| I have owned a Passport 8500 for about a year now and I recently bought a Valentine 1 so I thought I would post some of my thoughts on both to help anyone who is debating a radar detector. I was very happy with my Passport 8500 and it has never let me down. I haven't received any tickets and it has saved me a number of times. I don't condone speeding recklessly, although I do tend to cruise at relatively high speeds on my trips between Miami and New Orleans that I have done a number of times while in college. That being said, I have always been tempted by the endless praise that the V1 has received over the years. I decided to try one out, and purchased the new version 1.8 with POP about a month ago. Both radar detectors are, by almost all accounts, very high quality. The 8500 is slightly easier to program, although that is not the type of thing that is done often. Let me highlight some of the differences I have noticed. The V1 is not very intuitive. After a day with my 8500, I knew exactly what strength and what band I was being hit with be it a false alarm or a speed trap. After a month, I still have trouble deciphering the source. The arrows certainly help, although a small LED light identifies the band when it lights up next to a letter. At dusk or later, it is nearly impossible to see what letter it corresponds to. I have tried learning which light is where, but they are very close together. The 8500 lights up a large 'K' or 'Ka' to signify the source. Also, the V1 has a nice feature that allows it to auto dim according to conditions, whereas the 8500 has manual dimming. Furthermore, the auto mute on the 8500 is fantastic. It only gets loud when you are being hit with a significant amount of strength. Anything less or after a certain amount of time, it mutes again. The V1 goes to full volume at any sign of radar. Also, the mute button on the V1 tends to push the detector further towards the windshield if it is not pushed up against it. The 8500 mute button is foolproof. Finally, perhaps because of the auto mute on the 8500, I feel that I get more false alarms with the V1. This may be due to the new POP feature and the fact that it is not more sensitive. Also, many of the electric doors in New Orleans are now K band. (I had X-band turned off on both detectors) On the other hand, the arrows are arguably priceless. That is the debate I am having right now. Overall, I tend to prefer my 8500 by a very minimal margin. It may be that I became accustomed to it over the year I had it. I will likely be selling one of them in the near future. I am afraid that if I sell the 8500, I will only use the V1 for long trips and possibly get burned around town by a speed trap. Or I may sell the V1 (recouping almost 100% of my costs) and keep the 8500 I've been happy with. I am wondering if anyone else has similar experience because I have never heard a bad thing about the V1. If I keep it, I may get the remote display to make the visibility and mute issues easier. Sorry for the long rant, any comments are welcome. (Note: Both radar detectors were mounted just above the mirror, below the tinted strip, and hardwired to the fuse panel.)
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23:39:07 03/04/05
