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  1. #1

    Default Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    Hey all!

    As the title suggests, I'm thinking about upgrading my refurb 8500 to a V1. I have an hour commute every week, and I'm beginning to think an upgrade would be a good idea. What do I need to know before upgrading? Those that have upgraded from the 8500, do you consider it worth it?

    Thanks in advance!

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    David I have owned now a total of 3 Valentine One Radar Locators. I also have walked 6 other family members and friends through the VR website to buy theirs, and all of us our pleased. I have been a V1 user since 1.7, but in this time curiosity got the best of me.

    What I mean to say is I googled this radar detector versus that radar detector, and although the 8500 was "Suppposedly" as good as a V1 when I first bought my 1.7. Escort was in my mind as a try out. Well I dropped 500$ on the 9500ix which is supposedly better than the 8500 + you get GPS lock out.

    It's absolutely JUNK in my opinion, and I dont mean to be cruel here, but once you get a V1 youll call your 8500 JUNK too! There is no comparison what so ever, but on the contrary there is!

    Escort probably pays every field tester to "Bump" up their scores. Which I highly suspect because I have personally compared on the roads Escorts 9500ix and the V1. Secondly an Escort owner will be quick to defend their Red Line. I havent tried the Red line, but go read on the Escort forums, and your going to see a number of people who complain about their Escort failing after only a year and a half.

    The valentine 1 is superior in all categories.
    1. Detection is un-disputed THE KING!
    2. It's made of metal, feels absolutely solid, and looks like military equipment sitting in your car!
    3. People still have 1.7's floating around (These are really old units, but their still protecting drivers even today!).
    4. THE ARROWS ! (Just go to my Video Thread) I literally hunted a state trooper down because the arrows told me where he was at. Call me crazy for hunting him down lmao, but I did!
    ASK YOURSELF CAN ANY OTHER DETECTOR DO THIS FOR YOU ???
    5. The ramp up!

    Even if V1 had no arrows. It's ramp up is so accurate you get a sense of range, and how much your nearing the bogey. If your not familiar with ramp up. It's the increase in beeping at a steady rate as you near the signal source. An escort 9500ix, or Red Line gets a taste or whiff of radar, and it braps at full blast like it's being murdered by constant on point blank. Valentine One slowly builds up until the point your getting hit with radar, and when your getting a full blast of radar you pretty much know their reading your speed. Only a V1 owner understands the significant differences from the V1 to anything else. I'm sure youll soon understand yourself!

    -Also compare the prices of V1, and Escorts "Best" product!
    -Escorts Live system is riddled with bugs, costly, and not where I personally want it to be yet. It is the future of Radar Detectors in which I do agree, but for now another major problem is since Escort charges money for it, and having very little users on their defense network; It is almost useless. I agree with most. If Escort made it free for 6 months, and you see hundreds of people active making the feature more enjoyable, and most important; Useful ,then I would be more attracted to the feature! For now and has it always been THE V-1 is King.

    Thank you, and I hope this helps!

    -Cody
    Last edited by CodyOebel; 02-20-2012 at 04:53 PM.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    Quote Originally Posted by David Ford View Post
    Hey all!

    As the title suggests, I'm thinking about upgrading my refurb 8500 to a V1. I have an hour commute every week, and I'm beginning to think an upgrade would be a good idea. What do I need to know before upgrading? Those that have upgraded from the 8500, do you consider it worth it?

    Thanks in advance!
    To answer your question with out all the BS fluff and bashing for no reason.

    Yes a V1 is a great upgrade from an 8500, detection range may be similar with an edge to the V1 but the arrows and bogie counter are really nice to have. Sure the V1 looks and works like a RD of the 80's but it does its job, and very well I might add.

    It will be a huge learning curve trying to program the V1 relative to the intuitiveness of the 8500, but with some time and effort a V1 can be set up to filter almost as well as the best Escort out there.

    I had an 8500 for many years and it did very well, I upgraded to a 9500IX and loved all the additional features and how it didn't cry wolf constantly. Over all my 2 favorite window mount RD's are the 9500ix and V1, though a RedLine with LIVE is a really great combo if you like that kind of advanced features and sensitivity.

    Ether way VR gives you a 30 day trial, so why not test one and see for your self.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    Quote Originally Posted by CJR238 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by David Ford View Post
    Hey all!

    As the title suggests, I'm thinking about upgrading my refurb 8500 to a V1. I have an hour commute every week, and I'm beginning to think an upgrade would be a good idea. What do I need to know before upgrading? Those that have upgraded from the 8500, do you consider it worth it?

    Thanks in advance!
    To answer your question with out all the BS fluff and bashing for no reason.

    Yes a V1 is a great upgrade from an 8500, detection range may be similar with an edge to the V1 but the arrows and bogie counter are really nice to have. Sure the V1 looks and works like a RD of the 80's but it does its job, and very well I might add.

    It will be a huge learning curve trying to program the V1 relative to the intuitiveness of the 8500, but with some time and effort a V1 can be set up to filter almost as well as the best Escort out there.

    I had an 8500 for many years and it did very well, I upgraded to a 9500IX and loved all the additional features and how it didn't cry wolf constantly. Over all my 2 favorite window mount RD's are the 9500ix and V1, though a RedLine with LIVE is a really great combo if you like that kind of advanced features and sensitivity.

    Ether way VR gives you a 30 day trial, so why not test one and see for your self.
    CJR238 is an Escort employee I swear ! He lives on Escort's forum. So this raises a flag to me.

    I do agree with him try out V1 for yourself ! , but a slight edge on detection? If the 9500ix is superior to the 8500, and I just sent back that 9500ix peice of junk for it's VERY poor detection range compared to V1 then I have to disagree. There is a HUGE detection difference in range V1 has over the 8500 AND the 9500ix !

    I'm trying to prevent David ford from doing what I did. I got curious tried Escort 9500ix all because the lady at VR pissed me off. I ordered the 9500ix, was all happy I had a techy cool gadget, was very optimistic trying to convince myself I had made the right decision, but all that optimism didnt hold up.
    V1 destroys the 9500ix, and because the 9500ix is stated to detect as well as V1, and in my experience the 9500ix absolutely doesnt come close to the V1. I conclude all online field tests are sabatoge by Escort paying under the table to produce sells of their units, because Mike Valentines detector straight up destroys everything!

    The RedLine with live, and gps lockout is very attractive, but RIGHT NOW DAVID .. GO TO THE ESCORT FORUM AND CLICK ON RED LINE.. ESCORTS MOST DISTANT DETECTING RADAR DETECTOR, and your going to see a guy complaining how his unit electronically failed. Keep searching and your going to find numerous people complaining about their units failing.

    What I will say though. Is ESCORT WILL ABSOLUTELY TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM! They have SUPERIOR customer service!

    As far as detection capabilities. Valentine One destroys their hardware in all categories. DO NOT BELIEVE THESE ONLINE STATISTICS... otherwise us V1 zombies will just class you as one of those alien people waiting for a UFO to arrive to take you off to a new planet while you wear your tin-foil hat!

    Here's my prediction. If you try V1. Youll stick with it, and never buy anything else.
    Prediction #2. You fall for the same stuff I did. Buy Escorts latest greatest, and never know what V1 had to offer you and why all V1 owners will throw rocks at any other detector.
    Prediction #3. You buy V1, but being an Escort Owner your going to fall in love with how much FARTHER V1 detects, and love the arrows, and your going to be curious like I was and wonder "Well what about the red line, or the escort 9500ix.. with all the nice features, and your friends who have escorts who never owned a V1 are going to brag about their LIVE, and hooked into their phones" and your going to want to try out the 9500ix, (DONT at least do the red line) for it's features lol... Then your going to be all happy when it locks out signals and think this is sooo cool, and your going to get on the long highway stretch, and your not going to trust your detector because it's new to you, and then all of a sudden KA band, or K band detected your Escorts going to say... Then around the curve BANG with maybe 2 seconds to break to get to speed limit.. the cops going to fly by.. your going to wipe your head wondering if the lights are going to come on , or did you break fast enough and just in time?
    Then immediately your going to think back to V1. Your going to think "Man ... I had so much damn detection time before I seen cops who were POINTING MY DIRECTION, AROUND CURVES AND HILLS" .. I dont know about this Escort detector.. I think I'm going to send this JUNK BACK !

    So to better help you out. Let me share my experience if you have not already read them.

    My greatest radar detector save I ever had!
    http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...cat-mouse.html

    Here is WHY I bought the 9500ix. (Note You will see me on the Escort forums when my pride for the 9500ix was there, and you will also see my post on the escort forums of my thanking escort for such great customer service, but I am sending the 9500ix back)
    http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...valentine.html

    THIS IS WHEN I SENT BACK THE 9500ix AFTER SO SO MANY CLOSE RANGE DETECTIONS. I HONESTLY THINK WHAT YOU ESCORT OWNERS CONSIDER GREAT SAVES AND GREAT DETECTION RANGE IS BUT 1\10th WHAT V1 DOES EVERY DAY LMAO
    http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...1-tonight.html

    YOUR JUST GOING TO HAVE TO ORDER YOU A V1 AND TRY IT !
    Last edited by CodyOebel; 02-20-2012 at 05:15 PM.

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    Default Re: Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    Cody he did not ask about the 9500ix or RedLine. He also only asked about people that upgraded from an 8500 to V1, which I have both and still do. BTW the RedLine is every bit as sensitive as a V1, even more so. If you tried one you would agree. Please stick to what you know, and owning a 9500ix for a week doesn't hack it. I personally tested 3 9500i/ix's over 3 years of testing.

    David, it appears you have narrowed it down already and you will be happy with the V1, its a good RD and nice upgrade from the 8500. Be weary of people that make inflammatory remarks about any product, they usually have an agenda or dont know enough to make a good comparison.

    If you need any additional help with your investment send me a PM, i prefer not to deal with the negative antics by many on this forum.
    Last edited by CJR238; 02-20-2012 at 06:35 PM.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    Quote Originally Posted by CJR238 View Post
    Cody he did not ask about the 9500ix or RedLine. He also only asked about people that upgraded from an 8500 to V1, which I have both and still do. BTW the RedLine is every bit as sensitive as a V1, even more so. If you tried one you would agree. Please stick to what you know, and owning a 9500ix for a week doesn't hack it. I personally tested 3 9500i/ix's over 3 years of testing.

    David, it appears you have narrowed it down already and you will be happy with the V1, its a good RD and nice upgrade from the 8500. Be weary of people that make inflammatory remarks about any product, they usually have an agenda or dont know enough to make a good comparison.

    If you need any additional help with your investment send me a PM, i prefer not to deal with the negative antics by many on this forum.
    The redline utilizes front and rear M3 horns. Highly sensitive, and very effective range wise, and the design is the most undetectable answer to 18 wheeler drivers alike who are trying to go distances, and avoid consequences. Am I correct about the M3 horns?
    Also the beltronics RX65 uses this same horn ? Someone quoted me (maybe it was you CJ) while on the Escort forum of the horn architecture being what us V1 zombies like when it comes to "dead ahead" detection. Something 9500ix failed miserably for me in my trial period.
    Escort truly just lacks the arrows from being dominant in the RD industry . Ghz stated RedLine can detect amazingly far. So thats credit enough to me. But without the arrows it's useless. Without a large amount of LIVE users.. LIVE is useless. The lockout feature is what makes the RedLine competitive to V1.

    A V1 with ActiveRadar that could "LOCK OUT" falses as well, and do what your LIVE can do. Would make V1 once again un-disputed IN EVERYTHING!

    Also you dis-credit the 3 weeks of time I tried 9500ix. However I can pump out 2 great cop encounter videos daily, and 5 video encounters DAILY minimum.. I drive a long HOT SPOT for Radar nested with coppers monitoring. I tend to delete the video's where I wasnt doing a great job as the camera man, or failed to get the cop on video as I shift my standard, and drive at the same time as it requires holding the camera and aiming at the source to get a good video where people can see what they want to see, and thats the COP being owned by the RD!

    I'm uploading more videos right now as I type this lmao!

    9500ix is more applicable to city driving. Incredible off axis detection, and staying relative to it's detector functionality it's primary focus in my opinion is to supress false alerts in very high false zones. In Texas were too wide spread. I guess If I live in LA, or New York maybe theres hundreds of falses to the point a V1 would absolutely not be applicable, and the decent detection range of 9500ix is ideal!

    Ghz gives credit to the red line, and even suggest I try it. His suggestion speaks powerful to me in crediting the red line with range detection because up until about two hours ago I assumed by association the Red Line was over exagerated. Coming from a V1 zombie like Ghz stating Red Line is really good for long range detection does have me curious .

    So maybe you can answer this. CJR238 Does RedLine when interfaced into the iphone\android give the capability of GPS lock out. (I know I could answer this with five minutes of googling, but I didnt take the initiative)

    I must say though CJ that lambo with desert camo paint is growing on me a whole lot! Your signature -No one detector is perfect for everyone. And the one you don’t like may be perfect for someone else. is correct.

    However I am defensive in that field tests show the 9500ix detecting over hills etc. For the near three weeks I tried 9500ix. It ultimately failed me!

    If escort provided me Red Line to make videos with. I would post daily detections with it! Quality detections where I get the copper every time. However from those who own RedLine and V1, and pair them together. The statement that V1 braps just as soon as RedLine is to close of a comparison for me to choose RedLine, BUT...if I can lock out falses with my phone even without having arrows this changes the ball game for what I could use from Escort!
    I do like the Zr4 shifter Im highly considering it.

    Otherwise for the price, for TEXAS, V1 is KING!
    Last edited by CodyOebel; 02-20-2012 at 07:09 PM.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    I've had a plethora of detectors, including two top-of-the-line Belscorts
    When I finally bought a V-1 it was like going home

    We have multiple vehicles and detectors and I occasionally use only a 9500i or an RX-65 S7

    I don't feel completely naked without my V-1, but I do feel under-dressed

  8. #8

    Default Re: Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    Quote Originally Posted by CJR238 View Post
    If you need any additional help with your investment send me a PM, i prefer not to deal with the negative antics by many on this forum.
    "CJR238 has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space."


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    Default Re: Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    Quote Originally Posted by David Ford View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by CJR238 View Post
    If you need any additional help with your investment send me a PM, i prefer not to deal with the negative antics by many on this forum.
    "CJR238 has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space."

    Sorry Cleared.

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    Default Re: Thinking about upgrading my 8500 to a V1. What do I need to know?

    Consider Escort RedLine + Lockout, but many people do have pride in their 9500ix. I just had a bad experience. For all you know. I might have had a bad unit. It happens.

    For my application V1 suites me well. However if I could ONLY just LOCK OUT all these False signals AND get the same range detection V1 provides + the arrows I would be most happy!

    I'm considering the Red Line + Live in the near future. I got an RD to get for my wife, but right now I got other more important things to consider. Im just techy, and I like gadgets, and interfacing things into my phone etcetra.

    CJ is a really nice and helping person. I do think he works for escort, but if so as I stated Escorts Customer service is superior to any RD company, and VERY SUPERIOR to Valentines customer service. I had no problems getting my refund from Escort when I sent it back. That makes a strong difference.


    CJ you need to tell the head honchos up there in Escort where you work at that they should provide like a three month trial period of Escort Live to get things going. At least 3 months if not 6 !
    Last edited by CodyOebel; 02-21-2012 at 04:45 PM.

 

 

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