. If I were you I'd look at an independent source a la http://www.radartest.com/. Good Luck!

 

That “independent source” you speak of is paid well by ESCORT for their “tests” showing the 8500 as the overall winner.
It’s quite known as one of the bigger jokes on the Internet.

ESCORT lovers.......NO I don’t have proof right now, but there are many others that will back me up on this.

Shawn S

 

By the way.....Here's Car & Drivers take on the BEL 980.
Not too impressive if you ask me.

Shawn S

 

Save your pennies and get a V1.

 

The V1 sets off false alarms like crazy! Get an Escort 8500.

 

u're kidding, right?

 

can you say BULLLLLLLLSHHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!

 

unless you do a lot of highway driving a radar detector is pretty much uselesse because by the time the piece of shit goes off, the cop has already shot you and knows how fast your going. Save yourself the money and get a jammer and make sure its a laser jammer too. worst amount of money i ever spent was a radar detector. The only one i give credit too is the v1, best on the marke

 

The V1 is playing its own song near city type areas. The 8500 has a great filter and can't be beat near suburban/city areas if cops hide out there. The V1 is good for detecting banks and grocery stores.

 

I have both. I agree B747!

 

Stop smokin' the wacky tabaccy....

THe V1 has THREE different types of filters on it... And as long as it's in semi or full logic mode, the number of falses are greatly reduced.

 

That's true Scrib, but B747 was comparing the E8500 to the V1.

 

I have the V1, & 8500, & again I will say I can't tell much of a difference. The V1 may be a liitle more sensitive though. I have X band off on both, & neither false very much. Some K band, in parking lots, but that's it.

Jammers are only good for laser(The few that do work) So getting a laser jammer in place of a radar detector is useless, cause it does nothing for radar.

 

 

I'm an Escort 8500 fan!!!

........so my 8500 is just as powerful as the V1, costs $100 less, is better looking and gives WAY FEW FALSES! if you will be driving a lot of suburban/city areas and want great protection i would get an 8500 or you will really get annoyed with false V1 signals.

 

whats wrth the

 

What a machine! :P

 

Well this thread is officially dead. It's full of speculation and innuendo and mis-statements, a lot of false stuff posted here. I'll tell you how you can tell the truth from the fiction for all the other folks with common sense reading here.

Just so we don't have to go over the same old tired stories again, the post count is 200. If you are reading this and it is August 2002 or early September, if the person who posted has 200 or more posts, you can believe them. All the others posts with less than 200 count, you should surely ignore because they are just plain false and the person who wrote is suffering from "_____" you fill in the blank. And I don't want to mince words here, I'm not calling anyone a liar, but the thread is dead because it's disguising all of the facts that took so long to establish, it's trying to discard this in a matter of hours. Who has time for this? Boeing 747, my god man, what are you doing to yourself here? Bill? C'mon Bill, do this one the right way, don't go out like that.....

This is what did it. A well known biased website was quoted as the "offical" and independent source. That's like saying Al Jazira (sic) has the scoop. Then someone said a radar detector is good only for the highway, not in the city. I've had a radar detector for over 15 years and it is a fact that that statement is false just like it would be false to say George Bush is a member of Al Queda. Just exactly who are you guys trying to hoodwink with those "stories"? Honestly you must think we are idiots. Whatever.

 

i wanna get the v1, but i dont really care if it notifies me of gas and atm n shit. is there a way that it will only look for cops, and start making a noise or vibrate?

 

so post count = validity? a statement like that is pure ignorance.

 

WOW, thats a great a price. I am also interested in the BEL, it offers similar performance as the others at a much lower price. It is kind of like our CL/TL's compared to BMW's. Can I ask if this price is available to a fellow TL'er?

 

Blah, Blah, Blah! Mr. Steele everyone says that radartest.com is biased and it was paid for by ESCORT, but no one, and I mean NO ONE, has offered any proof. Including you! Lets say that V1 venom about radartest.com is true and ESCORT did pay for it. That still does not mean the results are biased. The results are the results pure and simple. I said radartest.com was an independent source. I meant indepenent from here, acura-cl.com. I never said official. Before you go quoting the "popular" rumor that everyone else is maybe you should check your facts.

 

the answer is YES!!!! it's called "Logic" mode

V1 has 3 different modes: All Bogey, Logic, and Advanced Logic...explanations are found on V1's website (www.valentine1.com):

In the All-Bogeys® mode, all bogeys will be reported as soon as they are detected. Use your judgement to decide whether or not they are threats.
In the Logic® and Advanced-Logic® modes, you are deferring to the internal computer which will use its own logic to screen bogeys before reporting them to you.

In Logic, X-band bogeys the computer judges to be non-threatening will be reported at the "muted" volume. If they become threatening, the audio warning will upgrade to the "initial" volume before you are within radar range.

In Advanced-Logic, X-band bogeys that the computer has reason to believe aren't radar will not be reported at all. One exception: To be failsafe, the computer will always pass extremely strong signals along for your judgement. This mode is particularly useful in metro areas.

The computer is smart: It never operates the receiving circuits at less than maximum sensitivity and it knows that K-band bogeys and Instant-on are always threats. So it will always warn you immediately at the "initial" volume when those radars are detected, no matter what mode you've selected.

To change modes, press and hold the Control Knob for one second

NOW, i want u "smart" guys out there to sit there and explain to me how the Escort, Bel, Cobra, etc. can do all that and convey these messages plus show the location of where the signals are coming from by listening to a simple BEEP

lest u forget morons cops LOVE hiding out in town shopping centers where signals get crossed b/c of automatic electronic doors, and a simple BEEP will b misinterpreted for those doors, and u run the risk of getting nailed, or it's a false alarm, and u just braked for nothing...whereas V1 gives BEEPS for falses and BRAPS for radar in the ALL BOGEY mode...in Logic/Advanced Logic, the BEEPS will b filtered out

again, there is a clear distinction between an Escort and the V1, and the $100 premium u pay for V1 turns out to pay for itself the first time V1 saves yer a$$

Mike Valentine was the co-inventor of Escort before he moved on to create V1...since he has over 25 years experience in microwave technology, i trust his judgment when he says "Anything less is not full coverage"

 

I have had both detectors -returned the V1 when I got tired of its whining. Even in advanced logic mode, the V1 notifies you of EVERYTHING. The Escort 8500, on the other hand, knows when to keep quiet when necessary. This is in surbaban/city areas. On the highway you won't be able to tell the difference between the two.

 

I disagree with that statement. In semi-logic mode, the V1 will mute weak X signals. If the signal grows to a point where the V1 considers it a threat, it'll unmute the X-band beep. In Full Logic mode, it will not even display weak X-band signals.

 

Once again I agree. Only I didn't return the V1 I demoted it to my girlfriend's car! It's was almost funny when I asked here if she used the arrows. She said, "what arrows?". She was using the audible portion only and didn't even realize there are directional arrows. So much for the arrows being a selling point. Yeah, I know, WOMEN!

 

Have to put in my .02 - gotta get what you like - have had many detectors over the years (Bel, Cobra, Whistler) - most recently Whistler 2290 remote which was in my Vette. Excellent unit! When it beeped it was time to hit the brakes. Used a V1 of a friend for a few weeks- great unit - too much $. The technology is out there - you are paying for the name. Note new Whistler 3300 remote on order.

 

Not that anyone with any real concern is following this anymore, but I found this from an old thread here:

The radartest.com story is a little more complicated than that, and a lot
sorrier to tell. Basically, Craig Peterson, the creator of the site,
markets himself as a self-employed "paid consultant" to the radar detector
industry. His opinions (and probably his test numbers) appear to be for
sale to the highest bidder(s), and have been for years.
Peterson's unique brand of objective journalism first surfaced in an
Automobile Magazine detector review several years ago (December, 1995). In
it, he picked a Bel model with dramatically inferior specs and features as
the #1 finisher ahead of the Valentine One, which was then so far ahead of
the industry in every respect it wasn't even funny. Mike Valentine
delivered a rebuttal of the technical points of Peterson's review (also
see Valentine's own page on Peterson.)

Here are Mike Valentine’s comments to the RADARTEST website testing procedures:
http://www.valentineone.com/lab/V1Hater.asp

This is some OLDER info on Craig, but still relevant.
Read the “UPDATE” at the bottom of the page.
http://members.tripod.com/~spreeman/escort-baloney.html

And still MORE info from the V1 site on how comparison testing SHOULD be done.
http://www.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt5.asp

Please read ALL of the above before posting any more STUPID comments.

Shawn S

 

You tell em' Shawn!!!

 

And umm, this is the *only* place that puts it above the V1... is it coincidence this is the *ONLY* place that shows it that way.... hmmm.... do you believe everything you read on the internet?

Good your doing your research!

So if I create a webpage that shows men can grow babys out of their butts. I suppose someone will one day find it and believe it too...

I can make another webpage that shows a human giving birth to a goat? wonder how many belivers I'll get with that one too.... hmmmm...


Oh ya, and If you notice the detector they use to test with is not the newest model of the V1.... <yawn>

 

I hope you're not calling this proof?! They are just web sites like radartest.com is. Once again I never called radartest.com authentic. I called it an indenpendent source different from here. Mike V. is not qualified to comment on his own product. Do you really think he would prefer something else to his V1?

 

also, why is that one kid.......whoever it was going after me? i never even referred to radartest.com and don't think it is authentic either. i've been following threads about this site since the beginning and also been doing my own research and am also aware of other rating sites. The 8500 is just as powerful as the V1 that gives less false signals and is $100 less. ok then....

 

i think shawn overdosed on his tough pills when he wrote that. And they seem to be combined with the i'm the smartest man alive pills.

 

There’s just no convincing some of you clueless FUCKS.

I’ve said it before, the 8550 IS a great detector.
It offers basically the same range and protection that the V1 does.
The V1 just goes one step further and gives you directional arrows and bogey counter.
If you don’t know their benefits, you won’t miss them.
That’s what the extra 100-bucks buys you.

I’ve been using the V1 since 1992 and have sold and upgraded it three times to stay on top of the technology.
Whenever you go to any brand of “car site” like this one, people who use detectors every day will pick the V1 9 times out of 10.
The ONLY advantage the 8500 offers is the cost break for a few less features.

Shawn S

 

I haven't been posting here for very long, but I have noticed that there are certain regulars that think they are the source on everything. Kind of like I had the thought so it must be so. Lighten up people this is a place to converse. Learn what you can and take from it what you will.

 

say what? you are calling all of us liars and fools because our post counts are not up to some astronomical level? why would a higher number of post counts make you more knowledgable on radar detectors? Have you realized that it is possible for a person to follow every thread and do a sizable amount of research on radar detectors but with a low # of posts? Thanks for calling us "liars" but I think you are the one suffering from "_____" you fill in the blank this time around.

 

Yeah, what he said!

 

You have a very valid point. But I believe what Ken was trying to say is that sometimes people who have been established longer on the board are taken a bit more seriously. We do get a lot of folks who register and just post garbage to get things stirred up.

Some facts do remain with this argument.

Radartest is the only place that exists that shows the V1 like that. Now there is however some advertising in magazines that only compare certain aspects of the detectors to put their product ahead. But in a full out radar test, www.radartest.com is the only place that put the V1 last. And that V1 model they used was an old V1.

I can't believe that everyone elses tests are wrong and www.radartest.com is right. I am talking a complete radar test. Not feature vs. feature advertising.