richardew

Me too. I never drive without one. I started out using Bell units. They didn't hold up. Nothing worse than a radar detector that doesn't work Once you get used to having the arrows point out the direction of the radar source you won't use any other. Especially at night. None of the detectors will protect you against laser - The beam doesn't scatter, bounce off objects, and it moves at ,well, the speed of light. Laser has to be stationary though so you have a chance to spot them first.
When it comes to speeding though, nothing beats common sense. You have to think like the cops and know what their radar habits are ie, in PA behind bridge abutments, in VA in the crossovers etc., and then anticipate where they might be. Of course the best defense is the dumba$$ who wants to go faster the the Porsche and takes the radar hit for you

Mark in Baltimore

+1. I've often used a bit of psychology to goad another driver into "being the fastest on the highway" and let him or her play rabbit.

Cincy_Ron

I think I've been saved by laser detection in the boxster a couple times. In KY we don't need a front license plate so they don't have that as a reflector and have to use the headlight. Anyway, I've noticed a difference in the amount of time they paint the boxster compared to my F150. With the truck it's a couple seconds and they're off to someone else, lots of reflective surfaces or something. I'm not sure the range on laser either. I was coming home late one night on the highway out east of Cincinnati and I saw a trooper sitting sideways in the median a good mile or so up the road. I was the only one around and he hit me for a good 5 seconds or so and I was thinking wtf? Then when I got closer he hit me again. I don't think he got a return the first time as I was going a good 15 over. But, like everyone's saying, your chances again radar are pretty slim...

mcpiaseczny

I've actually been very happy with my Bell. I originally bought it because it was so cheap, relatively speaking. I used a Passport 8500 for over a year and I believe the Bell is actually the same thing, rebranded.

After tuning off X-band I still get the occasional false positive but at this point I've memorized the usual ones. I've even been lucky with a laser bounce that saved our butts from around a bend. In about 5 years the only tickets I got were ones where I ignored the thing or where speed wasn't the only offence (I'll leave that one ambiguous). My only disappointment so far is the number of false laser alerts in the summer. It seems like the extra glare from the direct sunlight plays tricks on it.

I used a friend's V1 for a short road trip (500 miles or so) last fall and I saw many of the same false positives as the Bell. You can immediately tell the difference between the V1 and a $20 radar detector that is constatly throwing falses, but I didn't get a feel for any difference between the V1 and the Bell. The arrows are nice but at the end of the day you just have to slow down when you smell bacon

Ag02M5

I think the v1 is crap.

Ok well it performs well at what it was designed to do...10 YEARS AGO!! I mean come on there have been relatively few advances with the V1 while others offer GPS with downloadable traps such as red light cameras and photo radar.

I hope v1 starts getting its **** handed to it so they make some changes. Unfortunately everyone keeps on buying the v1 so no improvement...much like people buying BMWs when they seem to suffer above average issues. As long as people buy them as is, why improve it?

jago

whos got V1 and laser jammer on same car? worth it?

trickydisco

Is this true??? So they arent used in moving cruisers?

Mark in Baltimore

True. They must be stationary. The narrow beam of light requires precision not afforded by a moving vehicle.

leonardjohnr

Cannot live without the arrows... Don't waste your time or money on anything else...

richardew

Hmm. Saved or not nailed? If you were a mile away, the laser beam took just over 10 micro seconds to hit you and return. Either the cop let you go or the equipment suffered a malfunction. It took 5 microseconds (0.005 milliseconds)or less for the laser to return to the source (cop). If you were 3 feet away from the detector, it would have taken 2.66 milliseconds for the sound to travel to your ear. The laser beam had enough time to hit your car and return to its' source 250 times before the sound from the radar/laser detector would hit your ear

Cincy_Ron

Yeah, I understand what you're saying Rich. It just seems like I read the range that laser can hit your car and return a usable signal is in the 1/4 to 1/2 mile range. You could be in a position where your detector would detect the signal hitting your car but it wouldn't be returning enough energy to the unit to get your speed until you got closer. But you may be right, I might have just gotten lucky...

Kigiin

Ditto - the known falses in my area are mainly K and a little X. Police around here only use Ka so I can GPS out all K and X falses while not having to turn those bands off completely. Further, I am not in fear of a cop using a GPS-outted area to run a trap since all they have is Ka.

I did a 30 day trial with the V1 and found it super sensitive - which is both good and annoying. My drive to work is probably 15 minutes and it would go off at least five times (10 times plus round trip) - all retail store door openers and all K bands. I couldn't take it so returned the V1 for the 9500i.

OT: Don't have the 9500 anymore since driving and speeding in Ontario - did you know radar detectors are illegal there - ask me how I know

David in Chicago

His readout is not instantaneous. Like radar, laser uses an error-checking circuit which inserts some delay to confirm what it thinks it's seeing. The difference isn't huge, but neither is it the near-instant interval you describe.

MisterRisky

Soo... in a state, like say, hypothetically, Virginia where radar detectors are illegal, how do the police know that a car has one? Is it visual inspection only or do they have "radar detector detectors"?

Kigiin

In Ontario I was told it was the later. I always thought detectors were passive devices, but the local at the hotel bar that night told me there are in fact detector detectors.