Yeah, that new GPS feature is great. If you live in/commute through a city or a shopping center where there are a lot of junk signals (stray x-bands, automatic door openers etc.) I'd highly recommend a GPS detector so that you don't have to mute everytime you pass by the place.

There's a shopping center that I pass by everyday that gets me 7 X/K band bogies. It's starting to drive me nuts

 

V1. I should have bought mine earlier instead of waiting a year.

And for people that complain about too many X-band alerts, just turn off Xband (if you can). Where I live, no law enforcement uses Xband.

 

I would not drive without a good radar detector. Mine is a V1 but I will be looking at the new Escort for my other car.

As mentioned, you have to be smart about driving faster than the speed limit. Another option I will be considering is a jammer. Some of them are useless but this one is getting good reviews from people who are using it:

http://www.blinder.net/

One thing I miss from the old days is the habit of drivers flashing headlights to warn oncoming traffic of a speed trap. I rarely see that anymore. PA outlawed that practice but I don't know if any other state has done so.

 

v1 only way to go.

 

I have had Bel's for over 15 years and they have never let me down.

 

Another vote for Valentine 1. Can't beat the display.

 

It's not the only way to go, but I can see why saying so might make you feel better.

 

You don't need arrows and they're not worth the extra $100 IMO. Once you've had the detector for awhile (speaking from experience with the Passport 8500 X50), you can tell just by the escalating intensity and duration of the alert that it's police radar. I don't care whether it's coming at me or from behind me. If I'm speeding, I slow down until I visually acquire the patrol car or the alert subsides. Period. I can usually tell by the escalation of intensity if the radar is coming at me or coming up from behind me. The signal strength is obviously going to intensify alot quicker if you're closing on it than if you were going in the same direction or with very little closure. I know that just about all the State Troopers around here use X band radar (some have laser), so when I'm on the interstate and I get an X band hit, 99% out of the time, it's a patrol car. K band can be from automatic doors and motion sensors for stores, so K band alerts sometimes take a little more decifering. However, they very rarely ever give me over 2-3 bars of intensity on the display, so if it's over that, I'm either pointing right at an automatic door sensor (like in a parking lot) or it's a cop. Ka - always a cop.

They V1 and 8500 are both proven detectors and pretty much arch rivals in the detector world, but for me, I couldn't see spending another $100 for the V1. If you need options like a remote display, then it may be worth it to you to go with the V1.

 

Can police detect you having a radar detector in places where they are illegal?

 

The only place they're illegal right now is VA (and DC), though FL has legislation pending, and yes in VA they have RADAR detector detectors.

Which begs the question, where can one buy a RADAR detector detector dectector?
Probably at the department of redundency department.