I'm a believer!

I had been contemplating getting a new detector for a while and had been eyeing the 8500 and the V1, but quite honestly, my old Passport 4500 had been performing faithfully and I couldn't justify the cost. Well my wife took care of that, it was a Christmas gift. She ended up buying it from Escort directly and paid the full $300 price. Shop around, you can get brand new ones on E-bay for much less. The full price she paid is offset by the fact that Escort allows you to trade in your old Passport for $30, so I guess it only cost me $270.

As I mentioned I was pretty happy with my old unit especially when you consider that I've had it for over 7 1/2 years and have NEVER been pulled over. I mean NEVER, and I am a lead foot.

Those who say radar detectors don't help, are those who think that having a radar detector gives you full protection. Big mistake. You do need to get to know how your detector works and at the very least, you need to treat any K or Ka warning, no matter how weak, as a potential threat. Couple that with always making sure that there is always traffic up ahead so that you can get advance warning of "instant-on" threats, and you should be OK. I've never been victimized by LIDAR (laser), but it's common knowledge that if you get a LIDAR warning, it's too late.


Now for the unit. I always hardwire my detectors so I was a little disappointed when I realized that the "fully equipped" detector didn't have the hardwire kit. Especially when you consider that it was included when I bought my 4500. So while I was waiting for the kit to come in, I didn't immediately disconnect my old unit, I figured I'd drive with both of them for a while and then ship back my old unit once the kit came in. I just plugged the 8500 into the cigarette lighter.

The one thing that you immediately notice is that the AUTO feature on the 8500 works as promised. I have always driven with my detectors (my wife has a Passport 6800 in her Land Cruiser) in highway mode in order to get full range. The Passports in my opinion have never been that bad with falsing. Nothing is as bad the old Uniden my wife had prior to the 6800, it falsed so bad you couldn't even say "COP CAR!" without it going off. I'm exaggerating of course, but it was bad. While driving with the 8500 and the 4500 together, I noticed that the 8500 falsed less around "garbage" sources like grocery stores, but warned sooner for true traffic radar sources. I'm still evaluating, but in the few instances where I have caught traffic radar, the range has been truly impressive.

PROGRAMMING: I along with another reviewer here don't understand the difficulty people are having with programming this unit. You hold both buttons down to enter programming mode, you then keep pressing the left button to scroll through the programmable features (i.e. display, brightness, muting, etc.) and the right button to select the setting (i.e. Standard, expert, spec for the display or Brightness settings of bright, dim, off, or LAST). Not that difficult.

SIZE: It's a little big and I had a difficult time mounting it in my usually spot just above the rearview mirror, but just below the headliner. Although to be fair, this has more to do with the bulge that exists in the headliner of my Acura TL to account for the sunglass holder and maplights.

DISPLAY:

I like the multi-function display as opposed to the single LEDs in older and less expensive units. I currently have mine set to Expert mode that, as previously mentioned, can display up to 8 potential signals. This is particularly useful when your local law enforcement decides to set up near another source. For example, as more and more of the mobile radar units (MRU?) are being used (the ones that display your speed as your going by), some police are setting up maybe a block or two away. In these situations, as you pass these units, you may then ignore your detector's continued warnings, thinking it's just the residual from that mobile unit. Then all of a sudden.... BAM! They got you. With the unit set in expert mode, you'll see that as your approaching you'll see two signals being detected, but as you drive by the MRU you would notice that one signal is weakening as your driving past, but another might be increasing. That's provided he's not using "instant-on", but that's why you always make sure that there is traffic up ahead.

As for the Safety Warning System (SWS), while it seems cool, I have yet to encounter any of these signals. So don't make this a determining factor between the 8500 and the Valentine 1 (the V1 doesn't capture SWS).

As for the directional signals, while admittedly I have never had a V1, and consequently never "experienced" the arrows, I can't comment here. I will say that whenever I get a warning, I slow down until the detector no longer receives a signal, to ensure that there are no longer any threats.

As for the rear detection that some mentioned, as is common knowledge, RADAR bounces around like crazy. So if a signal is coming from behind, you should get ample warning. Just drive past one of those MRUs and see how long your detector keeps warning you. As I said, my previous 4500 never let me down. For me at least, it's a non-issue.

In summary, as I mentioned, I am still evaluating this unit, but given how happy I was with my previous Passport, and the fact that this unit is vastly improved from previous models, and that now the 8500 can be "flash upgraded", I'm anticipating the fact that the 8500 will be with me a long time.

Given the fact that in a real world driving experiences where the V1 and 8500 have been tested, the advance warning of the two are comparable, and that both give you a count on how many signals it has received, the biggest difference between the two comes down to the directional arrows on the V1. Considering the fact that I don't care where the warning is coming from, I'm going to slow down until I'm safely away, I'll save the $100-$130 and stick with the 8500 as opposed to the V1.

I'll make sure to come back with an update.

Whichever you choose, they'll pay for themselves in avoided tickets and you're getting the state-of-the-art detector. I'm packing my old 4500 and sending it back, it served me well.