holminator

http://www.valentine1.com/v1info/v1connection/

Interesting.

rpilot

I am sure it is a very nice feature, but I don't think of it as them "upping their game". It seems everytime they want to add a feature, they produce a hardware add-on. Want the detector, to be silent at certain speeds.. here's a dongle. Want the detector to function through start/stop... here's a dongle. Want to see the info on your android phone.. here's a dongle. Don't know how to plug in all the dongle's.. here's another dongle. It's getting stupid and ridiculous. The patent protection Escort had for the mute feature, for instance, I think has run it's course. What V1 needs ... is a V2 to stay relevant.. not another dongle !!!

chuck911

Agree. And if the threat is outside the window of legal FCC LEO use then why don't they just filter it out, or give the option to filter, similar to the full Logic option? My V1 goes back 15 years, and while it still works great its nowhere near current capabilities.

MrSelfDestruct

Aside from the actual detection hardware, V1 is old news. Escort has long since surpassed Valentine on every other front.

WCE

Clever stuff - but at a certain point do you really start to need a freaking copilot to manage all the technology while you drive!
Valentine could add the auto mute at this point, but it seems to be counter to their "situational awareness" philosophy. They should at least make it a user programable feature and available by firmware upgrade!

rpilot

+1 on needing a co-pilot for this stuff, both what V1 is trying to do and what Escort does with their live stuff. Pretty pointless IMO. What I think they are trying to do is appeal to spec shoppers.

V1 is a great product with a phenomenal user interface. I can understand their not wanting to add GPS if they don't want to. Although the only use I have for the GPS tech is for the unit to know how fast you are going and be silent if under a certain speed. V1 addresses this via a ODBII connection. I certainly do not want that in my car, specially in the 991 where the fuse box will have to be opened, hole cut thru, etc to get to the OBDII port. Besides I prefer dangly cords on the passenger side instead of the drivers.

Here are the top three things I wish V1 would do...

1) Integrate auto mute (user selectable like you said).

2) Integrate BOB into a special power adapter instead of a dongle.. and make that thing smaller if they can.

3) More secure on the windshield mounting bracket like the one escort now offers.

Carrera GT

I don't understand the motivation (or logic) behind sweeping generalizations.

Detector reviews recommend one Escort or another from year to year, because of some cool (and I think, useful) feature or another, but performance tests don't declare a clear victory. if anything, the reviewers continue to acknowledge that the V1 produces the best real world results and any given high sensitivity performance is practically irrelevant in real world situations.

The V1 is a couple of hundred bucks for something that clips to the rearview mirror and the power cord slips neatly behind the headliner and down to a power source. Done.

The alternative that is at all superior is to install a unit with separate detectors and jammers, wired throughout the car, front and rear, high and low, left and right, with laser detectors and jammers at all points of attack.

I think jammers are illegal in California and most other police states. So what's the point?

In the "suction cup" category, the V1 has arrows, the Escort has convenience features. The solution, I think, is to have both units, and turn down the volume on the V1 a little bit. : )

Looking at the escortradar.com site, I see they have an Android app, too, now. Hmmm ... more stuff to buy! I'm going to end up needing a periscope out the window to see the road because the windshield is going to be covered in detectors and cameras and track data loggers and smart phones ...

I can only hope that valentine1.com is one step closer, with their smartphone interface, to offering a "separate" version of their detector with a lot more control and an interface to a GPS.

The thing I dislike about the "suction cup" detector is how visible it is as you fly past the motorcycle cop with the laser gun ... I've been stopped because I was the only Porsche in a bunch of cars all going a tad too fast and I think I've been stopped sometimes, in non-Porsches, when I've been the car with a radar detector. I'm afraid the roadside cops are not the pillars of ethical behavior we might wish them all to be. If they're willing to tazer an elderly woman on the side of the road, they're willing to write a ticket to make their quota.

I agree that a OBD-II dongle is, well, a clever workaround, but it's no substitute for having a GPS and a memory of bogus signal source signatures. The same with the V1 programming to ignore traffic radar ... it cancels out POP (instant on) protection. When V1 offered that as their traffic radar solution, they lost their next sale to Escort so that I could put something in my wife's car.

I have a second V1 stuck to the back of the trailer and a long telephone lead to a remote box in the cabin, along with the wired backup camera. Not convenient or tidy, but functional and lot better than being a sitting duck on the freeway going to the track.

For my wife's car, the Escort is better because it's turned on, but the V1 ends up turned down, so it's not doing much of anything.

I've sent emails to V1 about these drawbacks and features which I think should have long ago become available, but their replies suggest "hey, we're making money, selling our product ... ain't broke, don't fix it." I hope this new app is an end to the complacency at V1.

holminator

A radar detector that doesn't tell me the direction of the signal is tactically worthless to me. Have driven in a pack with other drivers equipped with two-way radios, Escort and K2 detectors many times from Miami to Montreal. V1 was superior at distance. Also easy install, running phone wire through the A-pillar to the fusebox. I will not say more than that because it is stupid to brag on the Internet about success against law enforcement for 15 years. God bless the men and women in blue.