I did the same thing, but the $0.07 was a little much for EACH terminal, I could swing that maybe if I only needed one, but two!? So I just stuck the wire in there, shoved a toothpick in, and broke of the tip, problem solved! I honestly did that but it was because of my severe lack of impatience, not my lack of 14 cents

 

Cant go wrong with escorts 8500. I have both an 8500 and the 9500 and have nothing but good things to say. I have seen the valentines fail on more than one occasion. Escort has recently come out with a service that allows other drivers signals notify you of an officer ahead. Might check that out, its called Escort Live.

 

You dont have a V1 do you...

The arrows and bogie counter are by far the best parts of the V1. Point in case:
Driving along, my bogie counter goes to 1, arrow ahead. See the cop sitting on the side, bogie counter goes up to 2 and arrow remains ahead. I pass the cop, bogie counter remains at 2, arrow ahead AND behind now. About a mile up the road, there was another cop sitting. The Porsche driver with an Escort got tagged because he thought he was safe after passing the first cop.

Huge fan of the V1. I dont speed enough to need it anymore, but it's always nice to have a heads up of where the cops are anyways. A growing number of cops around here are going to lidar/laser anyways, so it's losing it's effectiveness

 

Unbiased (pretty much, I guess) reviews check out Radar Roy.

 

I have both - a Valentine 1 and Escort 9500ix.

The Valentine 1 - was the best detector in my opinion BUT mine has developed a problem with falsely triggering on laser sources that is so bad I turn the laser detection off... still a great detector but it takes a back seat to my Escort and here's why.

99% of my driving is 30 mins to work - "urban commuting" - and this is where the Escort really shines.

The Escort has a GPS based signal learning system. It remembers where all of the false alarms are and after encountering them three (3) times it doesn't report them anymore. I always have a nice and quite drive to work unless there truly is a suspect signal.

The detection range of the Escort is every bit as good as the Valentine or maybe better.

The Escort has an "expert" display mode that will show you how many signals are present at any given time...and their strength - I wish it would do direction like the Valentine but I imagine the guys at Valentine have a patent protecting them or what not.

Finally, it never gives me false laser alarms like the Valentine 1. I have yet to see a laser encounter that is little more than a ticket counter so I don't think much of laser detection other than I like knowing when I'm being measured... as I was FALSELY charged for a laser speeding ticket a few years ago due to "sweep effect" but that's another story.

 

I was getting a ton of false laser alerts as well, so I did some research. The laser alerts were not actually false, sigh of relief. Infiniti is the biggest offender of triggering my laser. Reason: Some of the Infiniti line (mostly the FX35's) has the "stop itself/distance" system. They constantly ping a laser signal to ensure the drivers dont rear end someone, or keep a safe distance, etc. I became aware of this fact and started paying attention when I got a laser signal and there almost always an Infiniti nearby. The other rare instance is sunlight coming in at just the right angle or reflecting off something just right, but that has only happened once or twice.

It's just a little hypersensitive. For better or for worse. The GPS based Escort is nice too though, I know some people that swear by it, and for urban driving, it's a good setup. If you're on the highway, the Bel STI is supposedly king, but the V1 is still very close and the arrows, yum.

 

I have a Escort 8500 (blue) in my G35 and a Bel RX 65 (red) in my Expedition. Both are very similar, probaly like the blue lights a little better, but not worth teh up charge. Both units are built by same company and very similar, in performance.

 

In all fairness my valentine has a hardware problem with my laser false alarms... it goes off all of the time in cold weather but only falses on brake lights and lexus range finding in the summer as you describe... for me thought the gps and sensitivity of the escort makes it my daily driver.

 

I have the belltronic V8 which I'd a rebranded escort for best buy to sell

Oh and highly recommend the blend mount as well

 

Blendmount is defiantly a nice item. I was fortunate enough to get one for free when they first came out.. I did the Beta testing for them in 2009 for the 04-08 f150 trucks. Good people, nice item.

 

I had an original escort back in the 80's with the analog VU meter and amber lamp on the front.

I have had several V1's through the 90's and 2000's. A couple seemed to have glitches but they always serviced them. I with they had a more modern unit. But their counter and directional arrows are excellent for knowing where to look. Once you have one you realize how much use that feature. I have had cheaper units like Bel and K40. If it isn't a V1 is pretty much goes beep and you have to do all the locating/guessing yourself. With all the heavy laser use I have paired the V1 with the M45 Blinders and have a clean record, knock on wood.

 

I never understood the point of the arrows. If you determine that the radar is a threat it doesn't matter which direction, you are going to slow down regardless.

 

It is hard to explain without using one.

I think they are a great tool to know where the true threat is. When I first switched to Valentine I drove the same route as I did with my K40 and Bel STi. Anything else just goes beep on the same stretch of road to work. I always assume it is the grocery store. Instead of 1 'bogey' it counted 2, there was a cop in the parking lot. If I had my old beep box I would have never known...

Another time out in the country it started to beep, counted one straight ahead. I saw a cop go by but the arrow still said ahead. Most folks would have accelerated thinking they just passed the cop. Over the next hill there was the second cop shooting radar. It is also handy when they are coming up behind you. Knowing where and how many is nice to know.

 

I wish they would make the ecsortlive for the hardwire kit, but i emailed them and was told its not in the plans right now

 

Same here.