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IMHO, most radar detectors are a waste of money. the high end passport and Valentine One being the exception. My V1 has saved my butt several dozen times. All detectors are useless against laser, but lidar is limited in its use (they have to be still, waiting, etc, in a trap). Most cops do not know how to use them, or traditional radar.

 

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[quote:70c4e61b7d="eleMentalCase"]I've owned a Valentine and my personal experience confirms radartest.com's test results- that the Escort 8500 is more sensitive- and just as important, it throws FAR less false alarms. And the 8500 is $100 less than the Valentine. [/quote:70c4e61b7d]

The 8500 is a great detector, but I take issue with the statement that the V1 throws false alarms. You get great depth of info with a V1, the direction, count, strength and band. Any fool can tell an automatic door from a cop after driving with a V1 for a month. Moreso, if you drive a normal commute, you learn your electrico-magnetic landscape pretty well, when to excpect every blip and pop. You will innately know just by pattern of blips when a cop is stationed with X-band radar in the middle of strip-mall alley. Trust me - it's the perfect X-band camoflauge and the cops know it.