I am looking to buy a radar detector in the next few weeks and I was wondering what you guys had and swore by. I have heard a lot of things about the Valentine One. Does anyone have any experience with that? Any other makes and models?

All input is appreciated.

(If in wrong section, please move) Sorry

 

Valentine is a great unit. The problem with radar detectors is they won't protect you from hand held radar when they point and shoot. At that point they got you with out any advanced warning.

 

I have a beltronics vector 955. It picks up most of the speed detectors that tell you how fas you're goig and the occasional highway patrol officer using the Ka band sitting on the side of the road from a quarter a mile away.

 

Ya I feel like none of them can do that though, they are too quick and sporadic to pick up.

Nice features!

Are either of yours concealed? I am trying to figure out a way to conceal mine So I do not havev to take it on and off the dash everytime I leave my car

 

My opinion, best bang for the buck - by far - is the Escort 8500 x50. Also, get the new single cup mount.

 

I have had the Escort 8500i and have the 9500i now. The 9500i is awesome. It is a little more sensitive than the 8500i, but the most important thing it has is GPS - the only one on the market. False alarms will drive you crazy if you drive through the city. With the 9500i, you can mark false alarms on the radar detector by pressing the mute button 3 times. This stores the GPS location and also the radio frequency of the false alarm, so that the detector will never go off because of that false alarm again. If you are a big baller and want all out protection, the 9500ci is concealed and comes with laser jammers. I have my 9500i mounted at the top of the windshield just to the left of the mirror and hard wired into the fuse box. This makes it so that cars on the side of me can not tell I have a detector because it is blocked by the A-pillar. Most cops also fail to notice the detector in the windshield because there are no messy cords.

 

+1 for the Escort 8500 X50! Especially because they're from Cincinnati (founded as Cincinnati Microwave). Actually the president of Valentine was a co-founder of Escort who then went his own way. The Valentines tell you direction, but I can't live without the advanced mode on the X50 where it tells you how MANY signals...so if a cop's sitting by a gas station that always falses your detector you see TWO hits and know to slow down. VERY cool feature :-)

 

Ditto on the 8500. I don't speed too often but I have one and it has saved me on more than one occasion. It is nice to have, especially on windy backroads. The only thing detectors are really not good for are laser. If you get popped with a laser and your detector goes off it is already too late. You just have to be smart when you are driving and always be aware of your surroundings.

With saying all that, I did a lot of research before I purchased mine and the 8500, 9500, Valentine, and the 955 all seem to be great detectors. I got a great deal on the 8500 from a friend so that is why I went with that model. If money is not an issue definitely go with the 9500i.

 

my dad has an escort 9500i as well and he loves it. a friend bought it for him as a gift the week after he got his C4S, so he didn't have to drop any money on it. I've got a cobra radar detector, and it sucks pretty bad

 

I have a Bel RX75 Plus which is a concealed radar/laser detector with the jammer. It has saved me more than the worth of the radar detector and install so far. I have the radar detector installed behind the front mesh grill in between the fog lights and it has great range. If you google the RX75 Plus, you can actually find the whole unit for about $400 and you just have to find someone to install it.