new radar detector

[squidmotion]

here in texas, with all the small towns i find myself rolling through, it really helps to have a good TED (Ticket Evasion Device... coined by my oldest daughter).... i'm familiar with the escorts, and passports... not so familiar with the valentine, but i am very familiar with the whistlers, having owned two of them and have always liked the performance for what i need them for.

i just got a new XTR-695 whistler for the speed, and i have to say i am very impressed... it would be hard to get me to spend the extra bucks on the V1 or PP, when this thing works perfectly! i love the extra features for the Ka band, which is prominent, and the K seems to work well also.. the straight K band is very popular in the small towns here... so that is nice to have.

laser? haven't been hit yet, but my other old whistler seemed like magic picking up the lidar.

on the cosmetic side, this one looks great, and it has selectable colors, for each band of radar, as well as the idle background, which you can match to your car (the red matches the speed perfectly!)...

the city selections seem to filter out unwanted X band, and other falses fine... picked up LEO triggering on and off from about two overpasses and a mile away...


what kind of TEDs do you guys like?

 

[paylew]

I used to have some POS Cobra thing that a buddy gave me for like $5 and it actually worked pretty well around town for about a year and a half. I looked into a V1 and and Escort, even rode around with a friends Escort hooked up for about 3 days. They both worked well and I guess if they kept me from getting pulled over I would buy them, but they are just so damn expensive.

If I ever drive to TX I'll get one or borrow one, last time we went down there I got stopped because of the crazy speed limit goes down after dark s***.

 

[PCspeed3]

I have a V1, it paid for itself easily in the first week of use. I dont speed that much, but cops around here pull you over for licence plate lights being to dim or bright just to write you up for other stuff, its outrageous. I had to drive my friends prius the other night, it sucked more not having a V1 than the fact that it was a prius. Anyways, I would highly suggest the Valentine, the range is incredible and it comes with a bunch of accessories (even hardwire kit!) I will be keeping it as long as I drive a car...

bad pic for kicks

 

[03MSP-JH]

i have the Escort Passport 8500 X50 Radar/Laser Detector. i love it. saved me many times. i paid 350 for it this last summer. works great.

 

[jaxmazda5]

x2 on the Passport 8500. It won the range test over the V1 and was about $100 cheaper. Still not cheap at $300+ but it has incredible range. I'd still take the V1 for the directional arrows and showing # of alerts.

The laser warning usually means you're screwed. at least the few times mine's gone off the cop was RIGHT THERE just zapping me...LOL I thought my cell phone was ringing cuz it was the first time I heard the alert for laser.

 

[RadarExpert]

x2 on the Passport 8500. It won the range test over the V1 and was about $100 cheaper. Still not cheap at $300+ but it has incredible range. I'd still take the V1 for the directional arrows and showing # of alerts.

The laser warning usually means you're screwed. at least the few times mine's gone off the cop was RIGHT THERE just zapping me...LOL I thought my cell phone was ringing cuz it was the first time I heard the alert for laser.

The Passport 8500 will show the number of alerts, or signals received, up to 8 of them. There is 3 display modes for the 8500 model: the normal ramp up meter, Expert mode to display and identify multiple ramp up alerts, and Spec mode which will show the frequency of the radar source. I leave mine in Expert mode to display multiple signals. Check your owners manual about changing the display mode or go to their website, all manuals are posted there for free in pdf format http://www.escortradar.com/manuals.php

It is possible to pick up scatter from a laser hit, usually from a car near you being targeted. I have had this happen several times with Beltronics, Escort, and Valentine detectors but it is rare. Due to it's highly focused nature the only real defense against laser is outright jamming the laser signal. Fortunately jamming police laser, LIDAR, is not a federal offense like jamming radar is although "actively interfering with police speed measuring devices" is regulated in some communities (a ticketable offense).

Beltronics and Escort detectors are the only ones that offer upgradeable laser shifting systems, currently the ZR4, that integrates operation seemlessly into their detectors (the jammers are mounted outside of your vehicle). After you receive an alert, check your speed then by pressing the remote smart power cord mute button from your Bel/Escort detector you stop the jamming signal so that the police will get an accurate reading so that you avoid extra attention for totally jamming their signal. After a minute or so the laser jammer re-activates. Bel and Escort also make all-in-one custom installed radar detection and laser shifting systems, some complete with GPS and TotalShield undetectable abilities and all with unsurpassed detection ranges. These are the ultimate in traffic countermeasures!

 

[PCspeed3]

Oh yeah, well my Valentine tells me when other people have bad radar detectors so I can flip them the bird as I fly past them! (naughty)

 

[amair001]

I picked up the passport 8500 earlier in the year.. took a road trip and the thing saved me about 4 or five time cruising at around 90mph. Deffinatly paid for itself.

 

[Olestra]

Lol, someone created a new User just to post in this thread? (RadarExpert)
/endthreadjack

 

[Nliiitend1]

Oh yeah, well my Valentine tells me when other people have bad radar detectors so I can flip them the bird as I fly past them! (naughty)

IMO, probably the neatest (but hardly the most useful) feature of the V1.


I've owned a multitude of detectors over the years, but the V1 owns all!

 

[MS3Jon]

Escort and Valentine are the best, hands down. Either will do perfectly fine. I have owned nothing but Escort and I am on my 3rd one now, the Passport 8500. It's outstanding. Never had an issue with it.

 

[Abilor]

What do y'all know about laser jammers? I'm thinking of the valentine 1, but also want a supplemental jammer. And don't forget, no matter how good the electronics, cops can still pace you and ticket. Check that rearview...

 

[AWDthis]

Look up Blinder laser jammer, wins all the time in the comparo's

 

[Sport6]

I gave up on radar detectors... I got way too many tickets with them, and now driving without one I haven't gotten one, for 3 years. Created a false sense of security...

 

[coyfish]

Yeah honestly radar detectors are only usefull when on the highway. If your looking ahead you should see the cops anyway unless they are hiding in trees or something. Ive got a solo II that works okay on the highway. My moms got an expensive passport one. Most annoying thing in the world in teh city. It goes crazy every 2 seconds so as you drive your doing nothing but hitting mute every minute on it. Maybe it will work in small towns with less interference but I doubt it.

My advice would be not to waste your money. They really don't help much. Just dont speed in the city !!

 

[03MSP-JH]

i have the escort passport 8500 x50 and it work great! and it doesnt go off every 2 seconds. and actually very accurate. the x-band is the only bull but on the escort those mute automatically. and if you get K or Ka band on the street it means slow down! lol same with highway..

 

[FrequentFlyer]

Yeah honestly radar detectors are only usefull when on the highway. If your looking ahead you should see the cops anyway unless they are hiding in trees or something. Ive got a solo II that works okay on the highway. My moms got an expensive passport one. Most annoying thing in the world in teh city. It goes crazy every 2 seconds so as you drive your doing nothing but hitting mute every minute on it. Maybe it will work in small towns with less interference but I doubt it.

My advice would be not to waste your money. They really don't help much. Just dont speed in the city !!

I don't agree. They're always usefull unless you're the only fool on the road speeding and a hiding cop uses "instant on" on your ass. Other than that, I pick them up just about everywhere with my 8500 X50. I've had it for almost 5 years now and I can't live without it. I've even picked them up using instant-on radar on cars a half mile plus ahead of me around a bend. It shows up for a short, high intensity alert and then stops. Very evident that it's instant-on. I've picked up confirmed laser with my Passport once. It was a State Trooper here in Jersey. Not sure if he shot me or a car near me, but I was on the Turnpike and he was up on an overpass shooting down at people with another cruiser parked on an official use only access ramp to the highway where they could quickly take off after someone. A great combo would be the Escort with the Blinder laser jammer, but around here laser is so rare that I'm not sure it's worth the money for me. Laser guns are pretty expensive and if your local police squad does actually have them, they're usually in limited numbers. Most of the cops around here leave their radars on most of the time while driving around so they're easy to pick up far away. They know that most people don't use radar detectors.

 

[PCspeed3]

my valentine picked up a Ka band from 2.6 miles away last night......I was amazed.

 

[coyfish]

Yeah frequent I think my mom has the same one you do. The passport 8500 X50. I find that it does "work" but the thing goes off so much. Everytime it goes off im just hitting mute. The one time that a cop is actually there im going to be looking down to hit the mute button then get pulled over.

Ive never been pulled over but I dont really speed and when I do its WOT pulls in a empty area.

 

[Nliiitend1]

Yeah honestly radar detectors are only usefull when on the highway. If your looking ahead you should see the cops anyway unless they are hiding in trees or something. Ive got a solo II that works okay on the highway. My moms got an expensive passport one. Most annoying thing in the world in teh city. It goes crazy every 2 seconds so as you drive your doing nothing but hitting mute every minute on it. Maybe it will work in small towns with less interference but I doubt it.

My advice would be not to waste your money. They really don't help much. Just dont speed in the city !!

You've obviously never used a V1...

When I lived in downtown Chicago, I only used it for long trips (since Chicago City Cops don't typically run radar in the city), but now that I'm living in a less "urban" city (Jacksonville, FL) my V1 has become absolutely indispensable.