Does anyone have an opinion on the Valentine One Radar Detector? It seems like they have done a decent bit of R&D for it, but wanted a firsthand review of wether or not it was worth the $400. Or is there another one you reccomend? Thanks, Dan
Seriously, just don't speed excessively. All radar detectors have flaws, and there isn't much you could do in the way of certain technologies, so it's easier and cheaper to slow down. It hurts me a lot saying that as I personally think the speed limit should be 120, but it's the sad truth. I've had a V1 and gave false alarms like crazy, thus making it rather useless to me. Lots of people are saying there are different "modes" or something like that, but I sold it long before I gathered enough patience to look into it. Some people swear by it, so your mileage may vary.
I love the V1. The modes are easy to switch through, and frankly once on a highway I really dont get any falses. Don't think the risk/reward is there for me to need a V1 around town where detectors false due to alarms, doors, etc.
Well worth it if used properly and with an understanding of its limitations. 1. If you are by yourself or leading the pack on interstate highways at 15 mph over the limit or faster, you are going to get nailed eventually. State Troopers and in some states, local police are proficient in the use of instant on radar. You won't have enough warning if the cop is skilled. 2. If you are traveling in a group of cars going fast and stay back from the lead, your chances are much better unless the police are using radar from behind you. They do this in places like the NJ Turnpike. They will hide behind a bridge or foliage and zap cars after they have passed the hiding place. 3. If you are traveling 10 mph or more over the limit on secondary roads and the police have a good hiding place, instant on will get you there too. 4. If other cars are between 1/4 and 1 mile ahead of you and getting scanned by the police radar, you will have time to react if you understand the difference between false alarms and real alarms. Real alarms typically increase in volume and frequency and the arrows on the Valentine indicate the radar is coming from the same direction each time. False alarms usually are isolated in nature and the arrows may indicate it is in front, then suddenly to the side. 5. It is easiest to know the difference if you drive the same route frequently and get used to the false alarms. I used to commute 160 miles round trip on a combination of secondary and interstate highways. After a month, I was very good at identifying the difference between real alarms and false alarms. The Valentine paid for itself many times over on this commute because local police in NJ also use instant on K and Ka band radars. These are the hardest ones to sense in time for corrective action and the Valentine worked well on my former daily commute. On these roads (which were heavily patrolled), there was almost always someone ahead of me that got scanned giving me time to slow down. 6. The arrows were extremely helpful in understanding the difference between real alerts and false alarms. The arrows were also extremely useful in my former commute where I faced a mixture of local and state troopers every day. With that long commute, I was always trying to make time. Now my round trip is 44 miles on secondary roads and radar is almost non-existent. I don't speed much under these conditions. I don't use the Valentine on a daily basis any more but it was well worth the purchase price under the right conditions.
Valentine saved my butt. As far as I'm concerned, Michael Valentine is a saint. Without his divine intervention, I would be a poor man today-well, even more poorer!-or rotting away in some dank prison cell waiting for Bubba to brew up some squeeze. As for the cost, mine was a Christmas gift-because Kelly was sick and tired of my borrowing her Valentine One! We are currently a two-Valentine family. Rather appropriate this week, don't you think?
As stated in other Radar Detector posts, if you don't LEARN how to use it, it is just a pretty light show on you windshield. I have a V1 and spent time reading the owners manual and playing with it. Very good tool if setup and used properly. Like stated, mine has saved me many times. In my part of the country, Midwestern States, there are great expanses with little traffic and great roads. Our speed limit is already 75mph and if you are not running 85mph, you will get run over.....even by the truckers!!! The V1 is a nice reminder that there are speed checking devices/people out here to pillage your wallet. I agree that Brother Valentine has indeed invented a divine contraption.....can I get an Amen..... Seriously, there are other units out there that work well....the V1 is the best one I have come in contact with and the ability to upgrade it as technology grows is huge.
I must agree that the V1 is a great investment. I HAD one for about 3 years and it prevented me from being stopped for any speeding violations during that time. It was a wonderful addition to my commutes until it was unfortunately stolen from my 96 Audi A4 in November. It was the only item stolen if that gives you any indication of their value and quality. After reading the manual and toying around with the features it is quite easy to understand and navigating the modes made more sense. If you get a chance to get one, I say do it!
Previously owned several Escorts and have to say the Valentine is much better. I have used it next to my Escort 8500 and the V1 will warn me about 2-3 seconds earlier. It does pick up everything and can annoy you with the false alarms.
I bought a Valentine One right after I got my first speeding ticket. I've had it for about 3 years, now, and I'm happy to say that that first ticket is still my only ticket. The $400 you're spending is mostly for peace of mind. And to me, it's worth it. The V1 does go a bit nuts in urban areas, sometimes registering 9 different signals at once and it even falses on the highway every now and then. The trick is to learn how to use it and filter out some of the false alarms using common sense. Learn what kinds of radar the police most commonly use in your state. Learn where they like to hide and when they like to earn a little extra revenue. With this kind of knowledge, you can make the V1 a part of the system that makes you a driver who's less likely to get caught speeding. In addition, if you enter the programming mode in the V1 ( http://www.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt3.asp ), you can have all kinds of fun. You can choose which bands to turn off if they're not threatening 99% of the time. (In Maryland, for example, X-Band is rarely used). You can also tweak the Ka-Band sensitivity or turn on Europe's Ku-Band if you plan to use the detector abroad. I've found it to be very reliable and dependable. If you remember that it's a tool and not a toy, you'll probably experience similar results.
V1 I used two V1's for several years. I bought the first one that was thick and then bought the newer model that was thinner. Both worked extremely well, and too well in the city. I finally got tired of the false alarms in the city and changed to an Escort 9500ix, after it learns the locations of doors etc., I haven't had a false alarm. The locations of speed cameras is also a nice feature. Once the device located a door or other false signal three times it loads that location into memory and will ignore that location going forward. If another signal is detected at that location it will emit an alarm for that location even though it has that location in memory. After using both, I must say that I prefer the Escort for the false alarm exclusions. If the Valentine was able to learn locations and have a method of locking out repetitive locations, it would be perfect.
Once you see how the arrows work and learn what mode to use when... you'll never use anything other than a V1. We are a two Valentine household as well!
