That's a nice unit too.

V1 w/ BlendMount

I have a Escort Redline but now the police are using on-off systems and I am not sure how much protection that gives..maybe it actually gives a false sense of security..

Got hit with a laser once..but I was not speeding..

Airplane got me on Memorial Day. Radioed to the cop below who just waited for me. SOL

Save your money.... If its a laser you are done before the detector even goes off.. Ask me how I know...

btw wanna buy my Bel RX65? lol

If you have the money you can get a laser jammer, but yor looking at $$$$.

Whistler Group - Product Catalog

I love this one.

I got a V1 in December. It's paid for itself so far. Directional arrows are a pleasant feature that I haven't had before.
I also got an accessory that auto-mutes the Valentine1 when I travel below a set MPH speed. (right now, it's under 40mph). The same accessory lets you use your OBD-II port for power.

I have an RX65 and it's saved me a few times. Range, probably ~1.5 miles. Just drove to Vegas recently and I was hoping I'd get some hits from a long distance on the long flat stretches but there were no cops. :/ I used a rental for the Vegas trip btw. Next time I'm driving the Z though.

Best advice I've read: A radar detector is only as good as you know how to use it. You'd be fine with either V1 or Passport. The differences are merely convenience features.

That said, here's what I found in comparing the two.
V1: Directional arrows, advertises longer X-range.
9500ix: GPS caching.

I recently got a 9500ix after several years with a 8500, and absolutely love it. The 8500 was great, the 9500ix is just even better.
I've been in cars with V1, and can't say the arrows are all that useful. Only Front & Back warnings are important, since no cop will be right beside you. And after some experience with my Passports, I can tell by the way the warnings chime whether radar is in front or behind. Radar Detectors are just like metal detectors, so the speed of the chirps and how they change over time are quickly learned. Also, the longer X band of the V1 isn't useful cause no cops use X anymore, just shopping mall doors, so more X just means more false alarms.

The killer feature of the 9500ix is the GPS caching. This feature dramatically cuts down on false alerts, which means you pay more attention to the real alerts and the detector isn't going off all the time. You can manually cache a false alert (say, a shopping mall you pass every day) or the 9500ix caches a false automatically if you pass the same false 3 times. The result is that after a few weeks, the detector is silent about 95% of the time. Where my 8500 used to go off several times in a commute, requiring manual muting, the 9500ix is silent. In fact, I hardwired my mute button to the console, making it easier to mute the 8500. But with the 9500ix it's almost not necessary. In addition to reduced false alerts, the 9500ix auto-dims the volume after 3 seconds. So it grabs your attention, then dims to a less-intrusive volume, allowing you to audibly monitor the potential threat without yelling at you the whole time, or muting it altogether.

In summary though, any good detector will pay for itself if you learn to use it. It's only a tool, not some magic cop-detector shield, so it's really only as good as the person using it. The features are more for convenience than performance.

Im not familiar with the "on-off systems" but if its a problem wouldnt it affect all Radar Detectors?

Here in NY/NJ area the cops all use the instant on/off and occasional laser. Unless the cop is being stupid and constantly turning on and off you won't know till its too late or he wasn't aiming at your car so it wouldn't have made a difference.

"Instant On" police radar has been a problem for many years. Defeating it falls under the category of knowing how to use a radar detector. Cops have been triggering these things for more than a decade. No defense against that on a long open stretch at night. You gotta hope they fire at someone close enough in front of you that you can pick up the signal before you're in practical range.

did V1 ever update their firmware not to trigger the laser detection when passing infiniti suv's especially FX35/45's with their cruise proximity sensor turned on? :confused:

that is like the only flaw i noticed on my V1's. i run 2 units and both trigger laser detection when passing by face to face with those trucks.

I agree, the only true flaw with a V1. Also happens with certain GM's like the Bravada and Envoy. Other than that it's practically perfect. That's the reason they don't go messing with it. But they should fix this for sure.

People who are still discussing range these days are out of touch. The V1 set at it's lowest setting (the small L) is plenty, and removes most of the false alarms. I never ever change those settings. You don't need 2 miles of range, that's ridiculous.

I'm sure the Passport is great too in terms of performance, no doubting that. I have 3 friends who have it an love it. I think the GPS thing is most useful for camera guns like they have in California, but we don't have those in Ohio (yet). I for one just don't like "ergonomics" of it. Shape, buttons, window mount, volume, mute....etc etc, it is a total pain in comparison. I find almost everything about the ergonomics backwards, and it's loaded with features that are mostly useless.

This is absolutely positively NOT true. You might have gotten busted, but you don't know how to use your radar detector to keep from getting busted. I get lasered all the time here in Ohio and I have only gotten busted once by it. My V1 just saved me twice last week from laser, once on I-75 and the other locally by my house. Laser is NOT the end of all of detectors.

Now airplane patrol is another story. :mad: