V1 purchase, now buyers remorse?

[mrcllusb]

The knowledge part i understand.It's after we have given someone like yourself all the knowledge we possibly could,people still want to argue..

[djrams80]

The knowledge part i understand.It's after we have given someone like yourself all the knowledge we possibly could,people still want to argue..

Exactly! There are many here that are completely baffled why anyone would ever any RD, besides the one they love. I completely understand why some prefer the V1 over the 9500ix and others prefer the 9500ix over the V1, yet the rivalry continues.

[Stealth Stalker]

Why does it puzzle you?

The fact that he used the term "every" twice in one sentence is usually a pretty good indication that it is false, lol. No one car is perfect for EVERYone in EVERY way, so I would agree that it is unlikely that any one RD could be either, wouldn't you agree?

You say you did a lot of research before buying. Did you not find anyone who had anything negative to say about how chatty the V1 is? Anytime I see this discussion on any forum of any kind, it seems to come up pretty quickly.

The V1 does work excellent right out of the box. It may not be doing what you personally expected it to do, but then again, a lot of people aren't happy with their BMW until after they modify it either. Does that mean that the BMW sucks? Of course not. It just means that the world turns on personal preference, and to each his own.

As for the arrows, if you have not yet realised their potential, then you honestly have not spent enough time driving with it to do so. Did any of your pre-purchase research include reading the V1 website? There are multiple examples there of how the arrows work for you that make it pretty clear. You say you don't care where the threat is because you just slam on the brakes anyhow. That's a false alert! Why slam on your brakes for an alert that is of no threat to you? If you know where it is, you know if it is a threat to you or not. Isn't the point of an RD to facilitate speeding? If so, then slowing down for a cop a mile behind you on a divided highway is worse than a false alert from the liquor store across from your house, when you're not even driving at the time anyhow, isn't it?

[srtga]

I think a big problem is that folks don't realize exactly how much radar is out there until they get a detector...

Driving by strip malls we're bombarded with radio waves and RD's just pick it up...

[stlcardsfan]

I think a big problem is that folks don't realize exactly how much radar is out there until they get a detector...

Driving by strip malls we're bombarded with radio waves and RD's just pick it up...

If radar causes cancer then we're screwed.

[Stealth Stalker]

I think a big problem is that folks don't realize exactly how much radar is out there until they get a detector...

That is an excellent point! I suppose that, even if you hear people talking about annoying false alerts, you can't really put that into any kind of context until you experience it for yourself. Heck, I got a buttload of false alerts on my old x-band Fuzzbuster back in the early 1980s. This is certainly nothing new. But with two more bands and four times the sensitivity these days, it's definitely a lot worse.

[noTe]

A very small amount of LEOs actually use X band today.

Wrong... the entire Ohio Highway Patrol uses X band.

Wrong, only a few of the cars have x-band, not the entire Ohio Highway Patrol.

Well I guess the entire state has a "few" cars since I've encountered X band in every major city in Ohio.

The knowledge part i understand.It's after we have given someone like yourself all the knowledge we possibly could,people still want to argue..

Exactly! There are many here that are completely baffled why anyone would ever any RD, besides the one they love. I completely understand why some prefer the V1 over the 9500ix and others prefer the 9500ix over the V1, yet the rivalry continues.

The problem is people spending over $350 for a device they do no research about what-so-ever.

Also, to me there is no rivalry. If the 9500ix didn't have that stupid filter crap on it I might buy it. I tell my friends all the time the two best detectors on the market are the V1 and the 9500ix ALL THE TIME. So stop saying I'm a damn V1 zombie. It's like saying hicks are John Deer zombies. I think the entire term is just retarded.

Anything I buy for my car, I do research on. Radar detectors, laser jammers, sway bars, coilovers, window tint, car alarms, exhausts, etc. I buy whatever I feel is the best at the current time.

Sorry, little tipsy right nw too

[Red Turbo Tegg]

I haven't ever used a 9500ix, and I'm sure it's a great detector, but the arrows seal the deal for me. If you use a V1 long enough, you will get instances were you will be like damn, I'm glad I have arrows. One of those instances happend again for me early this morning (1 am). I took a right turn at a 4 way intersection and there was a cop stopped to the left of me waiting to go straight ( putting him behind me) Anyhow I'm about 150 yards ahead of him, and I can see he's now driving behind me. I go around a bend and start picking up some faint KA band. I look and see that there is foward facing arrow. I stop at a light, and sure enough, about a min and a half later I see another patrol car comming at me running KA.

If I was using another detector, I may have thought that it was the cop running radar behind me trying to catch people comming at him, and I wouldn't have thought anything of the signal getting stronger as I knew he would have been comming up behind me, which could have bad consequences depending on the situation.

My take on the whole 9500ix vs. V1 debate (which this is what this thread is pretty much about, because it's the only "quite" detector.) Is that if you don't do a whole lot of real speeding (WOT pulls) and want to just have something there to give you a heads up, the 9500ix is the one for you. If you do real speeding where you need the most sensitivity and awareness that a Dash mount unit can give, V1. Trust me, when your booking at 130+ mph and you hear that thing chirp, you want to know exactly where it's comming from.

[RadarKid]

All we need now is for RadarKid to jump into the fray.

you called?

[BMW Guy]

You say you did a lot of research before buying. Did you not find anyone who had anything negative to say about how chatty the V1 is? Anytime I see this discussion on any forum of any kind, it seems to come up pretty quickly.

I did do research on both the V1 and the passport. However, it wasn't as extensive as I researched my recent car purchase.
I asked a few people who have the V1 and or owned a V1 in the past about their experiences ( not here but on other forums ). I did browse this forum a bit, did a few searches. Finally, the the members at my other forum have told me once I got the arrows I would understand that V1 would be superior even though the V1 would pick up more false threats. So I purchased it to see for myself. Although I did research my purchase, it doesn't guarantee that I know exactly what I am buying. Is this my fault? absolutely..

So I have had it for a week now and not impressed.. I didn't think it would pick up this many false alerts. Perhaps my idea of a radar detector is different from other V1 owners? Or maybe the area where I live is just loaded with radio waves everywhere.

I assumed that the technology had advanced a little further since the 1990s and we would now have detectors that don't pick up SO MANY false threats.. I guess the passport is actually what I am looking for in this regards. I do like the arrows pointing out where the false threats or real threats are located, and I found out recently to me that its not important since as I said if I hear an alert on a detector I'm going to react.

Just to let you know, I'm not upset or angry. Just dissapointed.

As for the arrows, if you have not yet realised their potential, then you honestly have not spent enough time driving with it to do so. Did any of your pre-purchase research include reading the V1 website? There are multiple examples there of how the arrows work for you that make it pretty clear. You say you don't care where the threat is because you just slam on the brakes anyhow. That's a false alert! Why slam on your brakes for an alert that is of no threat to you? If you know where it is, you know if it is a threat to you or not. Isn't the point of an RD to facilitate speeding? If so, then slowing down for a cop a mile behind you on a divided highway is worse than a false alert from the liquor store across from your house, when you're not even driving at the time anyhow, isn't it?

I've read the V1 website and found the examples of how an arrow would be useful. Of all those examples, I found only one to be actually useful and thats pointing the arrows for multiple bogeys. However, this is kinda pointless to me because like I already said, if I hear an alert, I would slow down.. ( not slam on my brakes, as you put it ) just slow down to the speed limit. On the passport if it filters out false alerts better than the V1 then I wouldn't have to worry too much. And if the Passport blocks out a real threat like some of you claim that it might, then it would be the same as if I was driving without a detector And I've done for the past 10 years with no tickets.

Bottom line, I will give this detector a full 30 day try and in the end if I still feel that its not what I wanted, I can always return it. My first week with the V1 so far has been bleh.. But as I said before, the real test comes when I take my road trip on I95 south for 500 miles.

Thanks for everyones comments here.