I've always had a radar detector in my car, starting off with one of those cheap 3 LED Whistlers back in the '80s, I then upgraded to a Whistler 1490, which served me faithfully for 10 years, it outlived two of my cars (got the first Whistler back when I had my '92 Dodge Shadow, then upgraded to the 1490, which lasted me through my next two Dodge Neons ('98 and '02)
I figured it was time for a new detector, as I have a new car ('07 Saturn Ion), and the Whistler is starting to false more often, even when parked in our driveway, facing 50 acres of farmland and the woodlot, I'll get the occasional 1 segment X-band false, unless the deer are running radar, there should be no falses in the driveway
I've been doing research, and my decision has come down to the immortal decision of Escort Passport 8500-X50 or Valentine One, I'm not going to drag up a topic that has been beaten to death, both are excellent detectors, and each has advantages the other doesn't, ideally, the best solution would be to "Buy Both", but that'd be a rather expensive outlay of cash.....
So over the weekend, I stopped at my local Tweeter electronics store, and lo and behold, they had an open-box 8500-X50 Red for a decent price, so I bought it, so far I have been very impressed, it's at least twice as sensitive as the old Whistler, and Expert Mode is too cool
but even after all of that, I *still* want a Valentine One to keep it company, because the arrows are incredibly cool
here's the thing though, I don't generally speed, at least not deliberately, sure, i've caught myself occasionally at 5-10 miles over tops, and I adjust my speed downward to meet the PSL when I do, I drive a car that isn't exactly known for performance, most of my driving is on windy back roads, where speed traps are a non-event, i've never seen one on the back roads, so if I do encounter radar, it's typically a lone cruiser on the side of the road or driving towards me from the opposite lane, and most of the time, I'm the only car on the road, so if I *DID* encounter POP or Instant On radar, the detector wouldn't be a help anyway , in all honesty, I probably don't *need* a detector, let alone two, it'd be a "waste of money" in my case
that said, I still *WANT* one, well, two, partly because I'm a computer repair tech (Mac repair) and have a thing for cool gadgets (as all techs do), but mainly because;
A; I don't trust the police
B; I know how error-prone speed-monitoring technology can be
Do I *need* a detector, for my driving habits? no
Is a detector overkill for me? yes
Do I still want a V-1? Most Definitely Yes!
Besides, I cant be the only one out there that goes "radar-hunting", can I?, deliberately driving around (at the speed limit, obviously) trying to find police running radar/LIDAR so I can see how sensitive the detector is?
Hmm, I may have found a solution to acquiring an "affordable" V-1, turns out that they sell refurbs at V-1, it's about $50 cheaper, and has the full warranty, so, I'll just save up for a couple months and grab a refurb, then i'll have both
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