Valentine 1 or Bel STi Driver? Need Help, Making a Purchase.

[zappy]

Most LEO's don't need an electronic speed estimator (POP), they have a built in one that's been used for years and it doesn't emit any RF. POP has not caught on like the radar mfg's. were banking on.

[STI_Boy]

If I wasn't living in a BANA I'd go for the V1 simply because of the arrows. Laser detection shouldn't be a consideration when buying an RD because laser detection simply sucks most of the time. You need a blinder to deal with that threat effectively.

[MEM-TEK]

*****

[ravi]

Very nice explanation

The V1 and the STi are the cream of the crop. If you look carefully at the GOL tests, you will see that in some cases the STi outperforms the V1 and vice versa. Also note that that both RD models have gone through a rev or two since the GOL test was performed in order to address some relatively minor issues.


V1 strengths:

-- Indisputably the best laser detection.
-- Radar direction indicators due to the patented individual forward and rear radar horn design.
-- Direction indicators, upon illuminating, easily get your attention even if your car stereo is turned up very loud, preventing you from hearing the audio alert.
-- Undeniably the best RD to use if the vast majority of your driving is in rural and open areas without many "false" radar sources such as door openers, microwave alarm systems, et cetera.
-- Optional fully detailed remote display which some users on this forum customize with different colored LEDs for each radar band.


STi strengths:

-- Overall performance is just a hair behind a V1 yet exceeds a V1 in some situations.
-- Extraordinarily easy to program specific settings and features.
-- Flashing alert lamp (located in the clear plastic around the volume/mute button) easily gets your attention even if your car stereo is turned up loud, preventing you from hearing the audio alert.
-- Completely immune to RDD detection since all potential local oscillator RF leakage is completely blocked from radiating out of the dual forward facing horns.
-- A completely dark "dark" mode.
-- Significantly less chatty than a V1 within a city or suburbs when Autoscan mode is selected.


V1 weaknesses:

-- Very chatty when used within a city or within densely populated suburbs.
-- Subject to false POP alerts when certain combinations of settings are used.


STi weaknesses:

-- Laser sensitivity is less than a V1.
-- Audio ramp up within the middle signal strength range should be stronger to better indicate when you are approaching a radar source which definitely is getting stronger.
-- No separate remote display which matches the details of the RD's built-in 280 LED display.
-- No separate "brightness" button; setting the display brightness must be accomplished by entering into the "program" mode.
-- Fair to mediocre customer support in some cases.


Overall conclusions:

-- Both RDs are superb radar detectors.
-- The choice between these two RDs boils down to whether or not your driving includes a lot of driving within cities and densely populated suburbs, whether or not you will frequently drive where RDs are illegal to use, whether or not laser is heavily used in your normal driving area, and whether or not a fully detailed remote display is an important issue.


Additional notes:

The "perfect" radar detector has never been invented nor produced since the cost would be at least 50% more than the cost of the top of the line models and the market just won't bear the price versus the number of units sold. In short, manufacturing a perfect RD is simply cost prohibitive. And yet Bel's STi and Valentine's V1 both come very close depending on your driving conditions and upon your specific preferences regarding features and ergonomics.


There you have it! This is my two cents worth.

--Michael

[MoH.vze.com]

^ Nice explanation above!

[happya$$]

The V1 and the STi are the cream of the crop. If you look carefully at the GOL tests, you will see that in some cases the STi outperforms the V1 and vice versa. Also note that that both RD models have gone through a rev or two since the GOL test was performed in order to address some relatively minor issues.

(Following has been slightly edited since originally posted.)


V1 strengths:

-- Roughly double the sensitivity for X and K bands (really, oversensitive on X band for most driving conditions/locations).
-- Indisputably the best laser detection.
-- Radar direction indicators due to the patented individual forward and rear radar horn design.
-- Direction indicators, upon illuminating, easily get your attention even if your car stereo is turned up very loud, preventing you from hearing the audio alert.
-- Undeniably the best RD to use if the vast majority of your driving is in rural and open areas without many "false" radar sources such as door openers, microwave alarm systems, et cetera.
-- Optional fully detailed remote display which some users on this forum customize with different colored LEDs for each radar band.


STi strengths:

-- Overall performance is just a hair behind a V1 yet exceeds a V1 in some situations.
-- Ka band sensitivity very similar to a V1.
-- Extraordinarily easy to program specific settings and features.
-- Flashing alert lamp (located in the clear plastic around the volume/mute button) easily gets your attention even if your car stereo is turned up loud, preventing you from hearing the audio alert.
-- Completely immune to RDD detection since all potential local oscillator RF leakage is completely blocked from radiating out of the dual forward facing horns.
-- A completely dark "dark" mode.
-- Significantly less chatty than a V1 within a city or suburbs when Autoscan mode is selected.


V1 weaknesses:

-- Very chatty when used within a city or within densely populated suburbs.
-- Subject to false POP alerts when certain combinations of settings are used.


STi weaknesses:

-- Laser sensitivity is less than a V1.
-- Audio ramp up within the middle signal strength range should be stronger to better indicate when you are approaching a radar source which definitely is getting stronger.
-- No separate remote display which matches the details of the RD's built-in 280 LED display.
-- No separate "brightness" button; setting the display brightness must be accomplished by entering into the "program" mode.
-- Fair to mediocre customer support in some cases.


Overall conclusions:

-- Both RDs are superb radar detectors.
-- V1 is the choice if X band is still used within your normal driving area.
-- The choice between these two RDs boils down to whether or not your driving includes a lot of driving within cities and densely populated suburbs, whether or not you will frequently drive where RDs are illegal to use, whether or not laser is heavily used in your normal driving area, and whether or not a fully detailed remote display is an important issue.


Additional notes:

The "perfect" radar detector has never been invented nor produced since the cost would be at least 50% more than the cost of the top of the line models and the market just won't bear the price versus the number of units sold. In short, manufacturing a perfect RD is simply cost prohibitive. And yet Bel's STi and Valentine's V1 both come very close depending on your driving conditions and upon your specific preferences regarding features and ergonomics.


There you have it! This is my two cents worth.

--Michael

Wow best explanation ever!

[KnightHawk]

Most LEO's don't need an electronic speed estimator (POP), they have a built in one that's been used for years and it doesn't emit any RF. POP has not caught on like the radar mfg's. were banking on.

If you have been running radar, most of the time your built-in non-emitting RF can "only guess" 20% of the time when there is point of reference. Example. A car passing another vehicle creating a distance in a short period of time. Your point of reference is the vehicle your target vehicle just passed. If it where only one vehicle going the opposite way, you will never know if the target vehicle is speeding or not when using your built-in non-emitting RF. Another scenario. You are monitoring approaching vehicle speed on a flat road where you cannot see the rest of the road behind the vehicle. You will never know the speed of the approaching vehicle because there is point of reference. But if you see the rest of the road behind the target vehicle and noticed that the target vehicle is increasing in distance in a short preiod of time with a reference point, most likely the target vehicle is speeding. In most cases and 80% of the time, you don't have a point of reference and it's always by chance. If you don't use constant on, you just pick targets with instant on but it does not give you a solid proof that the vehicle is speeding until radar clocks the speed and i just call it "speed check" by merely by turning radar on and off until i caught someone speeding " by chance not by using your built-in non-emitting RF".

[Phillip559]

I really just don't know which one is better. All I know is that the Valentine 1 is the best on laser, but I'm going to be getting the laser interceptor soon so that doesn't really matter. Which one is the best with dectecting radar on all the bands, the Valentine 1 or the STi Driver? Thanks.

Welcome to the board eightball135

I spent about a month researching detectors before I purchased the STi. The GOL test and this forum helped with my final decision.

My biggest suggestion is to read, read, and read this forum. Before you know it you will see a pattern between the detectors. Also review your driving habits and find a detector that will fit your demands.

Happy driving.

If you based it partly on the GOL test then why did you choose the STI?

I hope you looked at the over the hill test and not the radar foam test as over the hill is closest to reality. The v1 clearly owns any Bell on k band, won on x band, and also beat it on both 35.5 and 33.8 ka bands. However, the STI did win on 34.7. Overall, the STI and V1 are rather similar on performance on ka band with small variations according to the GOL tests (besides the bad sti 33.8 performance that some members have experienced). The V1 was also beat it at detecting laser which might be good if you are running Veil so you have a better chance of collecting the scatter.

Once again, i'm only saying this in reference to the GOL tests and not inferring actual performance in real life.

Anyway, i'll assume you purchased it based on stealth and people's opinions here since the GOL tests don't reflect it being superior to the V1 at all.

[Buford T. Justice]

I really just don't know which one is better. All I know is that the Valentine 1 is the best on laser, but I'm going to be getting the laser interceptor soon so that doesn't really matter. Which one is the best with dectecting radar on all the bands, the Valentine 1 or the STi Driver? Thanks.

Welcome to the board eightball135

I spent about a month researching detectors before I purchased the STi. The GOL test and this forum helped with my final decision.

My biggest suggestion is to read, read, and read this forum. Before you know it you will see a pattern between the detectors. Also review your driving habits and find a detector that will fit your demands.

Happy driving.

If you based it partly on the GOL test then why did you choose the STI?

I hope you looked at the over the hill test and not the radar foam test as over the hill is closest to reality. The v1 clearly owns any Bell on k band, won on x band, and also beat it on both 35.5 and 33.8 ka bands. However, the STI did win on 34.7. Overall, the STI and V1 are rather similar on performance on ka band with small variations according to the GOL tests (besides the bad sti 33.8 performance that some members have experienced). The V1 was also beat it at detecting laser which might be good if you are running Veil so you have a better chance of collecting the scatter.

Once again, i'm only saying this in reference to the GOL tests and not inferring actual performance in real life.

Anyway, i'll assume you purchased it based on stealth and people's opinions here since the GOL tests don't reflect it being superior to the V1 at all.

Your correct. I put about 80% of my decision on the GOL test, Forward Facing and Stealth being the biggest, and performance was a huge deciding factor and found the STi to be a very close second. Then I hit this forum very hard and looked at it as a "real world test" review and found the STi in my opinion performed better than the V1 for my driving habits and conditions. Thus the reason why I consider the STi the best detector in the world for my driving conditions and habits. So far its already paid for itself with an off axis k band hit .4 miles up the highway.

[insidercw3]

Eightball, the originator of this thread, is a newbie, as suggested by his limited posts to the forum.

For V1 vs. STi comparisons, one needs to think of how a newbie can best make use of the detector. How easy is it to understand, change modes, learn what the typical sources are along their commute, etc.

The V1 is the sensitivity king, undisputed champion of first detect, first alerts in all bands.
It is unforutante that it is so difficult to make use of its many features.
It is laughable to think that an inexperienced user can even begin to make use of its features.
The human interface, the ergonomics of the V1 are simply antiquated. The Valentine mantra of marketing to the few, the proud, the selective, will keep the V1 in the dark ages for some time to come.

The STi is a stellar detector because of its excellent overall performance, superior antifalsing algorithms (that work without destroying sensitivity) and more importantly because of its ease of use. The STi is also compatible with a laser jamming adjunct, the Bel (R75?) and Escort's ZR3 system.

(This is my personal opinion, Happya$$, Jimbonzzz, and others.)