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  1. #1
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    Apr 2010
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    Default Detector for city driving (Chicago and suburbs)

    I did some basic research and am not completely sure which detector to go with. The V1 seems like a really good choice, but it seems that it is more geared towards city driving, and less so on the highway. I would mainly be driving in the city, with limited highway driving in and out of downtown Chicago (from the suburbs).

    I'm not too worried about Laser since I don't think it is used anywhere in the Chicago-land area. Also, I don't think speed cameras are used in the area so I don't think I need a GPS.

    So would the V1 be my best choice? I think my only concern is highway performance and how much of a tradeoff I should make (assuming the V1 is not as good as the 9500xi on the highway).

    I've had three tickets in the last two months, so it seems I definitely need to do something...

  2. #2
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    Sacramento, CA
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    301

    Default Re: Detector for city driving (Chicago and suburbs)

    Quote Originally Posted by onyx00 View Post
    I did some basic research and am not completely sure which detector to go with. The V1 seems like a really good choice, but it seems that it is more geared towards city driving, and less so on the highway. I would mainly be driving in the city, with limited highway driving in and out of downtown Chicago (from the suburbs).

    I'm not too worried about Laser since I don't think it is used anywhere in the Chicago-land area. Also, I don't think speed cameras are used in the area so I don't think I need a GPS.

    So would the V1 be my best choice? I think my only concern is highway performance and how much of a tradeoff I should make (assuming the V1 is not as good as the 9500xi on the highway).

    I've had three tickets in the last two months, so it seems I definitely need to do something...
    Hello, and welcome to the forum. The V1 is a highway detector, it offers great range. The 9500iX is most often used for city driving. The 9500iX offers good range, but since there are no redlight cameras used in your area, you would not take full advantage of that feature (this is the only reason why I'm still keeping my 9500iX).

    I don't have any recommendations, I just didn't want you to be confused which is for highway, and which is for city use.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Detector for city driving (Chicago and suburbs)

    Quote Originally Posted by niran916 View Post
    Hello, and welcome to the forum. The V1 is a highway detector, it offers great range. The 9500iX is most often used for city driving. The 9500iX offers good range, but since there are no redlight cameras used in your area, you would not take full advantage of that feature (this is the only reason why I'm still keeping my 9500iX).

    I don't have any recommendations, I just didn't want you to be confused which is for highway, and which is for city use.
    Thanks so much for the clarification. Guess I am not sure what to do now. I want to avoid lots of falses in the city, but still have something decent for the highway.

  4. #4
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    Jun 2009
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    Columbus, Ohio
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    952

    Default Re: Detector for city driving (Chicago and suburbs)

    Quote Originally Posted by onyx00 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by niran916 View Post
    Hello, and welcome to the forum. The V1 is a highway detector, it offers great range. The 9500iX is most often used for city driving. The 9500iX offers good range, but since there are no redlight cameras used in your area, you would not take full advantage of that feature (this is the only reason why I'm still keeping my 9500iX).

    I don't have any recommendations, I just didn't want you to be confused which is for highway, and which is for city use.
    Thanks so much for the clarification. Guess I am not sure what to do now. I want to avoid lots of falses in the city, but still have something decent for the highway.
    The V1 is one of the BEST highway detectors. In the city the V1 tends to false a lot. It is not because the detector sucks, But the V1 is highly sensitive and lacks proper filtering. But I love that feature. I want to do the thinking not have the detector think for me and mess up.

    My gf currently uses my escort 8500 refurb. Its about 150 bucks and is worth every penny of it. Other recommended Detectors would be the Bel V995 or the Whistler pro 78SE.

    But since you have got quite a bit of tickets. I would suggest looking into the V1 and using the cheetah C100 or the Cheetah gps mirror to help quieten down the valentine one. I currently use the Cheetah mirror with the V1 configurations and it has made my city driving so much more pleasant.

    The V1 has one of the best sensitivity and the Cheetah provides life time updates on the red light and speed light cameras and can be used as voice commands for the V1 to help reduces falses. Using this set up, even if you do visit a place with red light cameras, your all covered.

  5. #5
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    Jul 2008
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    Miami
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    Default Re: Detector for city driving (Chicago and suburbs)

    If you think there are no RLCs in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs, you've done next to no research on this issue. I can't believe you haven't noticed them yourself.

    I hope this is an artifact of you having only driven in specific locations where they aren't used rather than an indictment of your overall perceptiveness. If it is the latter, you have no business driving, much less relying on any sort of countermeasures.

    The same can be said (though to a much lesser extent--there aren't gigantic roadside signs alerting you to upcoming laser enforcement like there are for RLCs) regarding your conception of LIDAR prevalence.

    The fact that you claim to have done "basic research" on the distinctions between V1s and the 9500 and have come to the conclusion that the V1 is the city detector is baffling as well.

    Three tickets in two months suggests you're simply a bad, ignorant, oblivious driver, and in all likelihood, a total lost cause. I just hope you don't hurt yourself or anyone else on your way to your inevitable license revocation.
    Last edited by The Invisible Vervet; 04-10-2010 at 11:32 AM. Reason: Let me count the ways...

  6. #6
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    Jul 2008
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    Miami
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    Default Re: Detector for city driving (Chicago and suburbs)

    The above might have been a little harsh, so if so, I apologize for the tone.

    Nevertheless, I do think you need to spend more time researching enforcement in your area before you will be able to determine what you need. I will be the first to admit that it's very confusing and that there's a lot to digest, but I believe it does newcomers a disservice to simply be told what to buy without them taking the effort to understand the benefits and drawbacks of each different device and making their decision accordingly. Frankly, what little you've done so far seems to have yielded nothing but inaccurate conclusions.

    I would also recommend adjusting your driving style according to whatever you have learned about how enforcement in your area is conducted based upon your recent spate of tickets. Think back to the circumstances surrounding each ticket, and figure out what you could have done differently. The best answer will likely include having had some sort of RD, but that's probably not the whole ball of wax. If you can't figure out what you've done wrong, write up a detailed account of each experience and post it in the Real Experiences folder to see if someone might be able to find the lessons for you.

  7. #7
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    Pensacola, Florida, United States
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    Default Re: Detector for city driving (Chicago and suburbs)

    I'd go with he 9500ix or the 9500ci for the city. If you are mostly concern about the highway, V1 is the way to go. The best choice if you are really enthusiastic about this is to get both.

  8. #8
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    Apr 2010
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    Default Re: Detector for city driving (Chicago and suburbs)

    Quote Originally Posted by The Invisible Vervet View Post
    The above might have been a little harsh, so if so, I apologize for the tone.

    Nevertheless, I do think you need to spend more time researching enforcement in your area before you will be able to determine what you need. I will be the first to admit that it's very confusing and that there's a lot to digest, but I believe it does newcomers a disservice to simply be told what to buy without them taking the effort to understand the benefits and drawbacks of each different device and making their decision accordingly. Frankly, what little you've done so far seems to have yielded nothing but inaccurate conclusions.

    I would also recommend adjusting your driving style according to whatever you have learned about how enforcement in your area is conducted based upon your recent spate of tickets. Think back to the circumstances surrounding each ticket, and figure out what you could have done differently. The best answer will likely include having had some sort of RD, but that's probably not the whole ball of wax. If you can't figure out what you've done wrong, write up a detailed account of each experience and post it in the Real Experiences folder to see if someone might be able to find the lessons for you.
    No worries, I appreciate the honesty. I don't live in the area yet - moving there in a week. I am in Arizona right now. So it's fair to say I haven't done a ton of research on the local enforcement. Do you live in the Northshore area? Can you give me some input on this?

    I know they have radar in the construction zones, but that was all I heard about. My father (who lives in the area now) says they have stop light cameras, but I am not a redlight runner, so I wasn't worried about that.

    Right now I have a line on a local guy with a V1 selling it for $289 and it is the latest model V1 per Valentine. Not sure if it is stolen so I would need to check that out, but he freely gave me the serial number. So I may buy that regardless since I can always re-sell it for a nice profit.

    I am heavily leaning towards the 9500ci or the STi-R. Any opinions? I really like the GPS lockout since falses with simply kill the effectiveness for me. I can easily do the install myself on either, so not worried there.

    For reference this would all be going on a 2008 Lancer Evolution X.

 

 

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