TylerT

iTrader: (1)

I like the idea of speeding without feeling a highway patrol going to give me a ticket. I don't want to hear "OH MY GOD UR SO STUPID FOR SPEEDING BLAH BLAH". I have an idea how radar detectors work, but I don't know WHICH ones work most efficiently. My price range is $300 - $400.

I was looking at this one in particular:

http://www.beltronics.com/rx65.html

paz840

iTrader: (2)

the bel rx65 is what i have too...works great!

with your price range, i would go with the rx65 or valentine 1

here's a pic of my rx65 hardwired to my mirror:

fant0m_TL

i have a passport 8500 bought it from a guy on here... oddly enough im getting the SERVICE REQUIRED message on the LCD... other than that, it works nice.

there are systems out there that cloak your car, they install sensors on the bumpers and sides for 360 protection, and it blocks the radar/laser, but then your looking about about $1400 installed... that CAN save you money... if youve gotten tickets like me... haha... just be careful... and dont speed crazy in and out of traffic - thats annoying.

PS - i know you put your disclaimer out there saying you didnt wanna hear people and their thoughts on your speeding... but your going too... alot... just a heads up

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

V1... i won't go back to anything else... well worth the investment..

fant0m_TL

do you happen to know if the V1 is better than the passport? if so, how? I never had the chance to use a V1... and id be interested in getting one

conan777

I never had one personally but I've heard alot of good things about the Valentine 1. I used to waste money on radar detectors until I was driving down the road one day and all of a sudden My radar detector went ballistic creating noises like that of a Star Trek episode, and lights flashing everywhere illuminating the entire interior of my car. I slammed hard on my brakes and clutched at my heart fearful that I just had a heart attact. Ha..ha..! All that and what came next you ask...well then came the Red & Blues flashing behind me anyways. I got a ticket and all my very expensive radar/lidar detector did for me was scare the crap out of me and let me know I just got a ticket. Cops that I know laugh at radar detectors. In the early days, radar units ran at a "constant ON" state so a radar detector would pick up the beam from a distance and alert you that there was radar ahead. Now they are all trigger activated so when the Cop sees you he pulls the trigger and gets a reading of your speed. That is the exact same point at which time your radar detector goes off and alerts you that you just got #$%! LOL! Sorry man but that is just the truth of the matter. If you like to speed I can understand and do not judge you for it. Just beware that if you buy a radar detector all you are really buying is a false sense of security. Alot of Cops catch speeders by doing what is called "Pacing" that is they follow behind you while maintaining a constant speed with your vehicle. No radar needed! Us poor fools are always looking ahead just over the next bend for that radar trap and never see the cruiser behind us. Yep you guessed it, I got caught that way too. I was not intentionally speeding, I just was not paying attention and it was dark out. I had no idea he was behind me IMHO, save your money for your next speeding ticket.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

from the research that i have seen they are both equally great detectors... the only difference is that the V1 has the arrows and the counter so you know where and exactly how many there are... helps you eliminate false bogeys if u drive past a camera one day and know there is always a radar there... but Escort did come out with a new 9500??? it has GPS learning so you can program false alarm areas into it that won't always bug you for it...

but the main reason i got the V1 is because of their upgrade service... when the radar gets outdated with a new version, i can send my old unit in and pay an upgrade for $75.00 and have a brand new latest radar with a 1 yr warranty... with escort you have to buy it from one of their authorized dealers or the warranty is voided (stay away from ebay/amazon)... and if they have a new version... u have to pay full price...

but almost every comparison test i have seen, the V1 has always topped the list... i mean Valentine used to work for Escort... when he tried to introduce his 'arrow' idea to the company they didn't go for it, so he left and started his own...

damn now i sound like a f'in spokesman...

blacktls07

iTrader: (1)

Ditto. The numbers don't lie. Go check out http://www.guysoflidar.com/ They test out a bunch of radar detectors with, supposedly, no biased opinions.

tvande

Saw the same thing on my 8500 and sent it in for service. Seems to not be as much of an issue now, but still do seem to see it once in a great while. Cycle the power to it and it seems to clear up.

Had the 8500 in the RL for several days a week or two ago and don't remember seeing the service required while it was in there.

tom

fant0m_TL

thanks for the info! lol sorry OP... didnt mean to hijack... but from reading some things on these boards, i think you will notice a lot of people are either going with V1 or escort.

S PAW 1

There are many discussions of this topic if you do a search.
Personally, I've owned V1's for well over 10 years, and IMO they are the best, and worth the money.

psheu

I think if you intend to speed a lot and with that budget you have, try to get a jammer and a detecter... and check your 6

S PAW 1

If you are in an area that uses lasers, lightly sand the surface of a smoked license plate cover. I have personally owned V1's for over 10 years, and they are great.
I rarely speed. so I put the unit on my front windshield just to piss 'em off.
They aren't saving lives, just feeding the insurance coffers. My index finger meets their laser scope to indicate my level of respect for their scam, while they try to figure out why my speed didn't record! It's sort of fun just to to see the expression on their chiseled faces.
Although I am intimately familiar with the top speed of my TL-S (a man has to know his limitations), I state again that I rarely speed. I have had one speeding ticket in 30 years, and only because my V1 for some reason quit picking up K-Band radar, and the trooper lied through his teeth at the hearing.

fant0m_TL

interesting... but not sure what you mean... what do you mean about sanding the license plate? how will that block their guns?

Porkipine

iTrader: (1)

sanding the license plate will give it a rough surface. As a result the reflected beam doesn't have enough intensity for the machine to caculate your speed. I think that's how it works, I might be wrong.

fant0m_TL

what if they arent shooting your license plate?

why1504

Over the past 25 years I have had them all. I am sure the Passport is a great unit but 5 years ago I went with the V1. I just sent mine back for refurb. I can't say enough positive about the unit and the service. Before they even had mine once I said my name they knew what I had and how long it wold take. I then ordered my son one for his birthday, he loves it. As for the GPS, it is a cool idea but what if they run a radar in that local, you get owned. I will take the counter and the arrows any day. Great company, great product. You won't be disappointed.

markjrenna

You can read till you hear is content...

http://www.radardetector.net/

I have an X50 and two Valentine One's. Both have 30 day no questions asked return policies.

Ask for a returned Valentine One. You save 10% and it is literally brand new.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

the way the GPS works is that it records that certain frequency so that you normally won't pick up that radar... if a new radar is introduced in that vacinity, the Escort will recognize that it is different from that one stored and give you an alert... i am still a bit skeptical because if there is a frequency that overlaps, you are screwed...

there is a demo here...

http://www.escortradar.com/9500i.htm

fokkerfitch83

I have an 8500 X50 hardwired in mine. No tickets to date and it matches the interior lighting
www.radartest.com
Judge for yourself.

S PAW 1

First of all, I said to lightly sand a smoked license plate COVER. Use the finest grit VERY lightly.
The cops are trained to shoot the plate first, that's why lasers are so popular in Ohio. We have to have a front plate. The sanding causes the laser to not have a reflective surface, therefore no reading.
You only have a few seconds though, becaused they may use a secondary target, which is the reflective lense in your headlight. They usually don't though. They just keep trying to figure out why their primary target didn't read.
I know some will doubt whether this works. It does!

fant0m_TL

thats pretty interesting, i never knew that.

mg7726

V1 - had mine for 5 years and it's solid. upgrades from them are great too.

sunnyflava99

I have the sr7 plus shifters... i have been hit twice in about 8 months. I guess it jammed their laser because I never got pulled over. $850 installed.

I have friends with the V1... great radar!

conan777

Ok I'm sorry but I have to chime in on this one! Ha..ha..! Sorry S PAW but I have to respectably dispute that claim. The sad fact is that some poor member of this forum may actually believe that sanding the front license plate cover will actually help protect them from a Lidar is why I am responding.

First of all I can say that I have personally operated a Lidar and a Radar. I'm not sure how many others can say that but I can. At the custom shop I take my car they tested a Lidar Jammer and a Lidar/Radar detector. They had a Lidar and a Radar Gun at the shop. I will first talk about LIDAR JAMMERS as someone on this post commented about them. They are expensive and in my opinion not worth the money but you all can make up your own minds on that fact. I will tell you that I observed a test of the Lidar JAMMER which the shop installed on a very expensive Ferrari. Jammers were placed next to the front license plate (left and right side). The Jammer worked about 40% of the time giving the driver about 4 or 5 seconds to hit the brakes. It was very intersting to watch. It is interesting to read about the advancements that the radar companies have made in regards to the GPS learning and what not. Now I cannot explain why this happened but I'd say the first 5 test runs with the Ferrari it didn't appear that the Jammers did anything. The car was picked up right away with little to no interference on the Lidar and the detection aspect of the jammer did not pick up the Lidar and "Alert" on it until well after the Lidar operator had a good reading on the Ferarri. It was funny to see the Guys rubbing their heads and cussing like sailors. On Runs 6 through 15 it was almost like the Jammer was "learning" or something because It started working alittle and in some cases it seemed to jam the lidar for a couple seconds and in others is did not. Like I said approx 40% of the time I would say "It worked". I do not remember the brand of jammer used but I know it was not cheap. I doubt this technology has the ability to "Learn" that is just the best way for me to describe the tests. IMO I think the technology is heading in the right direction but far from reliable. Oh and the shop checked the unit several times to make sure everything was working and they were confident that it was. All in all the shop owner told his client "There is NO GUARANTEE" that this will work. (Approx 60%of the time it did not work). Hope someone finds this helpful.

Now back to the sanded license plate idea...The Laser beam gets wider the further away you are and at 500 feet the beam is pretty much hitting 50% of your car, not just your license plate. It's not like those Presentation laser Pointers that we all had at one point or another that place a very tiny little red dot on the screen from 10' away. It is a much larger Beam. I can't see how it would be possible for someone to zero in solely on your license plate or "Headlamp" from any considerable distance. Having actually used a Lidar the beam would more likely be hitting both headlamps and the license plate at the same time, as well as your bumper and hood, grill, windshield etc. I can say that they are definitely vehicle specific so if you are in heavy traffic they can easily pick your car out of a crowd with relative ease. Interestingly enough we tested a radar/Lidar detector also (Sorry I do not know the make or model) and most of the time it never even picked up the lidar beam when pointed at the license plate area. I am guessing this is because the Lidar detector was mounted near the sunvisor. The beam probably did not hit the veh high enough for the detector to pick it up??? The Lidar did give a good reading when pointed at any part of the veh but it seemed to me that it was best when pointed at the grill or license plate area. The windshield was the least effective but still worked. It just took alittle longer to "lock in" Again this is why I chose not to wast my money and buy another radar/lidar detector. Also I live in one of the few states where Radar detectors are illegal. Now I know I am getting off topic here but it is not to criticize any of you but only to help educate everyone. I am not saying Radar/Lidar detectors are completely worthless. They could very well help you against a basic radar gun (Not Lidar) IF!!! you are driving in moderate to heavy traffic. Radar has a very wide beam and is not lane or vehicle specific. It reads the "LARGEST" target in its beam. ex. If you are driving your TL and a large Box truck is behind you a few feet the radar beam with fluctuate back and forth between the truck and your car. If you are accelerating faster than the truck eventually you will become the bigger target and a clear dopplar tone will indicate to the radar operator that you are the only target in the beam. If you have a radar detector and know you are being clocked you can slow down and possibly get away because you are no longer speeding by the time the radar is locked solely on you. If you are the only car on the road or if you are in light traffic you are screwed! Your radar detector will only be able to alert you to the ticket you just got. The only reason I am writing on this post is to educate someone who may be on the fence as to whether they want to purchase a radar detector and know nothing of the technology or how it works. For those of you who own radar detectors and love them...cool. For anyone thinking that radar detectors are great protection...I think they can do more damage than not having one because the operator drives with a false sense of security believing he/she is protected which may be true to a small extent but mostly not the case at all.

S PAW 1

As I said, I was sure to find someone who doubted the technique.
I won't reveal my sources of information, but I can tell you that State Troopers in Ohio are trained to focus on the plate. They even have multiple targeting lasers on the list now. They are also trained that NOTHING can defeat them. That goes with the sales pitch.
Some of your information is accurate, some of it is outdated and is not as accurate.
Again, I won't get into a debate with you, since I really don't care if you believe in it or not. It works for me, and I am confident enough of my information for me to use it personally. It hasn't let me down in many years of use.
I know, just lucky, right?
By the way, the new lasers don't spread NEARLY as wide (just a hint of your outdated information)