trentor

but isn't the signal strength only for the strongest signal you are receiving? I don't think it differentiates each signal.

for instance, let's say you've got 3 signals hitting the car. two X and one Ka. can you know that with the V1? i thought you only know there is 3 signals and the directions, but not how many there are of each.

RaDaRkInG

I turned X band off on my V1 because it isn't used in my state so I only have K band, Ka band, and laser to worry about. The Valentine One can detect 9 sources of radar regardless of band and will flash an arrow at the worst threat and you will also hear a bogey lock tone to let you know if any additional bogeys are detected.

Half of the X50's display (4 sources) is devoted to X band which is useless while there is only 2 for K band and 2 for Ka band. The X50 also doesn't have a bogey lock tone to let you know you have additional sources of radar so you have to be constantly looking at your display with those little dots to know that you have a new hit of radar. Another problem with the X50 is some cops have a front facing Ka antenna and rear facing Ka antenna so that is all your X50 can display at one time but the V1 can display up to 9 sources regardless of type at the same time.

Imagine that you drive by a store every day with your X50 and it has 2 K band door openers as you already know and there is a cop hiding near there shooting K band at you. You are screwed because all you saw was 2 K band sources and you didn't know about the 3rd.

That same store with the V1 will make the bogey counter on the V1 show a number "3" instead of a "2" so that you know that there is a 3rd source of K band on top of the 2 false K bands coming from the store.

The V1 gives you better information in a simple way while the X50 looks good with all those separate sources but you don't really know how many sources are there, don't know the direction the cop is, and don't know you have a new radar hit unless you are staring at the X50.


Also, the latest independent radar detector test shows that the V1 beats the X50 across the board. Out of the 6-9 radar detectors tested, the X50 never placed in the top 2 in any of the testing.

http://guysoflidar.com/radar-detecto...ctor-test.html

trentor

i think you're misunderstanding a lot of what i've said. very few of your points are true of the X50. (granted, i have a 7yr old 8500...not an X50, but i doubt they've lost any functionality since mine)

I do this to. in fact, i have it turned off ONLY in City mode. I leave X band active in Hwy for the little country towns that may still use it.

This isn't true. There's multiple modes for the X50. the advanced screen modes do not "devote" any space to a certain band. all the LED's in the screen are used for a very diverse display

now this is one point i'll agree on. that's a cool feature.

go back and read one of my previous posts. this is false. i can see that there are 3 K bands and the signal strength of each in realtime. i'll also be able to see 4 X band signals and the strengh of each on the opposite side of the road. ALL at the same time.

again, the first part is false. you've got me on the arrows and having to look at the screen to know of extra hits. although, it is VERY, VERY rare that i don't know exactly where the signal is coming from. it's pretty obvious with a little common sense if you're observant enough.

so pretty much, the only thing i see the V1 having on the X50 is the extra bogey alert. admittedly, that's cool, but i don't think it's worth the extra money. i'm generally looking at the screen a lot anyway if it's going off. i rarely get falses.

they admit this isn't a real-world test. plus, all this test is for is distance. there's more to it than that. (admittedly, that's a large part.) there's a ton of articles out there comparing the two, and it goes both ways. it really just comes down to which you like better. both are GREAT detectors.

JasonZ-YA

iTrader: (60)

FIRST THING i did when i got my detector was drive around town with it looking for a cop sitting on the side of a bridge! I would see how quick it would pick up/or should i say how soon. then i would exit and go back on the opposite side of the HWY and then do the same.

that gives you a good idea on how much reaction time you have on most cases of a cop zapping people....

JasonZ-YA

iTrader: (60)

Once you learn your detectors reaction time, then you will be more aware. pluse ive been everywhere at least 3 times in my city to know where i get false alarms and where i dont....knowing that, i know that when it goes off its for real!!

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

Call me a simpleton but all I need from my detector is some kind of noise so that I know to check my speed. Arrows, voices, etc. don't matter much to me. If I'm speeding and I hear something I slow down. False alarm or no, it's better to be safe than sorry.

And in my experience in So Cal a radar detector is useless on the freeway. It's only worthwhile on some of the faster roads. My 2 cents.

RaDaRkInG

You are wrong.

I have owned all of the top 3 detectors and the 8500 and 8500 X50 according to the Escort website, owner's manual, and me can only show 8 sources at one time (4 X, 2 K, and 2 Ka) so if you have 4 K hits and 4 Ka hits, it can only show you 2 K and 2 Ka lines on the display. If you detect 6 X band hits, it can only show 4 of them. Your 8500 is no different than the 8500 X50 with what it can display and 8 sources (4 X, 2 K, 2Ka) are all your detector can display.


http://www.escortradar.com/pdf/8500manl.pdf





The first part of the radar detector test was not a real world scenario but it did test the sensitivity of the detectors and the V1 won.

The second part was a real world test over a hill that didn't use radar absorbant foam in a box like the first test and the V1 won again.

"An over-the-hill test is widely regarded as the best real-world style test for comparing the sensitivity of different detectors. The reason is simple: very little radar makes it over the hill. This leaves a very weak signal for the detectors to sniff out, effectively shortening the test course to a length that is practical.

Although we looked around for another test course, we ultimately decided to go back to the test course we used in August 2005, which provided a hill and a small curve."


It is no surprise that the V1 won the 2005 test as well.

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

Holy crap. 8 sources? I guess if you drove through a police radar testing facility or something you might hit 8 at once....


The over-the-hill test is really the only one that matters since that's where cops typically hide.

trentor

nailed. you've got me on those 2

hmm, i could've sworn i've seen it show 3 Ka signals. i guess not. i do remember seeing multiple signals from all 3 bands though. regardless, that's plenty. in 16 years of driving, i've never once needed to know there's more than 2 signals. all i know is that i'm driving the speed limit until those 2 quit beeping. and i know people say you can't tell the difference between a cop with 2 guns and 2 different cops, but you can unless they're right by each other. it just takes a little common sense in watching the signals.

you're right, that last part is a real-world test. there's a million tests and comparisons out there and for years people have had this same debate. for me, it just boils down to it not being worth an extra $100 for detection 200 feet earlier when it's over a 1/4 mile away.

aside from all that, i just like having the extra functionality of the 8500. there's a lot more options you can change.

here's a couple other articles...just to show the flip side. (although, they don't have technical details of their testing...just they're final overviews)
http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleid=9090
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/au...ors/index.html

rlw222

iTrader: (7)

I have had this 1 for about a year now and it works!!! I do not speed that much but sure like to know where the bear is lol . DO NOT SCRIMP on them save a while longer and get a damm good 1 my bel 850 x50 even lets me know if pop lazer is arround . http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleid=9090
http://www.radarbusters.com/products/escort/8500.asp the last 1 will wake you up a bit even how chalenge in court hes a ertired chips cop we took his advive and went with thr 850x50 and LOVE it saves it price on every long trip even if i'am not sprrding i like to know where they are.
this dude says if you getit with POP radair and use nothing you can fight that 1 east and win Hope this infourms ya ans helps stsyaway from battery operated 1s they are ssit.

ElDiablo82

Hey guys, just a question. Would the radar detector show an alarm if a new s-class with that radar system built in passes? Or I read about Lexus, bringing a system that is looking out for crashs all around the car. The use multiple lasers/ radars and cameras. I see that stuff coming, and I wonder if the detectors will show an alarm. Cause I guess in a few years those cars will drive by quite often.
I´ve seen the new s-class so often yet...

kourosH

iTrader: (3)

i have a question..i was talking with a friend about radar detectors, and we were unsure what it exactly did. my friend thought that they can only detect the laser gun police use; while i thought it detects the police car or motorcycle its self.....so which is it? (hopefully im right; i think)

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

Radar detectors only detect beams being sent out towards your car. So if a cop has a laser gun but it's not on pointed at you...silence. You don't pick up cars, just different types of beams. The only time you'll pick up a car/moto is when they have a radar on (while they are driving or parked).

Once I was crusing along and my detector started going off. It slowed a bit but wasn't really speeding anyway. I looked all around and I was literally in the middle of nowhere with no place for a cop to hide. I noticed a motorcycle headlight way behind me so I slowed a bit and the detector got louder. I sped up and it got softer so I knew it was behind me. Eventually I hit a light and the moto was a cop and he must have had his radar just sitting there on. I'm glad he did but that was weird.

kourosH

iTrader: (3)

what does that mean "have their radar on"
+ thanks for the reply

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

Typically they are literally radar guns.



When you pull the trigger it is "on" and sending out beams to determine the speed of something. Radar detectors in cars can pick up the signal so cops often only use the radar when they see someone who looks to be speeding. If they just leave the radar on all the time then people like us will get their signal well before we are near them. So they don't use it until they see a potential speeder. At that point they quickly pull the trigger. If they wait long enough without you seeing them, your detector won't go off until it's too late.

Excuse my lame-o jargon.

robbycolli

iTrader: (8)

I have an X50 and a V1. The V1 is hardwired into the Z and the X50 is in very nice case (way nicer than that of the V1) that it came in, in some drawer in the kitchen of my house.

kourosH

iTrader: (3)

so it will only detect if their gun is on? so if its not on and were speeding and a cop sees us, its basically pointless?

BriGuyMax

iTrader: (4)

Radartest.com is a VERY biased site. The guy who runs it WORKS for escort. The've been basing the V1 forever. They consistantly put FALSE specs and information about the V1 on the site too. They claim that it's heavier than the passport....false. They also claim that the V1 is not user programmable which is also false.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...once you live with the arrows, you'll never go back. I've heard of very few people switching from the V1 to the Passport, and MANY switching from the Passport to the V1.

EDIT: I just read that review all the way through...and WOW. They REALLY screwed the pooch on that review. Even after admitting they were wrong about the user programmability, they still managed to neglect to add it to their "standard features" spreadsheet. They also neglect to metion that the V1 doesn't NEED a dim/dark control since it does it AUTOMATICALLY via a photosensor on the unit. And finally they fail to metion the userselectable band defeat feature on the V1...they say you can't do it yet I have x-band turned off on my V1 somehow. Weird.

Radar detectors are made to do one thing. WARN YOU ABOUT POTENTIAL SPEED TRAPS. All these extra features that the other detectors have are just novelties that add to the complexity and confusion of operating the unit. Radartest.com is a joke.

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

Yup. All the cop can do is pace you against the flow of traffic and assume a speed. But without a radar reading you can fight the ticket in court fairly easily I'd assume since there's no proof.

WSchli1672

Face it, any detector will work, there's not that much difference btwn the 8500 X50 and V1. I've used both with dbmtrx123 in the same car on the same road and neither one really outdid the other. I've not really heard much of anybody switching either way btwn the two, because they're both excellent. I like the easier reading of the 8500 X50. Don't care of the direction, key is when it comes on that's the signal to slow down. Secondly, maybe somebody should check where the police radar guns, lasers, etc are made and where the detectors are made. That's a clue. Thirdly with the job I did for 22 yrs. doing accident investigations, etc. the detectors in the vehicles didn't help one bit, and actually couldn't stand the test of the windshield shattering. As to any company owning a test sight or working for them, I'ld like to see that in writing (proof), lets post that fact on here so we can see it. That woud make a nice lawsuit by the other companies I'm sure as being biased and fixing a test sight, which is illegal. Easy money for all the rest of the companies, especially V-1. Any company would jump on that one.
As I stated both are excellent, and I'll use what I've used since back in the early 80's (Escort), from my own personal preference, which all have of course. It's up to each individual to make their own decision, but do it with good info, such as test sites, test results, and their own research. Both of those detectors will do the job, so either one are again excellent choices.