Valentine 1 questions

[integr8]

Im getting a V1 in the near future and have a couple o' questions for you peeps that have one.

Fisrt ones price. Cheapest you paid and where? Second ones about the upgrades. Anybody had thier V1 long enough to have to upgrade it? If so were they hardware or software upgrades, did you have to send it in, and roughly what did they charge for upgrades?

Just tryin to get some "street reviews" here, I already know thier the bomb-ass, mother-of-all radar detectors so I dont need anybody to just tell me they work. Thanks.

[FiveOGT]

Well first off, from what I know you can only get them on the v1 website. Theres no other place to buy it from, unless its second hand from someone. I payed 400 bucks for mine, + 20 bucks shipping next day. The upgrades are 50 bucks, or so they say. I have only had mine for 1 year, so no upgrades yet. Good choice my man.

[Anonymous]

just spend the 400 and buy from the company direct

[Toda Party]

They are available ONLY through Valentine.

www.valentine1.com

405.50 with shipping, Ohio residents pay tax.

I had mine since I was 16 till my car got stolen ~ 3.5 years, and I've never had to upgrade.

However, it did malfunction (kept giving me warnings when there were no cars)

My 1 yr warranty had expired, so I sent it in with the mandatory 45.00 service fee...it came back to me fixed, in a week, and they did it for free, i got my 45.00 money order back.


Valentine 1:

Detector defnitely is the bomb ass
Customer service: Top notch

and like I always say

Brains and V1 OWN
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid19/p3e38b8c4db6d5398a57f40063622d9ba/fdc5bac4.jpg

[NOINTEGReddy]

However, it did malfunction (kept giving me warnings when there were no cars)


Haha, that's not something you want.

Escort Pasport 8500.

[Toda Party]

However, it did malfunction (kept giving me warnings when there were no cars)


Haha, that's not something you want.

Escort Pasport 8500.

One of my sensors were scratched up and fried, they replaced it, even tho it wasn't a Manufacturer's defect, it was due to my error.

And i dont see how your one line and then the pitch for the escort will convince us all that its better than the V1?

I'm sorry u wasted money on an escort. Just dont bitch about it in this thread.

[integr8]

However, it did malfunction (kept giving me warnings when there were no cars)


Haha, that's not something you want.

Escort Pasport 8500.

No, THATS not something you want. :roll:

Escort?? V1 is something like 40% more affective than an Escort! Thats no small matter when your avoiding cops.

[integr8]

And thanks for the info everybody else. I wasnt aware they didnt sell them anywhere else. Still totally worth it at $400 though.

[NOINTEGReddy]

"But we quickly learned to distrust the bogey counter's truthfulness. For example, in bucolic Campo, Colorado, a village of 121 souls, the Valentine shrieked a strident warning of three simultaneous microwave threats. Yet the hamlet has no police radar at all, largely because it has no police department. In larger metropolitan areas we noticed this Chicken Little behavior even more, often being bombarded by alerts for eight or nine simultaneous threats while sitting gridlocked in traffic, a major nuisance. Truth is, radar to the side poses no threat at all and radar from behind is scarcely worthy of more attention. Go to How Police Radar Works and Speed Trap 101 to learn why. We'd prefer to not to be annoyed by incessant warnings of microwave ovens in roadside eateries and door openers at every Safeway store. Just let us know when there's a real threat up ahead and keep quiet the rest of the time."
www.radartest.com
"If this were 1991, with X and K-band radar the primary threats, the Valentine One would have fared much better in this shootout. In the straightaway test, in unfiltered X-band mode it heard the radar from 7.5 miles away, good for a solid first-place ranking. At the same site it also scored within feet of the BEL and Escort in the X band city mode and K band tests. It was considerably less adept on Ka band, trailing the BEL and Escort by nearly 17,000 feet, almost 3.2 miles, and a critical shortcoming in an era when Ka- band radar guns are everywhere."

"Celebrating its tenth birthday next year, making it the oldest model on the market, the V1 is clearly showing its age."

[NOINTEGReddy]

"Instead of manually selecting city or highway mode we tested the Passport 8500 in its unique Auto Mode and let the microprocessor automatically regulate sensitivity. Apparently it's a pretty smart microprocessor, allowing a single false alarm on the urban loop with no compromises in detection range on the road. It ferreted out the lethal digital Ka-band radar gun at 40,222 feet, a virtual tie with the BEL 980 but fully 3.2 miles before the Valentine One. In the difficult curve test its X-band city-mode range bettered the BEL 980's by 1,681 feet and the V1's by 4,260 feet, a staggering 311 percent. "

a virtual tie with the BEL 980 but fully 3.2 miles before the Valentine One.
a virtual tie with the BEL 980 but fully 3.2 miles before the Valentine One.

Where's you evidence or support Toda? YOU shouldn't bullshit.

[Toda Party]

keep listening to all the BS on radartest.com

:lol:

http://www.valentine1.com/lab/CaD_score_trounce.gif

Winner of the 2002 Car and Driver's Test. Also won back in i think 1997 or so.

http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caranddriver/features/2002/february/200202_feature_detectors.xml?keywords=radar%20dete ctor

Basically goes to show you, different people set different standards. Its too bad that it took 10 years for everyone to catch up to V1's performance.

Radartest.com has for years been talking shit about the V1, i guess due to bad blood they and v1 have with each other. So how truthful can you expect them to be?

here's the page where u can read more about that stuff

http://www.valentine1.com/lab/V1Hater.asp

and here's the excerpt if it doesnt work or if ur too lazy

The V1 Hater...same old story one more time.

Craig Peterson's detector test in Automobile (February 2001) is completely predictable; he has made a career of denigrating V1, starting in March, 1993, in Car Audio and Electronics when he knocked it for having "dual antennas." On his website (www.radartest.com) he says he "distrusts" the bogey counter and wants warning on radar only when it's "up ahead." Which makes him the only tester on the planet who thinks the Radar Locator is a bad idea.

V1 operates with a single control knob and concentric lever, just like the volume-and-tone-controls of the traditional American car radio. He hates that too. As another magazine editor told us, V1 "is a box with one knob. What's his problem?"

He ignores V1's features
V1 is the only detector with fully automatic illumination day and night. So it doesn't get credit in his Features chart for having a stone-age manual dimmer. It doesn't get credit for being programmable either, and for having band defeat. For the record, it has both. But these features intentionally have a low profile because--call me crazy--I think very few customers will have their lives made better by downgrading their detector's performance.

He gets measurements wrong
But instead of debating philosophy, let's look at his record on simple facts. Peterson opens his website review of V1 by saying it is "by far the largest and heaviest unit tested..."

On our scale, Passport is heaviest at 8.9 ounces followed by V1 at 8.6 and the BEL at 8.0. Only V1 has a metal case (magnesium), the others are plastic.

Passport is also the longest by a huge margin at 5.29 inches, followed by the BEL at 4.72 inches. V1 is shortest at 4.46 inches, more than a quarter inch shorter than the BEL and nearly an inch shorter than Passport.

In thickness, all are within 0.1 of an inch (V1 is thickest). Only in width is V1 significantly larger than the others, but the difference between them is less than the difference in length.

If he can't get a simple comparison of dimensions right, imagine the reliability of his performance testing. His results are contrary to what I measure in my own lab. How does he test? For example, where does he locate his microphone to measure audio volume? V1's speaker is on the left, aimed toward the driver when mounted in the normal location. BEL speaks away from the driver toward the passenger side, Passport speaks toward the ceiling. I think users will agree V1 is more audible in the recommended mounting locations.
http://www.valentine1.com/images/psv1size.gif
His range tests raise questions about his methods
In the Automobile straightaway/hill test, notice how his results mostly fall into four narrow clusters at 23, 27, 31, and 40. In fact, only three bars are not in those clusters. Look closely. Four of five detectors have the same K-band range. Seven different X-band tests have the same distance of 31; two detectors get exactly the same results for both City and Highway modes (why have both modes if they perform the same?).

Similar clusters occur in his curve test.

Such clustering is what you get when the ups and downs of terrain bring all detectors into line of sight with the radar at a few discrete places on the test course. For a discussion of common testing mistakes, check Radar Detector Tests.

The man behind the byline
Rather than trying to explain Peterson's mysterious results, let me just remind you that his credibility has long been in question. In response to his December, 1995, test, Automobile admitted a flood of "angry letters" which "criticized our selection of the BEL 745Sti Plus as our first-place winner over the Valentine One, which tied for third place. Amidst all the allegations of invalid test methodology and unfairness were suggestions that Peterson showed undue favoritism to the BEL unit because he has consulted for the company."

In the March, 1996, issue, Peterson replied, "Having consulted to every major detector manufacturer, suggestions that BEL received preferential treatment are nonsense."

He's wrong on that point too. He's never been a consultant to Valentine Research, although he's approached us more than once. We declined his advances each time.

[NOINTEGReddy]

Those stupid fucking arrows don't matter for SHIT anyway because a cop has to shoot the radar at a 45 degree (max) or less angle to the road to get an accuracte fucking reading. Forward and backwards doesn't matter unless you only have ONE EYE nad can't open your eyes.

[FiveOGT]

Those stupid fucking arrows don't matter for SHIT anyway because a cop has to shoot the radar at a 45 degree (max) or less angle to the road to get an accuracte fucking reading. Forward and backwards doesn't matter unless you only have ONE EYE nad can't open your eyes.

Bah, your just mad because you pissed your money away on an escort or whatever the hell it is instead of a V1. Ever used a V1? no? try it. You wont go back to your "beep beep" radars. I personally like knowing where is coming from instead of jerking my head around searching for the cop.
But then again, if you don't like it, I'll see you pulled over on the road whileI drive by. :P

[Toda Party]

Those stupid fucking arrows don't matter for SHIT anyway because a cop has to shoot the radar at a 45 degree (max) or less angle to the road to get an accuracte fucking reading. Forward and backwards doesn't matter unless you only have ONE EYE nad can't open your eyes.

Ok, so I guess you're pretty much convinced radartest.com is full of shit...so there goes that arguement.

Now, you're expressing your personal opinion about the arrows.
First, radar from the SIDE doesn't "matter for SHIT." How does radar from behind or in front NOT matter? So you're saying that if a cop follows a distance behind and nails u from behind with radar, he won't get a reading? :lol: :roll:

As far as the arrow display, Here's the scenario:

We're driving along side by side, and then the detector goes off. You look at urs and u see, what...strength and what kind of radar? And u hear beeping.

I look at my V1, i see type of radar, strength, location, and how many. Say theres 2 KA up ahead. I know this now, and u still just know that theres a radar "somewhere out there"

We pass 1 cop car, and then we assume its ok to speed back up again.

But wait, Now, my arrows are showing 1 KA behind me, and 1 KA in front of me, and the 1 KA ahead of me is gaining strength. I keep my speed down, meanwhile, you speed up, figuring that you already passed the radar threat.

1/2 mile down the road, there's another cop, busting everyone, and the first car served as a decoy. Now, maybe u might have seen him before u passed him. But what if he was behind a bridge overpass, or some bushes/trees? You dont see him till u pass him, and then ur pretty much fucked, and I drive past u and laugh while ur getting a speeding ticket.

So, I still believe, and KNOW that the arrows are useful, because I've been in situations where they've come into play.

What other excuses do u have for wasting money on an escort?

[brabus151]

i would like to just say....
TODA JUST OWWWWWWNED JOO!!!

[NOINTEGReddy]

Toda doesn't own shit. Do you even have anything from toda on your car?

I never said radar from behind doesn't matter for shit. SHUT THE FUCK UP AND READ WHAT I FUCKING SAID. I don't need your fucking insults, this isn't fucking third grade, and I have yet to get caught with radar since I bought my fucking detector.

The passport 8500 diplays
Band of radar.
Signal strength.
MULTIPLE threats.
EXACT FREQUENCY OF SIGNAL.
Warning light on plug outlet.

You obviously have not seen radartest's webiste becasue it lists all the features, and you tried to prove me wrong by NOT listing the truth, very clever, but not telling the truth is still LYING

No, I can actually read the fucking signal, I don't just plug it in a speed like a fucking ricer on the south side in my maxima with my altezzas. I go to all the areas I drive in, MEMORIZE what towns, counties, and cities use what radar. I look in the cars to see if the town even has radar. I memorize locations, how the signal was, where I picked up crappy X band and fast false alarms. Its not plug and play you simple minded idiot.

[96gsr]

too bad they are illegal in va. :(

[Toda Party]

Toda doesn't own shit. Do you even have anything from toda on your car?

Nope, and I never claimed I did, I just thought it was a clever handle, still do.



I never said radar from behind doesn't matter for shit. SHUT THE FUCK UP AND READ WHAT I FUCKING SAID.

ok...oh look:

Forward and backwards doesn't matter unless you only have ONE EYE nad can't open your eyes.
Meaning, the only time I have to worry about foward and backwards is when I only have one eye and I can't see out of it?


I don't need your fucking insults, this isn't fucking third grade, and I have yet to get caught with radar since I bought my fucking detector.

Integr8 doesn't need your opinion nor thread crashing here. He asked where to buy the V1 and how much people paid, not for people to suggest brands of detectors to him. But yea, freedom of speech right? Which is why i busted out the insults :lol:

OT: Glad u haven't gotten any tickets.



The passport 8500 diplays
Band of radar.
Signal strength.
MULTIPLE threats.
EXACT FREQUENCY OF SIGNAL.
Warning light on plug outlet.

Thanks (btw, its "displays"). By multiple threats, does it display a number of how many threats, or is it just an indicator light that merely indicated that there are multiple threats in the area?



You obviously have not seen radartest's webiste becasue it lists all the features

Obviously not.

and you tried to prove me wrong by NOT listing the truth, very clever, but not telling the truth is still LYING

What am I lying about? Everything I said was true.

No, I can actually read the fucking signal, I don't just plug it in a speed like a fucking ricer on the south side in my maxima with my altezzas.

Good, you have a brain.

I go to all the areas I drive in, MEMORIZE what towns, counties, and cities use what radar. I look in the cars to see if the town even has radar. I memorize locations, how the signal was, where I picked up crappy X band and fast false alarms.

Seems like a lot of work to avoid police. Scouting out areas, memorizing everything...I don't have the spare brain cells. What if you go on a road trip somewhere? You can't go scout out an area ahead of time. And its those times when you get pulled over for speeding when the speed limit suddenly changes from 55 to 35 and then ur fucked.

And lastly,

Its not plug and play you simple minded idiot

I never suggested it was plug and play. In fact, if you read my post way before u even started your Escort sales pitch, I said specifically that using your brain AND a detector will be the best way to stay out of speeding trouble:

Brains and V1 OWN http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid19/p3e38b8c4db6d5398a57f40063622d9ba/fdc5bac4.jpg


For the record, I only started this whole thing because you came out of nowhere and started acting all high and mighty because u had a toy none of us had, and that it was so much better, when in fact, despite it being a GOOD detector, I and the vast majority of people who know anything about radar detection will agree that the V1 is overall a better detector than the Escort.

If he had asked what people thought was a better detector then thats fine. But from now on, if u have nothing good to say, then keep ur mouth shut.

[NOINTEGReddy]

^^^^
Im not even going to try to quote that becasue it will take forever.

Yes you should worry about your one eye problem, especially if you can't see out of it. I meant, keep your eyes open, around where I am there's not a lot of good places to shoot radar, so the cops use a lot of moving radar from their cars. I meant if you just look carefully and pay attention that will save you at least half the time.

Yes, you can set the Escort to display multiple threats, it will show each different threat's band and strength with lines. It also audibly (is that a word) alerts you with a different tone for each signal (the classic "beep"). So it'd show [ KA III KA Ii K i ] or [ X IIII KA IIi KA i ] or [LASER UR FUCKED]

Also, he got more than he asked for. Hopefully he learned a little bit more about fucking radar than he did before. And he got to see your lesbian (not discriminating here)(lesbians are cool) smiley face a couple of more times.

[Toda Party]

I meant, keep your eyes open, around where I am there's not a lot of good places to shoot radar, so the cops use a lot of moving radar from their cars. I meant if you just look carefully and pay attention that will save you at least half the time.

yeah but what about the other half the time? its good to be careful, but its impossible to be concentrating on that 100% of the time...you get phone calls, u think about other stuff, u think of where u have to go and this and that, and then next thing u know, ur not really watching the road nor ur detector because ur too involved in trying to figure out if u should go east or west or this way or that...boom, radar, quick glance at the v1 in my case or escort in ur case, and u know whats going on.


Also, he got more than he asked for. Hopefully he learned a little bit more about fucking radar than he did before. And he got to see your lesbian (not discriminating here)(lesbians are cool) smiley face a couple of more times.
I hope he learns more about fucking radar too. Why do u swear so much?

And I dont think its really a lesbian face...its just a slut kissy face, and she turns me on.

[NOINTEGReddy]

That's why I split up into two modes: Speeding and not speeding.

Speeding=No radio (the S2000 does gat bad reception like you said anyway) no music, cell phones and cars dont really mix.
Not speeding=Radio up (when reception is good) or Linkin Park up like none other.

Paying attention when speeding is an absolute must. I tune my focus in so much. I dont want to speed or endanger others if im not paying attention.

The face-It turns you on? I'll hook you up with a REAL girl. Now back away from the computer that you've been staring at for the past 5 days and get a drink of water. Yes water. Say it with me "sunlight"!

[96gsr]

is there any sort of detector that I can get that detects radar, but the cops don't know you have it? and can't find out if you have it?

[NOINTEGReddy]

is there any sort of detector that I can get that detects radar, but the cops don't know you have it? and can't find out if you have it?

Yeah, VG-2 protection. But in viginia they use different radar so they'll know you had it. Many detectors have VG-2 protection. It tries to prevent the cop from seeing if you are operating a detector.

[Toda Party]

the s2000 antenna on an integra sucks, not the reception of the s2000's radio itself lol

and 96 - v1 and im assuming escort features something called VG-2 guard which is something that police use to detect radar detectors...however, I'm not sure if VG-2 is the only method they use now to detect detectors...

I know that v1 sells a hidden display so u can mount the v1 in the dash or something, someplace where the cops wont see it unless they tear open the car, and just mount the remote display in ur guage cluster and hide it if u ever get pulled over.

[NOINTEGReddy]

the s2000 antenna on an integra sucks, not the reception of the s2000's radio itself lol

I know that v1 sells a hidden display so u can mount the v1 in the dash or something, someplace where the cops wont see it unless they tear open the car, and just mount the remote display in ur guage cluster and hide it if u ever get pulled over.

The S2000 antenna is what I meant yeah.

The Pasport comes with the little remote display but it sits in the cigarette lighter. There is like another passport that's like 500 comes with a separate box and an a small thin display that can be mounted anywhere.

[IPiGl]

The V1 does own, i got mine in mint condition on half.com for $298 about a year ago (it was brand new, 2 months old).

You need to get yourself a V1 and also a Uniden BC-T7. HOT combo!

You can locate the range of cops if they dont have their radar on using the radio freq/stregnth from the cop car.


http://www.uniden.com/productpop/00_productpop.cfm?prd_code=BCT7[/url]

[NOINTEGReddy]

The V1 does own, i got mine in mint condition on half.com for $298 about a year ago (it was brand new, 2 months old).

You need to get yourself a V1 and also a Uniden BC-T7. HOT combo!

You can locate the range of cops if they dont have their radar on using the radio freq/stregnth from the cop car.


http://www.uniden.com/productpop/00_productpop.cfm?prd_code=BCT7[/url]

That's illegal to use in your car though.

[IPiGl]

The V1 does own, i got mine in mint condition on half.com for $298 about a year ago (it was brand new, 2 months old).

You need to get yourself a V1 and also a Uniden BC-T7. HOT combo!

You can locate the range of cops if they dont have their radar on using the radio freq/stregnth from the cop car.


http://www.uniden.com/productpop/00_productpop.cfm?prd_code=BCT7[/url]

That's illegal to use in your car though.

I didnt realize the BCT7 was illegal, can someone verify this?

Well so are radar detectors in some states, does that stop people from using them, no. The BCT7 comes with a cigarette lighter adapter for use in your car.

[NOINTEGReddy]

No it's not illegal to own, but if a cop sees you operating it from your vehicle then it's illegal. You can't use radio/scanners in an automobile unless you are registered and have a liscence for one.

Yeah it does stop people from using radar in anti-radar detector enforced areas. They can see that you have one and are using it with VG-2 like I stated before.

[integr8]

Integr8 doesn't need your opinion nor thread crashing here. He asked where to buy the V1 and how much people paid, not for people to suggest brands of detectors to him. But yea, freedom of speech right? Which is why i busted out the insults :lol:



YEAH! What he said. If I gave a shit about your radio shack radar detector or the fact that you must live in completely flat area where cops dont hide between cliffs and hills and high overpasses and tag you from the side or back 80% of the time like they do here....I would have asked about Passports.

Jay, insult this bitch all you want here. :D
Thanks for all the USEFULL info.

[GTPimp]

The price has been given, the purchase place has been given. Knock off the personalized flames now or I will lock. Thanks-GTP

[NOINTEGReddy]

Integr8 doesn't need your opinion nor thread crashing here. He asked where to buy the V1 and how much people paid, not for people to suggest brands of detectors to him. But yea, freedom of speech right? Which is why i busted out the insults :lol:



YEAH! What he said. If I gave a shit about your radio shack radar detector or the fact that you must live in completely flat area where cops dont hide between cliffs and hills and high overpasses and tag you from the side or back 80% of the time like they do here....I would have asked about Passports.

Jay, insult this bitch all you want here. :D
Thanks for all the USEFULL info.

Ok, we were just fucking getting along, our points were good (you obviously didn't read mine) and now you had to go an do that? I didn't buy it at "Radio Shack", I didn't even know they sold them there. They stopped carrying everything automotive so I fugured they didn't have radar detectors as well. Not like I'd buy one from that shit shack anyway. Yeah Chicago is pretty flat, there are no cliffs, and you are mean.

[Strider]

Yeah Chicago is pretty flat, there are no cliffs, and you are mean.

:lol:

[NOINTEGReddy]

Did you know that in one of the Native American languages "chicago" means "wild stinking onion". COOL AS HELL!

[integr8]

Integr8 doesn't need your opinion nor thread crashing here. He asked where to buy the V1 and how much people paid, not for people to suggest brands of detectors to him. But yea, freedom of speech right? Which is why i busted out the insults :lol:



YEAH! What he said. If I gave a shit about your radio shack radar detector or the fact that you must live in completely flat area where cops dont hide between cliffs and hills and high overpasses and tag you from the side or back 80% of the time like they do here....I would have asked about Passports.

Jay, insult this bitch all you want here. :D
Thanks for all the USEFULL info.

Ok, we were just fucking getting along, our points were good (you obviously didn't read mine) and now you had to go an do that? I didn't buy it at "Radio Shack", I didn't even know they sold them there. They stopped carrying everything automotive so I fugured they didn't have radar detectors as well. Not like I'd buy one from that shit shack anyway. Yeah Chicago is pretty flat, there are no cliffs, and you are mean.

Hey, sorry to go off like that....I was having a shitty day or something. Either way my post was turning into some debate/flame war and I guess I tripped. I was born and raised near chicago so I know its flat as hell, up here in Wisconsin they get pretty damn sneaky with thier speed traps though. Either way V1 still kicks ass. Escorts are OK but your still comparing apples and oranges, and yes...you can by them damn near anywhere so I wouldnt be suprised if Radio shack carries...or carried them.