i am looking to upgrade my detector.. currently have 8500x50.

i have narrowed it down to the 9500ix and V1.

main question i have, is it worth upgrading from the 8500 x50 will i again anything?

any users of these devices, would love some feedback. thank you.

 

Posted this in my advancement thread.

I have a V1. The sensitivity of the device is GREAT. I picked up a cop coming from nearly a mile away using the Ka band. I've encountered an instant-on radar situation traveling on the highway and the V1 alerted me with plenty of time to slow down. I really like the physical controls of the device too, it feels solid and is easy to adjust, mute, etc really quick. The display readout is easy to read and auto-adjusts the brightness.

My biggest dislike is also the fact that it is very sensitive. There's a spot in town that I go through every day that picks up about 4 sources of radar, and does so for about a half mile. Luckily, the ramp-up times of false sources can easily be told apart from genuine radar sources. Real radar starts with one small beep and gradually increases. Falses show up with a few rapid beeps right away and then slow down and disappear. Plus, nearly all the officers around here have used the Ka band. It becomes easy to decipher after a few weeks of use. The falses show up on the X band around here typically. So more of just an auditory annoyance.

For a radar detector, its the best you can get. The GPS feature of the 9500ix isn't as valuable as the arrows on the V1, IMO.

 

i'm leaning towards the V1 myself. arrows look awesome. but i fear the constant beeping will just make me ignore or turn it off.

anyone here tried the 8500x50 and upg to v1?

 

Buy a V1 and program it do to K-band suppression in little "L". That way you will get a light and arrown alert on K-band without audio and audio alert only happens with the strengh meter pass 4 dots. I do that in city and go "a" mode on highway.

I used to own 2 X50 and yes the upgrade is worth it. The 9500ix is just a little better in range compare to the X50 but packs GPS.

 

I just got a ticket in Ill-Annoy by a timed thingy on the side of the road. I will not be using anything without a GPS anymore. Statie got me about 15 miles down the road, pulled me over and gave me the ticket.

 

Both are great, jus hate the V1 as its too sensitive sometimes, I have the 9500xi model, great radar, The only thing i find the V1 has over this is the arrows that tell you which way the signal is coming from.

 

my vote is for valentine. just got one a few weeks ago and already saved my ass once. also have the concealed display unit (not hooked up yet)

the directional arrows are ...that's what did it for me.

 

So, what good are the arrows in reality? I get that they are cool and they tell you whether you are shot from behind or in front. Are they more than just academic? If it goes off, don't you slow down regardless of which way it comes from? ...or are you like "that one is behind me, screw that, I ain't slowin' down!"

 

Are you sure the "timed thingy" wasn't airborne surveillance?

 

for me, the arrows are a nice feature for a couple of reasons.

when i first hooked it up, i "tested it out" on the beltway onramp and the guy i bought it from told me which radar bands to look out for. specifically laser, and ka band. x band and k band are usually automatic doors, crap like that. plus you can manually set your valentine to ignore the obvious false alarms.

anyway, the radar pulsed ka band with the arrow pointing forward...sure enough, a little further up the highway...a state trooper sat under an overpass.

i love the valentine, and am looking forward to hardwiring the unit and concealed display.

 

They have machines that do it. I got mine at night. I can spot the lines in the road for the aircraft since they use those around here.

 

I'm using the x50. My commute is 70mi round trip. There are 4 false alarms on the route, I've memorized where each is, and they don't bother me. So if I wanted to upgrade to the 9500, assuming the sensitivity is comparable (it is), I'd have to ask:

- Is $400 worth it to get GPS and not hear the falsies?
- Is $400 worth it to cover unusual threats (cameras etc) on the 15% of my driving outside my commute and/or in unknown territory?

Not for me but ymmv.

 

Im guessing the x50 model is a cordless model? The gps is well worth it if you go through zones where they had speed traps and stuff like that. An important thing to remember about any radar is you have to keep it out of the heat as much as you can to ensure longevity and great use.

 

V1 for life. I've done many tests with buddies radars hooked up in the same car as the V1 and it always outperforms them. Knowing what direction those piggies are coming from makes all the difference.

 

Ive left the V1 out in the sun for about 5 years now, gets hot enough to cook an egg on it, and it doesn't skip a beat. My brother lives in Pheonix and has done the same thing for about 6 years. He just sold it 3 months ago for $375. 25 dollar deprecation after 6 years is one helluva investment.

 

V1 hands down, in the real word there is nothing that works better. Plus whenever updates come out or the technology changes you just send the unit in for a small fee of around 80 to have updated, all other detectors just have to be replaced completely. I have left mine out in the Texas heat and sun all day too many times to count and it still works flawlessly after 5+ yrs of use!

 

This is what I don't get. How does this matter? Don't you slow down when it goes off? ...or do you pick and choose when you will slow down depending on the direction? How does knowing actually save you a ticket?

 

Think about this, you are on a bendy road and "the other brand" radar beeps and beeps and beeps. You slow down knowing there is a cop somewhere. You end up driving for a couple minutes and it keeps getting stronger and then finally the cop comes up from behind you and starts tailing you. (This has happened to me before I got the V1, ran my plates and I ended up getting a tint ticket.)

OR....

You are on a bendy road and all of a sudden your radar goes off and you see there is a cop around you, and you know that he is behind you, not a chance he is anywhere else. You don't slow but continue driving normally and eventually you turn off the road and see him go past you.

Just one example... but i have seen many a times with my buddies passport hooked up right next to mine that his will beep way more at BS and the V1 will start beeping first when there is a cop.

 

Had a V1 for for 3-4 years and the only time it failed me was on a bendy highway and the LEOs were camped at the bend of the road and it didnt detect it..no blame though but i was mad i had no warnings at all

 

X50 is the gold standard in radar range. No point in upgrading unless you want feature or longer range. I had the $1,600 9500CI paired with the V1 together for about a year. My experiences is that the 9500CI gives the first warning on the highway 1-3 seconds before the V1 but the 9500CI FAILS to tell me how strong the signal is by its beep. V1 is dead accurate on its radar strenght. Escort has the worse ramp-up I ever seen. That mixed woth not detecting Instant On radar shot by Leo justify selling the 9500CI and only run V1.

 

ive had all 3, v1 all the way!

 

I have and love the V1... its great for hwy travelling, the best actually (arrows FTW!). It's not so great for around town.

If you are in the city most of the time I would go for the escort, otherwise go for the V1.

 

Buy a V1, the arrows are key

 

so i got v1 a week ago.. and wow.. love it. mad i waited so long to get this bad boy. arrows are awesome to have.

for those asking why need arrows.. yes when i get full blast alert i slow down regardless but when i get a weak KA alert normally i slowed down in the past and wait and look for the cop to see where he is and sometimes never see one and wonder if its safe to speed up yet. now when i get a weak alert and its behind me i disregard unless it gets stronger but if its ahead than i slow down. also when you there are mult piggies out on patrol. the bogey counter shows two and show which one is stronger.

overall blows the x50 away. in advance logic few extra falses. but in A i get a lot of extra falses for X band.

for anyone considering V1.. get it you will not regret it.

also its cheaper to maintain in long run since you can upg unit not have to spend 500 for another unit.

 

Also i'm in IL. i have not heard about these timers? how do they work and where did they catch you?

 

since i've had all three, my vote is for what i kept: the 9500. valentine makes a great detector, and it is nice to see from what direction the cop's radar is coming from; however, the only real important function is the detection of police radar -- the arrows are cool, but who cares, if you getting pinged by radar, it doesn't matter where the cop is, just that you weren't caught speeding/ received advanced detection. this is why the 9500 gets my vote. with the gps you can lockout "distraction" signals that are sent by alarm systems, automatic doors, etc, etc, that way you know that when your detector goes off on a non ka band, it's a threat. you can also mark areas as speed traps, which the gps feature will alert you a mile before the place you set the speed trap, and continue to alert you a mile out from the speed trap. the 9500 also shows you your speed at time of detection which is quite accurate i might add. the new super cup mount for escort (the redesigned one) is simply superb as well.

 

"The Valentine One is a highly sensitive radar detector--good enough that I declared it the winner of my 2000 Automobile Magazine shootout--but it's no longer top dog by default. The world of radar detection has changed significantly since the V1 was designed in 1991 by engineers Steve Scholl and Clarence Groth. The Apple IIsi also was hot stuff that year but Apple wisely chose not to continue trying to sell the same box. They replaced it with smaller, faster, better models packed with advanced features.
In a sense, the Valentine One seems to be trapped in a time warp. Even the owner manual reflects 1980s thinking, replete with statements such as "X-band [is] most common for moving and stationary [radar]." Excuse me? 48 of the 50 state highway patrols abandoned it decades ago and even one of the remaining two users began a wholesale migration to Ka-band frequency in recent years.
With an increasingly wide gap in the Valentine One's level of sophistication compared to modern designs--not to mention a minimalist feature set, quirky ergonomics, an exceptionally chatty nature and stiff price tag--the competition has clearly passed it by. One in particular, the Escort Passport RedLine, also handily outclassed it in performance in a recent test.
The Valentine One remains an iconic example of the pinnacle of late 20th century technology. However, we're now well into the 21st century and recent advances in technology are impossible to ignore." As quoted by radartest.com

It's been a while since the Valentine One has been the top dog.My vote is for the 9500ix.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-audio-bluetooth-electronics-navigation-294/my-first-post-816209/

 

Radartest is not the place to find good info on radar detectors...