Was reading this months issue of Motor Trend and saw how the Passport edged out the V1. The Bell unit looks pretty nice for the money too. Kinda curious why Valentine didn't want to help fund the testing though. I wonder if this might be why the Passport edged it out. I sure would like to see a test on the remote units. I would love to see how the new K40's work in relation to the V1 or Passport.

 

0.1 of a point...

 

Oh no... here we go again. I think it comes down to personal pref.

 

With all due respect (full disclosure: I have a passport in my car), the V1 did win all but 1 testing category. The editors gave more points to the passport for value and ''extra features", and are the only reason the passport won. On straight up performance (sensitivity), the V1 appears to be superior. Whether or not that difference is significant in the real world is what should be debated.

 

V1 rules!

 

Once you have the directional arrows, there is no contest. Everything else is second to the V1.

 

I have no faith in any test that Motor Trends runs. They cater too much to the sales/marketing department. Wonder how much Passport paid to "win" this one?

 

While the Passport is a very good detector, I don't think comparisons of this type are really like car comparisons. "Parachute A opens 99% of the time, while parachute B opens 95% of the time. However, parachute B is 80% the cost of parachute A, so B is a better value and you should use it."

For a detector, sensitivity is everything IMHO. The additional performance of the V1 makes it worth the extra $100 for me.

I personally use a V1.

Dave

 

I have an 8500. I like the ability of turning off individual radar bands. I get sick of detecting 7-11 and Frys!

 

You can actually turn off X band with the V1 as well. I'll have to check the website to see if any of the other bands can be deactivated - can't remember off the top of my head.

Wish I could turn mine off, but there are too many cruisers in NJ who still use X band.

Dave