Stoney

The Latest Valentine One now covers Ku band (Europe), has a newly increased sensitivity to Ka, smaller case height, lighter weight, and other improvements. (Available as a swap upgrade for $189 for many older V1 owners, although Mike discourages spending the money). These improvements happened in the last year or less; not covered in any review.

The V1 has a much larger display (which can be turned off with a remote display), and now a reduced case size. Also, the detectors are huge! Look how big the display is compared to the new, smaller Magnesium box size:

<img src="https://store.valentine1.com/store/products/20015.gif">

The Passport has a tiny display that must be hard to see if you locate it far away.

<img src="http://www.escortstore.com/images/passport_8500.gif">

Demonstrations of the V1 display and it uses start here, showing the display and how it helps you: <A HREF="http://www.valentineone.com/demo/demo1.asp">http://www.valentineone.com/demo/demo1.asp</A>.
Click "next demo" for more.
A particularly good page is <A HREF="http://www.valentineone.com/demo/demo3.asp">demo 3</A>.
There is a page that discusses <A HREF="https://store.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt5.asp">test methodology</A> and how reviewers make innocent (or deliberate) mistakes.

The only demo of the Passport 8500 display I could find is at the bottom of <A HREF="http://www.escortstore.com/8500.htm">this page</A>. Here is the 8500 user manual. <A HREF="http://www.escortstore.com/8500manl.pdf">http://www.escortstore.com/8500manl.pdf</A>.

Valentine One Manual: <A HREF="https://store.valentine1.com/moreinfo/V1_Owners_Manual.pdf">https://store.valentine1.com/moreinfo/V1_Owner's_Manual.pdf</A>

Mike also has <A HREF="https://store.valentine1.com/lab/LabReports.asp">Lab Reports</A> and <A HREF="https://store.valentine1.com/lab/Previously.asp">Q&As</A> that answer most anything you're curious about.

Note that Escort promotes features that V1 has but doesn't promote as hard. They are still there. The V1 has the better feature set and performance, IMO. Valentine has a continuously adjustable volume, continuously adjustable mute volume (Passport has "loud" and "soft"), and V1 has a mute push-button. Passport has more features, but most are worthless; some are misleading.

By the way, did y'all know that Mike Valentine was co-inventor and president of Escort (Passport)? He is one of the earliest and best in the business. Everyone copied his design... except for the V1 which is a new design, immune to detection by cops.

Stoney

See <A HREF="http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caranddriver/features/1998/August/199808_feature_howdo.xml?&page=2">This Car & Driver page</A> which mentions the V1 being their consistently top ranked unit, and going to Mike for testing methodology.

See <A HREF="https://forums.audiworld.com/a6/msgs/102184.phtml">my message below</A> for more details, including links to both user manuals and some additional info.

Stoney

When you go into "City" or other settings that filter out false alarms, the unit's sensitivity to true radar is reduced. This is NOT true of the V1, which uses two levels of logic to select out the false alarms. I've never had "full logic" mode ever reduce sensitivity to a true radar trap signal.

The programming of the Passport is very intimidating. And, the interface is lacking the direction arrows.

I do like the expert mode that shows the strengths of multiple signals in three radar bands all at once, but I don't see how this helps me in practice. Just a nice idea.

Jamo

I think Biscuit141 was asking about both, and the responses give him a pretty good idea about features, etc. of both. Yes, the V1 has alot of features; so does the Passport.

I happen to lean towards KISS (keep it simple stupid) when it comes to detectors--I don't want to stare at the damn thing when it goes off and spend attention away from driving to pinpoint exactly where the cop's at, what kind of donut he's eating, etc. I just want a sensitive alarm to tell me there's danger nearby. Heck, the one thing I miss about the BEL my wife now has is that it literally tells you "Ka band" or "X band"--you don't even have to look at it. Same for displays--I don't want huge or complex ones--Passport tells you what you need to know at a glance, and its quite easy to read--both from the main display or the smart cord. You are certainly being more than helpful, though, and I think Valentine ought to hire you asap. :-)

BTW--are you going to Sears Point next week and/or Laguna Seca in mid-December? I'm going to have to beg off Sears, but I'm still hoping for Laguna. Cheers

Stoney

Although, if I had to pick on the KISS principle, it would be the V1. Same, if I had to pick on which of the <A HREF="https://forums.audiworld.com/a6/msgs/102184.phtml">user manuals</A> is better done and more informative.

I'm posting the information for general use, since this question is asked about weekly. I decided to see which I would pick if I started all over again.

You'll notice I'm not editorializing much.... although I do state my preference.

No, no driving events planned this winter. Would be fun to join you at one, however, should it fit our schedules sometime.

brian 4.2

Oh, by the way they are now chewing this topic to the bone on the S4 forum.

Keith

You deserve a commission from Mr. Valentine for all this selling

Stoney

I'm a product development engineer/project manager/project champion.... I become an advocate for anything done this well.

Egil A64.2s - S6

OK, Better late than never. I have both. I like both but in different ways. The 8500 is very simple to use and will give you great warnings with no, or virtually no, false alarms. However, the V1 is possibly better ones you learn to read the warnings. What do I mean? If you look at the V1 it will flash you a very weak signal, even before the 8500. No alarm but it will indicate that there is something up ahead. With the instant on radar even a weak signal should be time for caution. The 8500 will tell you when you are caught with the instant on radar as it requres a positive reading before it warns you. In any case they are both great units and have their own apeal. The V1 can look like a Christmas Tree at times. If you have too many lights it can distact from a real warning. I travel mostly on quiet highways so the V1 works fine for me. In the more built up areas the 8500 is better for me. Ps - I have both in the same car. PPs - I don't get tickets. Knock on wood

Keith

the V1 costs $150 (40%) more than the 8500, so I would hope that the V1 is better. For me, the performance of the 8500 seemed good enough, and I just couldn't bring myself to spend $400 for a detector.