jguerdat missed it but radartest.com did publish sensitivity information for each detector in each band: X, K, Ka and laser. They also included laser field of view in addition to laser sensitivity and X city vs X highway. They compared "straight-away" to "around the curve"

I've read the radartest.com review FROM THE POINT OF VIEW of a new V1 owner. I sure would hate to think I just plunked down $400 when I could have gotten the Bel 980 or Passport 8500. I did consider both but didn't think there was any test data showing them better.

I think the "features" section of the review is pure bs. It's all on the level of "what is the best color for an s2000." In a perfect world, I'd own SEVEN s2000's (red, white, light blue, dark blue, black, silver and yellow.)

Here's what I found by studying radartest.com 's data.


X band
V1 most sensitive in straight away. No one else is close.
V1 most sensitive in curve test. Passport8500 comes close.
(note: The straightaway/hills test should agree with the around-the curve tests. They should not give different results. The detector doesn't care whether there's a curve ahead or a hill or a straight away. It just detects rf energy whatever the "history" of where the emission was before it got to the detector.)


K band
V1 tied with Bel980/Passport8500 in straight away test.
V1 slightly less sensitive than Bel980/Passport8500 in curve test.

Ka band
V1 30% less sensitive in straight away test compared to Bel/Passport.
V1 20% less sensitive in around-the curve test compared to Bel/Passport.

Laser field of view test.
V1 has double the field of view both to the left and right compared to Bel/Passport.

Laser Detection Range.
V1, Bel980 and Passport 8500 all equal.

Thus it seems that the Bel980 and the Passport 8500 have a bit more sensitivity in Ka band from ahead. The V1 has much better X band sensitivity and much better laser field of view. The K band is essentially a tie for the V1, the Bel980 and the Passport 8500.

The radartest.com description of the tests considers laser field of view very important if you are going to know when laser is in use BEFORE you are the target.

In this review on radartest.com no tests were done concerning detection of radar behind the vehicle. Based on other tests not in this review, the Valentine One has excelled in this area. Neither the Passport 8500 nor the Bel 980 have a rear facing radar antenna. The discussion on radartest.com of how police radar works does indicate that detection from behind is very important; however, radartest.com did no testing of sensitivity from behind. All the tests had the radar in front.

In my own crude comparison of the V1 and my Passport 4600, the V1 detects a fixed X band source at twice the distance when the source is in front and at many times the distance when the source is behind. In addition, I've found the "bogey count" and location indicator interesting and probably useful.

Thanks for info on this site. Does anyone have the link for the most recent Car and Driver radar detector review?

 

That's a good point about the rear-laser detection. Yet another advantage the V1 has over the others that Radartest.com fails to mention.

I really don't understand the bias this site has. But maybe it has something to do with the fact that Valentine only sells direct and does not use the dealer channel. I've seen other products suffer bad reviews for ignoring the existing dealer channels.

 

Here's another review that gives the nod to the V1 because of its locator feature. The review predates the Bel 980 and Passport 8500 It is not biased in the sense that it is from competing interests. It is from a nice BMW Z3 page.
http://www.mz3.net/articles/016.html

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Barry WY Silver/Black '01:
[B]jguerdat missed it but radartest.com did publish sensitivity information for each detector in each band: X, K, Ka and laser.

 

Just got Passport 8500 but S2000 is quartered for the winter so no test yet. But check out interesting thread on Porche Pete's Boxer Board (which in thread had side by side picture of v1 and 8500 on dash - excerpt follows:


I flew to Albuquerque yesterday to pick up my new Boxster
S and drive back to Denver. As if I had nothing better to
do, I used the 500 mile drive to test my V1 detector
against my new Passport 8500. Some conclusions:

1. The V1 is extremely annoying with many falses on X
and K bands. I tested with both detectors in sensitive and
filtering modes. The Passport is quiet unless there is
something serious around.

2. Both detectors do about the same on real signals, even
when the signal is coming from behind. V1 does tell you
where the signal is coming from, but if there is anything
around to reflect, the 8500 does admirably from behind.

3. The 8500 will be easier to live with.

4. Mike Valentine has his work cut out for him.

 

It sounds to me that the V1 is just more sensitive on some bands, something easily solved with self-programming. You can adjust, turn down or totally off the sensitivity any frequency.

I'm thinking of turning off x-band because I've never picked one up around here that wasn't an automatic door opener.

V1 programming instructions are here:
http://www.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt5.asp

 

Tom, please post the thread. I've not seen a side by side test of the Passport 8500 and the V1 except at radartest.com .

I LIKE the "false positives" from door openers and traffic lights because when I DON'T hear them, it reminds me to turn the detector back on.

Sensitivity and selectivity and emitted rf are the only three things we should really care about and these should be measurable in a radio lab. Perhaps we need "Stereo Review" or "QST" or "Scanner Times" to publish a good lab comparison of the different receivers.

For now, I know that no one has claimed any radar detector is better than the V1 on X or K or laser. radartest.com claims that the Passport 8500 and the Bel 980 are both better on Ka. I'd like to see that replicated.

Here is a link to a "head to head" comparison of the Passport 8500 and the newest Valentine One. The reviewer finds the Passport 8500 vastly improved over the Passport 7500 and almost as good as the Valentine One, but not quite, even on Ka.
http://driver4t5.epinions.com/elec-review-...-3A1166AE-prod2

I know that my V1 is far more sensitive than my Passport 4600 on all signal sources in front and behind me.

 

I gotta throw in my two cents. The big advantage of the V1 is the bogey counter and radar locator arrows. Other than that, it is just heavier and more expensive than the competition. The BEL 980 is also undetectable by the VG-2 (radar detector detector) and it is at least as sensitive. Greater X-band performance is not important, even a $79 radar detector can do X-band well. Rear laser detection is also a complete waste. Laser is only used from stationary vehicles and it is aimed at the front license plate or headlight. I see the V1 is the only radar detector that always gets 5 stars from Epinions. That says a lot, but the Bel and Escort are good choices too, and cheaper and smaller.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by NSXS:
[B]The big advantage of the V1 is the bogey counter and radar locator arrows. ...

 

Well now that we have discussed all the pros and cons of owning the V1, do anyone have any other mounting suggestions?