radar

[Zapak4eva]

What is the best radar and laser detector? What is recommended?

Thanks

[2fast4u]

Hey. I have a Valentine One and DAMN THIS IS A GOOD DETECTOR. Picks up laser and K, Ka, and X bands of radar. It has the largest coverage area of ANY detector (that I know of), which includes front, side, and rear detection. Heck, it even tells you which direction its coming from and how many units there are. I love his detector. Simply put, this is the best on the maret, but it will cost you. MSRP is around 400.00. But if you want the best, thats it and it has saved me on numerous occasions. For more info on it, go to http://www.valentine1.com/. You can only order it through them direct, but trust me when I say you will not be disappointed.

[Bluewater41]

I have heard that the Valentine 1 is the best out there, but if you are looking for a little cheaper purchase, but comparable to the Valentine 1, I suggest purchasing the Escort Passport 8500 Blue. It is their newest detector and I've had mine for about 4 months now. I really like it and it has saved me a few times now. It doesn't display all the information that the Valentine 1 does, but most anyone will agree that the two detectors to choose from are the V1 or the Escort. I purchased mine off of Ebay and it was by far the cheapest. Here's a link to the company I purchased mine from

http://64.4.34.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN...em%3d3094494908

It took about a week and everything was great. Good luck and it's definitly worth the money

[trippinbillies40]

I work for a car audio store/home theater store in Ohio, just a few miles away from Escort's home office. They came in and gave us all free Beltronics Pro RX65 for appearing in a training video for them. My installer here already had a V1 he had used for years. Here's our takes:

My take is I love my Bel, it has saved my ass more than a few times. I pulled out of our store parking lot today and it picked up a local that was 1.9 miles away in the direction i was heading. That's pretty darn good.

My installer compared them, and found that the Bel falses less and has a slightly greater range, but the V1 has a nice voulme knob and has arrows telling you where the signal is coming from. He kept his V1 because he was so used to it, but said he like the Bel also.

So in short, they both kick arse!

[bimmerboy328i]

I live in VA, so detectors are illegal. I have an e36 328i, so does the V1 go into my OBC? If I get caught, they can't tell can they that I have one.

[trippinbillies40]

if you have some bucks layin around, you can do Beltronics custom install. It puts the radar detector and laser defense in the back of your front bumper so it's nearly impossible to see, then a samll display is hidden in your car

[Live_the_Curves]

Just wondering what the cost of the Beltronics radar is, and do you think it can detect canadian cops radar frequencies. And how hard is it to unistall cause what if i were to sell my car.

[trippinbillies40]

The radar detector I have is $329, USD. If you hardwire it, just keep your original cable and it'll take about, ohhh, 2 seconds to uninstall.

And yeah, Canucks use Ku band, which you have to manually turn on, but it has it.

[doughboyea]

U know there's also a add-in for the Valintine models. You can exchange the review mirror for a valintine mirror for the 3 series (you would loose the dimming feature if you had it originally). On the lower left corner in the lens are the valintine arrows and what not. Totally integrated into the mirror. I've never had it installed, I kinda like my dimming mirror, but it's out there...

Dough

[whosurdaddy]

dont get a whistler, its not a terrible detector, but i passed a cop at night doin 60 in a 25, at a direct right angle, the cop told me he clocked me and the detector never picked it up

[Live_the_Curves]

Now just one more thing how do I sneak this into canada thru mail, without the authorities knowing about it.

[jaavaajoe]

The Valentine 1 and the Escort Passport 8500 usually come out on top in radar detector comparisons. I wanted a V1 so bad, but had a hard time convincing myself that the arrows were worth the extra 100 bucks over the Passport.

So I did a little research and decided on the BEL Vector 995. It is BEL's newest radar detector, it essentially has the same guts as the Passport 8500 X50 (Escort and Bel are essentially the same company), and BEL gave me 80 bucks trade in value on my 16 year old BEL 966! So I got the Vector 995, which has all the radar bands covered (including the new POP radar). According to the reviews I read, and Valentine's website, the V1 does not cover POP radar. POP radar is a superfast radar burst that only a radar detector with POP detector ability can pick up.

The Bel Vector 995 has 7 programmable features, includes Ku band (for Europe), has a voice mode, is flash upgradeable if new technology comes out, and a smart cord that allows you to monitor alerts from a location other than your radar detector unit. Granted the remote module is not as cool as the V1's. It doesn't have the arrows (which is a pretty cool feature and one of the main reasons I wanted a V1). But, it gets the job done.

Like I said, my previous BEL never let me down in over 16 years of driving. Never once did I get a ticket when I had it up. It was rock solid on reliabilty. I expect the same from my new Bel.

The V1 is a great detector, but when it came down to it...
I got my Bel Vector 995 for 300 bucks, plus 30 bucks for the smart cord, plus 30 dollars for an extended three year warranty which includes any flash memory upgrades, MINUS the 80 dollar trade in for my old BEL. I came out spending 280 dollars for one of the top of the line detectors.

My only knock against V1 is the price, AND that it doesn't cover POP radar. And that made the Vector 995 an easy choice. The Passport 8500 x50 is almost the same unit except it doesn't have voice, or Ku band and they didn't have the 80 dollar trade in for it.

Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, the BEL RX65 seems like it would be the best radar detector that BEL makes, but the BEL service rep told me that actuall the Vector 995 was newer and in fact had more state of the art technology (similar to that of the Passport 8500 x50). Granted its probably minor updates, but still.

[2fast4u]

Just as a side note: The V1 DOES cover "POP Radar". They just call it "Instant Radar", which in fact is a police technique used to baffle radar detectors. The police wait for you to be in range and then send a short burst of radar at you, enough to get your speed. Then they shut it off. This prevents people with detectors from picking up the radar from miles away. NO RADAR DETECTOR CAN GIVE YOU ABSOLUTE PROTECTION AGAINST THIS RADAR. You must look for the pattern of "on's and off's" and realize that this technique is in effect. My V1 picks up those short bursts, just like the Bel would, but it is YOU who must interpret the bleeps.

[jaavaajoe]

2fast4u it is time for enlightenment my brother.

The V1 DOES cover "POP Radar". They just call it "Instant Radar",

I know what "instant on" radar is. It is not a radar type or technology, it is a technique. You are correct in your description of it.

POP radar uses a superfast radar pulse that is much shorter in time than instant on radar. It uses KA band, but because it is on and off so quickly, detectors not so designed cannot pick it up. Any detector can pick up instant on radar. Some give you a special warning (based on the initial higher strength reading- going from nothing to a very strong/close radar signal).

Valentine says that POP radar is flawed. http://www.valentine1.com/pop/
It may very well be flawed, but that doesn't change the fact that police are using it and issuing tickets with it. If I do get POPped, at least I will know and can challenge the accuracy (because I will know it was POP radar).

Again, the V1 is a great detector, but the bottom line is that it doesn't cover all of the threats!!!

[jaavaajoe]

I just checked the Bel website and they still have the trade in program going on. I think it depends on which radar detector you want to buy, but it doesn't matter which Bel you are trading in. Like I said, they gave me 80 bucks for my 16 year old Bel 966