Second that. It pays to know which way the signal is coming from. Helps you distinguish actual cops from door openers or other people's "dirty" detectors.

I keep mine in the middle mode.

 

X50 all the way. I drove with a new V1 once and turned it off after 15 minutes. I couldn't stand all the false alerts it gave I thought it was just useless. Use the X50 and turn off x band.

 

i have 8500 and works fine for me. i picked up a almost new one for around 150 shipped at ebay. if you know the capability of your radar i think even the cheaper ones can be just as good too. but i wouldn't spend anything more than $200 for any radar. that's my two cent.