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  1. #1
    Newcomer
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    San Jose, CA
    Posts
    70

    Default Brief self-intro & a few questions

    Hi all,

    I've been lurking for about two months now, soaking up all the information I possibly can (including going back and reading the major old threads, e.g. the things like the Blinder stealth mode issue), and have finally decided that I need to get some opinions about my current equipment.

    I drive a white 2000 Camry (yeah yeah, I didn't know jack about laser when I bought the car, otherwise you can be damn sure I wouldn't have bought white), with a stupid governor around 100 mph, but since I basically just commute to work it's fine. (I'll also join in with the bunch of Bay Area drivers who want to rip those $*(#&@ drones off the poles and throw them into traffic).

    Currently I have a Bel 945, which I bought around 2002 after reading the SML results for that year. The general consensus around here seems to be that the SML results are fairly useless, of course, but once again at the time I didn't know that....

    At any rate, I'm posting in the V1 forum because my main question at this point is whether to give in and be sucked into the maelstrom of V1 zombification. I feel it pulling at me daily when reading this forum - it's like the Dark Side, and Michael Vader---er, Valentine is beckoning me.

    So my question is basically what is your opinion on the 945? At the time it was described as the innards of the 965 without the unnecessary features. Is it worth upgrading to the V1? (And I've seen enough postings over the past two months to know that most people here will say yes - my question is more "is the 945 bad enough that moving to a V1 will be like night and day?")

    The reason I'm not posting this in the Bel forum is because I want to hear V1 user opinions on the differences, whereas someone telling me why the RX 65 is better isn't helpful - I've been convinced enough by all I've read here and elsewhere that the arrows and the bogey counter are essential items, and I have definitely experienced the frustration of having the 945 beep at me and looking around frantically (and unsuccessfully) for Mr. Smoky.

    Also, I do plan to get a jammer (I'm in CA, but I'll use the flip-it-off-once-legal method), once the AL and DS (refuse to try to use the Defender names since I'll confuse myself and you as to which is which) are tested by GOL and proclaimed worthy, but for now my only laser defense is a photocopied plate with Veil & LS, since I don't trust the 945's laser detection even if shot at point blank range. And since I have a white car with unVeiled headlights (too cold right now), I'm kinda a sitting duck for the CHP. So that's another potential reason for getting the V1.

    This forum is fantastic, by the way, although it's a good thing my boss can't see my computer screen all day....

  2. #2
    Professional
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    868

    Default

    Hi, welcome to this forum.

    I live in Hong Kong so i can't tell u much about how good the v1 is in the states, but from what i've read, its amazing.

    You seem to already know so much about everything, there's not much i can help you with. I can tell u for sure that the bogey counter is great, coz sometimes you can get more than 1 or 2 radars. I.e. you could be driving through a false, and u keep speeding because u know its a false, but suddenly it beeps and shows "2" on the bogey counter, that can really save you and it has saved me.

    I'm sure the range would be slightly better than your bel, so that's good for instant-on situations, might warn you for the car ahead.

    Laser detection would be day/night difference. I have on 4 occasions managed to pick up laser scatter from cars ahead of me. With my previous detectors it has hardly ever happened.

  3. #3
    Experienced
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Indiana
    Posts
    242

    Default

    Whether someone has a Bel or any other conventional detector, I would recommend a V1 without hesitation. If the V1's arrows and bogey counter were only a gimmick, at the price of a V1, Valentine would have been out of business ages ago. The price does seem steep at first but a) you can get your unit upgraded for reasonable cost - sometimes free, b) you can get it fixed if need be for a very reasonable price, and c) you can even trade it in towards the latest model and get a nice piece of change. (I got $125 off the price of a brand new one, for my 14 year old V1.) If you look a bit deeper you find out that the V1 is a much better value - not to mention in my opinion being the only game in town functionality-wise.

    Yes, the V1 is a radar 'detector' but that's not an accurate description. Comparing the V1 to the other 'detectors' is like comparing a TV to a bunch of radios; like comparing a weather station to a thermometer; like comparing a full set of gauges to a 'check engine' light.

    With a bit of practice on interpreting the warnings, I've gotten a smile out of my V1 a whole bunch of times - spotting cops long before they came into my field of view, knowing there were more around than I could see by virtue of the bogey counter... there is a reason only V1's got 'zombies' like us. Regular detector users jump from Escort to Bel to whatever when one of them picks up a bit better on K or Ka, but we V1 people know that our arrows and bogey counter are way more important than a few percentage points of detection one way or the other.

    Would I switch to any regular 'detector'? No. And the 14 year old V1 I just traded in, I would not have traded for any three new 'detectors'.

  4. #4
    Yoda of Radar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Rottweiler Land
    Posts
    10,420

    Default

    Welcome to the board One word of warning, once you get a V1 there is no turning back..... 8)

 

 

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