Passport 8500 here, works great for me.

 

i was pulled over twelve hours after i bought my s2k for going 9 over in a 65 zone. i ordered my v1 that day and have had it save my butt on at least a dozen occasions.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by djohnston
The Passport does this too, only better.

 

mine lights up like a chrismas tree within two blocks of the hospital. i figured it was related to our helicopter/dispatch and various security systems.

 

Our hospital doesn't have any FCC approved helicopter pad. I'm not aware of any unusual security system. I think it is all the automatic door opener sensors.

 

I will not in any way knock the 8500 because it is excellent. I will say that I expect most people who say the arrows aren't important haven't used a V1. I didn't think so until I actually used a V1 for a few days, now I don't want to do without them.

 

>>The sensitivity of the two is very comparable and the V1 is acknowledged to give more false alarms. <<

It's almost all x-band falsing. X-band is no longer used by 47 or 48 of the states. You can turn it off following the directions at their web site. (It's not in the manual) Detectors are tested with the default settings.

On the bogey counter...REFLECTIONS are what can lead to higher than actual counts. They look just like real sources to the detector. The V1 was set to show them if-in-doubt to be conservative.

Sometimes cops deliberately set up speed traps near malls or whatever cuz they figure detector users will ignore their warnings. IF the bogey counter shows different readings than usual on your common routes, you've found something.

When you get used to the arrows, you'll feel naked without them. It's very common to see an arrrow in front of you the side then rear on the highway...that means he's on the other side of the road and moving. Depending upon how fast things change. Hard to expalin but once your used to it you find that some warnings are safe to ignore, yet are not false.

Stan

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Barry WY Silver/Black '01
Our hospital doesn't have any FCC approved helicopter pad.

 

That's a generalized statement because I have used the V1. I traded my 8500 with a friend for a couple weeks once. The arrows can be useful, but they sometimes aren't. I have had the arrows point wrong before. I know it was wrong because there was a radar speed sign thing on this street for like a month. And there are places where the arrows point in the wrong direction.

After I saw that this could happen, I couldn't rely on them 100% anymore which takes away from the usefulness. Kinda just like how once you know you can still get a ticket with a radar detector, you don't rely solely on the radar detector to protect you from cops either. Plus most of the time I can guess where the signal will be coming from without looking at the arrows anyway. If you pay attention to the surroundings when you drive, it's not too hard.

A lot of people will say that the arrows are the best thing since sliced bread but both me and my friend think it is just an extra feature now. Like how the 8500 will show you strength levels of each signal and the V1 doesn't. It is an 'icing on the cake' feature, but not absolutely necessary. People have gotten tickets with the V1 and people have not. Some people without the V1 have not gotten tickets ever either, and some have.

The biggest and most useful "feature" that neither the V1, Escort8500, nor any radar detector includes is the 'smart driver' feature. Driving smart (I didn't say slow..) along with a pretty much any modern radar detector should work fine for most people.

 

red97gsr, you have said it well.
Nothing like driving smart, plus having a good quality radar detector and one decreases the chances of getting ticketed.