Radar Detectors

[BMW2000z]

Recently, after getting a speeding ticket, I decided to get a radar detector. I've been doing some research online and trying to find reviews, and it seems that the two leading contenders are the Escort Passport 8500 X50 or the Valentine V1. They both have pretty much the same specs (according to the manufacturers), but there is a $100 price difference. Since both are quite a bit of money, if one of them is really a better performing device than the other, i don't mind spending a bit more.

I also saw there's an Escort Passport 9500, which is the same as the 8500 but has GPS in it, so you can do some cool stuff with that, but that costs $450!!! So i'm not sure if that's worth it.

But the question is, which one do you think is better between the 8500 and the V1 (if price is NOT an issue). Any personal comments/observations/suggestions regarding either one are welcome. Please help! Thanks.

PS. Are there any good stores or websites where they sell the retail product at a cheaper price than the MSRP? All the sites that i've looked at so far, sell them at the same price as i can get from the manufacturer, so it doesn't make sense to buy it from some random site.

 

[SVT Cobra]

I have the 9500 and the V1 and both work exactly the same around here. The 9500 is cool because I got it with blue LED's, but otherwise I don't screw with the GPS.

Anyway unless you are a big traveler on state highways, ask people that live near you what they have and what works. Because for me I needed the V1 and eventually the 9500 because I travel the NJ turnpike and coast highway a lot, meaning a lot of state cops, so I need the POP and laser support, but locally here they only use k-band still, so your average 50$ detector would work.

 

[The Stigenator]

i have a 8500x50 and i recently took it to NY state and drove there, and it worked beautifully.

I love my 8500, it has good range, and its loud (i can hear it over my metal music).

 

[j00fek]

man, 450$? iv been on a cobra for about 2 yrs now, only thing that sucks is the x band in town blaring lol

but like SVT said if you need it get it.

 

[BMW2000z]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
I have the 9500 and the V1 and both work exactly the same around here. The 9500 is cool because I got it with blue LED's, but otherwise I don't screw with the GPS.

Anyway unless you are a big traveler on state highways, ask people that live near you what they have and what works. Because for me I needed the V1 and eventually the 9500 because I travel the NJ turnpike and coast highway a lot, meaning a lot of state cops, so I need the POP and laser support, but locally here they only use k-band still, so your average 50$ detector would work.

Why did you need the V1 for the turnpike? Doesn't the 8500 also have laser support and POP? I live in PA and mostly drive on local roads here, but i do drive up to Jersey a lot and take the PA Turnpike and the NJ Turnpike and Parkway a lot. And from what i understand, the laser support is useless cause it only alerts you when you already been clocked, and unless you have a laser jammer, than it doesn't matter as far as lasers go.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: BMW2000z

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
I have the 9500 and the V1 and both work exactly the same around here. The 9500 is cool because I got it with blue LED's, but otherwise I don't screw with the GPS.

Anyway unless you are a big traveler on state highways, ask people that live near you what they have and what works. Because for me I needed the V1 and eventually the 9500 because I travel the NJ turnpike and coast highway a lot, meaning a lot of state cops, so I need the POP and laser support, but locally here they only use k-band still, so your average 50$ detector would work.

Why did you need the V1 for the turnpike? Doesn't the 8500 also have laser support and POP? I live in PA and mostly drive on local roads here, but i do drive up to Jersey a lot and take the PA Turnpike and the NJ Turnpike and Parkway a lot. And from what i understand, the laser support is useless cause it only alerts you when you already been clocked, and unless you have a laser jammer, than it doesn't matter as far as lasers go.

Who said I don't have laser jammers?

 

[OS]

you can get a bel rx65 for ~$250, bel and escort are the same company now;

"One point to consider, Escort and Beltronics are now owned and operated by the same company. The Escort 8500 X50 and the Beltronics RX65 are virtually the same radar detector with the following exceptions..."

http://www.radarbusters.com/be...rtvalentinearticle.cfm

 

[Crafty35a]

I haven't gotten a speeding ticket since I got my 8500, which was probably 2.5 years ago. So I'd highly recommend it.

 

[BMW2000z]

Originally posted by: OS
you can get a bel rx65 for ~$250, bel and escort are the same company now;

"One point to consider, Escort and Beltronics are now owned and operated by the same company. The Escort 8500 X50 and the Beltronics RX65 are virtually the same radar detector with the following exceptions..."

http://www.radarbusters.com/be...rtvalentinearticle.cfm

Thanks for the link OS. That's a really good review, but it was written in 2005! So it's about 2 years old now. I'm not sure how often the companies actually change or upgrade their products, or how much those changes actually do anything, but i'm sure something has changed since they tested the 2005 versions of the hardware. I've searched online to find a more recent review of these detectors, but haven't been able to find anything. I saw on Veil Guy's blog, he mentions something about a 2007 review of detectors, but haven't seen it yet. But from that old review, it sounded like the V1 pretty much sucked and that the BEL RX5 was a little better than the Passport 8500. It seems that the only really significant difference between the V1 and the BEL/Escort is that the V1 has two antennas thus being able to tell you where the signal is coming from, while the BEL/Escort has one antenna which is omnidirectional so it can still pick up signals from behind you, just not able to tell you that it's from behind. But i never really did understand the significance of being able to tell where the source is coming from??

In conclusion, based on that review from early 2005, i'd buy the RX5 today. But i would really rather read a recent review of the current models of the V1 and the 8500 and the RX5 to really make an educated decision.

Also, the article mentioned that you can send the V1 in to get upraded for some price. Does the BEL/Escort offer the same thing or do they force you to buy a new detector every time they tweak the software or the filtering?

 

[jagec]

From what I hear, the 8500 is slightly more sensitive, but the V1 has the bogey count and directional arrows, which are kinda neat. Since I'm the sort of person who likes having as much info as possible at my fingertips, I'd probably go for the V1, but they're both out of my price range.

 

[Skotty]

I got a single speeding ticket back in the early 90's that cost me $450. That alone would have covered the price of a top dollar radar detector. I lost respect for that area of law enforcement that day, as I was just speeding for a brief period on a straight empty road to try out some carbuerator modifications (accelerated up to 85 then slowed back down). I therefore recommend radar detectors for everyone. If it takes a radar to tell if you are driving dangerously, then you probably aren't driving that dangerously.

The V1 was rated as one of the best for low number of false positives a number of years back. How does it compare to the Passport in that regard?

 

[No1ustad]

I'm in seattle, have rocked the detector for over a yr, and no tickets to show for it. I average, AVERAGE, about 14 mph over the speed limit. For the price, it's definitely the best detector out there, i've turned on POP and laser that it has, and leave it on highway mode even in the city, i'd rather have more warnings than less. The V1 has directionality with it's radar detector, but with that directionality, comes a price that in my opinion, is def not worth paying.

 

[Tarrant64]

Has everyone here pretty much always had good luck with radar detectors? I've thought about getting one, as I usually drive 10+ over the speed limit.

Once it was like 90+mph in a 55 construction. I will leave it at that.

I guess my thing is I try to keep my eyes open and pay attention and that has kept me going the past 2 years. I always thought that once you see them, they see you and it's too late to do anything about it. Do the radar detectors really tell you ahead of time, I mean, enough to do something about it?



Also, on the comment about whether it's coming from behind or in front, does it really matter? As long as you know it's there...

 

[BMW2000z]

Originally posted by: Skotty
I got a single speeding ticket back in the early 90's that cost me $450. That alone would have covered the price of a top dollar radar detector. I lost respect for that area of law enforcement that day, as I was just speeding for a brief period on a straight empty road to try out some carbuerator modifications (accelerated up to 85 then slowed back down). I therefore recommend radar detectors for everyone. If it takes a radar to tell if you are driving dangerously, then you probably aren't driving that dangerously.

The V1 was rated as one of the best for low number of false positives a number of years back. How does it compare to the Passport in that regard?

In the above linked radarbusters.com review from 2005, the V1 gave a lot more false alarms on one of the bands than the Passport did. Supposedly V1 has fixed that since then, but I am still trying to find a current heads-up review between the V1 and the Passport 8500 and BEL RX5.

 

[Zee]

the only forum you will ever need: http://www.radardetector.net/

and look for the older posts, because everything has been discussed about 8 times and talked to death.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

thanks for that link for the forum, i signed up yesterday and took a day off anandtech and been on that for a while. learned a decent amount. was in the market for a $150 Radar detector and i'm down to two choices, the Whistler XTR-690 or the Whistler Pro-78, same radar detecting engine, different features. XTR for $116 shipped, Pro-78 for $137

 

[Pardus]

you don't need a radar detector if you don't speed ? been driving over 20 years, no tickets-no radar detector.

 

[Indolent]

Originally posted by: ActiveX
you don't need a radar detector if you don't speed ? been driving over 20 years, no tickets-no radar detector.

obviously... but that's not the point of this thread.