I've been using the V1 for 15+ yrs on both my bike & cars and have been very satisfied. It has paid for itself many times over.

I do some spirited driving in the twisties outside of L.A. and it works like a charm. Has saved me many times.:tup:

Thanks for the info, the V1 was top of my list and every positive contribution puts it as No1 choice but I also wanted some comparisons with newer models because of its age.
How old is your model and is it easily updated.

the oldest one i had was over 10yrs old and i recently sent 2 units into V1 to buy updated one as the proximity radar equipped cars were triggering false alarms. they give u a $100 trade-in for an old one (they give u the whole new package in a box for old trades), and more for more recent firmware ones.

the updated ones i have now do not get triggered by other cars. :D
and yah, i would buy again without a doubt.

Do not confuse popularity with quality and performance.

The TV show American Idol has/had huge popularity yet it is still quite worthless.

I still have the original one I bought in 1999!
It's been sent in for upgrades 2x but, none in the last few years.

I go on V1's site and check periodically if there's any update that'd be useful for me. I haven't checked in over a year...should do that soon.

You're not implying the V1 is worthless, are you?

Popularity also comes with performance.

While I agree that many popular things are awful (see anything Kardashian)
Popularity does not equate to worthlessness.

FI is a very popular exhaust and, definitely not worthless.

I was implying nothing other than the idea that popularity may or may not be correlated with performance. That's all. Many radar detectors do well -- Valentine and Escort each make excellent products.

I got the cobra 6650 for 150$ it does its job, it works like a charm.

Get either the Valentine 1 or the Passport 9500ix really good products.

Could have bought a nice used Passport 8500 X50 for that and had enough left over for dinner and drinks

The Escort Max 360 looks pretty impressive:
https://www.escortradar.com/max360/

the reviews don't look too hot

Valentine works great for me for the last 30 years, I always updated and I get a new version 2 years ago.
I had other detectors like Cobra, Escort Solo, Whistler, etc,etc, but the V1 rules.

Escort makes the best Radar Detectors hands down. The Escort 8500 X50 was the king of the hill for the longest time. The only difference i can really notice with the latest generation models is all the extra nonsense added to them...GPS enabled....False Alarm...etc..get the 8500 X50....all you can really use Radar detector for is Freeway Radar. In the US Hwy Patrol uses Ka Band. Block all other frequencies because they are useless. That way when it goes off its 100% a cop. Also, radar detectors are USELESS against biker cops in the city because they use INSTANT ON LIDAR. What that means the device stays off...the cop aims at you...pulls the trigger..it turns on for a split second, grabs your speed then turns off. By the time you get a signal its too late.

Again, Escort 8500 X50...all the other detectors have these fancy new titles and detection gimics... the V1 arrows are a marketing ploy...does it really matter what direction the radar is coming from...either way you are going to slow down until the signal is gone.

my two cents

:iagree: I run a V1 and I have K and X band turned off. I debated between the Escort and the V1 before I bought. Before I turned those 2 bands off I thought maybe I should have bought a GPS enabled Escort to weed out the false alarms but now that those frequencies are off it really would make no difference to have GPS. The only ticket I ever got was from LIDAR...saw the cop after coming around a bend in the freeway and the laser detector blew up then off...too late I was f-ed. Laser detector feature is essentially useless and I only get false alams on laser now. I think either brand would perform the same: can't really go wrong. The arrows and boggie counter on the V1 are nice little "extras" but they won't really make or break you when it comes to avoiding tickets. I would buy a V1 again.