Yellow S2000

I went on the V1 website today.. I went to upgrades.. I typed in my 10 digit SN# to see if mine needed to be upgraded.. My V1 is 2 yrs old if I sent in my V1 & $189 I can get exchanged with a brand new unit.. My Question is should I do it.. I have not had any problems with my V1.. Please let me know what you think..

Forrest2b

Same question, I decided to send it in to get the 1-yr warrenty on a new unit rather than having this one die (it would be my luck) and have to shell out 400 for a new one. It claims to have better Ka band for us US people and better directional targeting. Another factor for me was that the new V1s are lighter and a bit smaller.


Ignore the signature! I don't have my V1 right now!!!!!!!!!

S4 Mike

I just did it for my 4 yeard old V1 (bought it summer of '97) and it came up at $229, even though it claimed that I didn't need to upgrade it as:

"While this version is not quite up to today

Barry in Wyoming

My November, 2000 V1 equals the new Passport 8500 on Ka and beats it on K and beats it by a mile on X.

Do you have much X band police radar? If you do, upgrade the V1 or buy a second one. If your police radar is mostly Ka, and you don't care to know where your radar came from, buy a Passport 8500. The Passport 8500 is shaped differently from the V1 but it is NOT smaller or lighter. The Passport jiggles up and down more because it is less well centered in its mount.

The Passport has fewer "overcounts" on its bogey counter and a better readout of the number / signal strength of bogeys.

Both are excellent. The V1 is best.

If you are not sure that I am correct, get both and return the one that you like less or return both and upgrade your current V1.

Clark

I had my V1 upgraded after it was 4.5 years old. My roommate had a V1 that was 1 year newer than mine, and his GF has one that is 1 year old (about 6 months after my upgrade, don't bother to try to do the math).

Anyway, both my unit and hers perform identically. His is far less sensitive than ours are. We notice this in normal false situations, where ours tend to false more strongly, but also equally as predictably. In addition, we seem (as we follow each other around) to get radar alerts far earlier than he does.

Bottom line, I think it's worth it.

Clark

Sunchild

$200 for an upgrade? I like my V1, but I don't like the company that makes them. Their whole corporate personality leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

S4 Mike

Thanks for all the replies guys. A friend of mine bought his V1 a few months back and it seems to be more sensitive (at the mall for example) and falses less (on the highway) then mine. The individual band display is also nice, instead of a single blinking dot. But I have a serious problem shelling out $230 on top of the $400 already spent. It seems that their "upgrade" program is more of a replacement program, passing the cost along to the consumers. I'm both annoyed at the costs associated with this detector and happy that I'm not stuck with a sub-par unit. So in the end, I'm not sure what I'm going to do about my detector needs. Probably just wait for my check from Uncle Sam and decide then.

Again, a big thanks to all those that replied.

Clark

The $230 upgrade does include all new internals, not just software, and has a new warranty. It may seem rather expensive when you think of it as an upgrade, but compare this to any other radar detectors where you would be forced to buy a new detector at full price in order to get the newer features and improved sensitivity.

Thinking about it this way I figure I am getting essentially a new detector with the latest features for half the purchase price of a new V1.

As for how much the V1 costs in the first place, well you get what you pay for.

Clark

Yellow S2000

Does any know if V1 will come out with a new model this year.. I might wait to upgrade if that happens.. If not I'm going to send mine in next week

Barry in Wyoming

They slightly revised the V1 in March or April, 2001. It is now thinner and "tweaked" in sensitivities, but not a "new model."
It is not V1a or V2 or anything. When I talked to ValentineOne Customer Service a month or two ago, they said I really wouldn't see any difference.

You can now download the V1 instruction manual but when I downloaded it August 11, it still showed the thicker model.