Yes that goes without saying, but I do have experience with the latest generations (and firmware versions) of each of these detectors.

Now that said you can only take what I say with a grain of salt as I live in an area where instant on is not really used. Pop is not really used that much. And of course being Florida, there are not many elevation changes to deal with.

I will say in my experience over the hill and around the corner detection is second to none with the Bel/Escort though.

Now to cap this off since radar detector comparisons always are never ending battles. They will all perform differently in different areas. I mean even to the point of where you mount it in your window will have an effect. The end matter is that if you are fortunate enough to pick up any of the big 4 detectors you are in very good shape, because they will all do a great job.

When saying 1 is superior to the other. The other is still so good that it really doesn't matter

 

You say that the v1 has the most false alarms? I find that very hard to believe... You do know that there are three settings on the V1 - A or ALL bogeys, little-L which is Logic mode and L which is Advanced logic mode.

So, you want to know - Why wouldn't they always use logic mode? If you ever road-trip (particularly in rural areas), you want to know WHENEVER there is radar around. Some of the rural police use antiquated radar devices which might show up to some detectors as false alarms. The logic modes cut out the false alarms and are really quite accurate. The newer editions even tell you about "junk" signals (like poorly made radar detectors) by showing a J.

From the manual
(Not that I am a V1 fanboy or anything... )

JMZ

 

I am aware of that, but they still do false more.

Put it this way the Passport 8500 X50 has Auto, City, and Highway mode.

City having the most filters for falses and highway having the least.

I run in Highway mode 24/7 and still have less falses on similar roads then my friend's have with their V1's.

The new Escort Passport 9500i will end the debate though. It is going to be amazing!

http://www.escortradar.com/9500i.htm

 

+1 This is my experience also; even after programming my V1 so it stopped driving me crazy, it still falses more than my 8500 ever did.

But to me, the opportunity cost of more falses is worth it for the arrows. You can program the V1 to stay silent up to a certain signal strength, which has fixed most of the alarms.

 

I'm not going to argue which radar is better. I think any of the top radars are better than driving "blind". But I have driven with other radars, and to me the arrows are worth it. I know that people that don't have the valentine will say the arrows are worthless, etc... but you have to live with them for a while to really appreciate them. I like to know where the signal is coming from, but its a lot more than that when you factor all the information that's being given to you plus the arrows.

for example: Let's say you get a moderately strong Ka signal that is constant. It 's not getting stronger or weaker, just steady. It's safe to say the cop is travelling with you in traffic. Now Based on the strength of the signal you can judge how far the cop is from you. If he is behind you in traffic but a pretty good distance away, you can still drive moderately fast and put space between him and then be on your way. OR if he is in front of you, you can still speed up until the point where you catch up to him. If you don't have the arrows, you just have a constant signal, how do you know where he's at?? Do you just drive slow the entire time?

Let's say another brand of radar has really great detection. Miles away it detects a cops radar. It's a pretty strong signal and it lasts a decent amount of time. You're driving slow the whole time.... But let's say scenario B, you have a V1. and you know that the radar signal was coming from in front of you, and at some point it changed to beside you for a split second, and then behind you. I know that the cop has already passed me and I'm on my way again. With another radar, you'd still be reading a signal, from you where you don't know...so you continue to drive slow...

I know these all seem minute... I can't think of every single scenario that comes up in my day to day commute. But All i have to say is once you live with them, it's hard to drive without the arrows. When I drive my fiance's car, i feel so naked. LOL

ps-i drive with the logic mode on and don't get many false alarms. I know the valentine 1 doesn't come cheap, but If i factored in the many times it saved my @ss, coupled with how it helps me in my daily commute, I think it's a great investment. I'm not saying it's the best, but to me it's certainly worth it.

 

So never use the arrows in the first place and you'll never know!

 

Disclaimer: I am not trying to argue (since I've never owned a V1 - so I can't comment on the arrows) ....

In this scenario (I am speeding after detecting Ka radar), I would expect the signal to start fade if the cop is behind me (and signal to get stronger if the cop is in front of me)

However, this would work only if the cop is at a steady speed -- if the cop also speeds up/slows down, all this would go for a toss.

A related "arrow" question ......
say the radar source is behind you ... and if there are a few large(r) trucks in front of you, the detector would obviously pickup these reflections from these trucks.
So would the V1 flag this as a front arrow or a back arrow (back being the actual source).

 

http://www.escortradar.com/9500i-accessories.htm

 

yup i'm waiting for 9500 too...
when is it coming out?
i know you can buy it off escort website but amazon or other online stores don't have it yet....

 

Arrows own!

I would like to know whether the radar signal is stationaty, driving up behind me, trailing off behind me, coming up in front of me, or the radar just passed me by on the other side of the road. I would also like to be able to pin point the exact location of the false alarms as well as the number of signals at any given time.

That to me is invaluable, I don't know what you are supposed to do with a radar detector without arrows.

 

I'm not sure when retail stores and sites will have it. I doubt it'll be any cheaper though. I'm under the impression Bel/Escort set the MSRP for stores to sell it.

Why do you need arrows when the Escort gives you a strength meter for the multiple bogeys of radar? How often have you been in a situation where you said oh it's behind me... eff it I'll keep speeding.

Honestly, I have had less then one handful of situations where the V1 would have been nice and exactly 0 situations where the V1 would have made a difference in saving me from a ticket.

I like the Bel/Escort line detectors more because they offer superior detectors in terms of false programming and signal strength. All they lack is the arrows, but to me that's entirely overrated anyway.

 

With signal strength meter, it's pretty easy to tell whether or not the bogey is in your direction of travel or opposite. When I get alarmed to Ka, about 15 seconds later I'll see the CHP drive past on other side of the highway. It fades out pretty quickly. Just the time period alone is good enough to know whether it should be considered a real threat, in all of my cases so far. When they're coming up behind me, it's normally much more faint initially and obviously beeps faster as they approach you from the rear (that sounds wrong, doesn't it?). And really, are you going to not slow down simply because the arrow says the signal is being picked up from behind you? When that thing goes off, I'm off the gas pedal in half second. But of course, I've disabled X band because the false positives make me want to throw the thing out the window

On a related note, does anyone know how much longer Valentine has the patent on the arrows?