[uhaulball]

hey guys

I'm shopping for a Valentine 1 version 1.8 (is this the newest kind?)

Anyways, can someone steer me in the right direction for a good deal on one of these?

[E24]

no such thing as a good deal - go to the web site www.valentineone.com and bite the bullett. The cost of admission is well worth it. It has saved my ass more from local cops than on the interstate.

[Hunter399]

Im scared driving without a V1.....GET IT ASAP!!!

[Romulus]

i sold mine for $25 less than I paid new after using it for 18 months.. they don't really go down in value.

[moonzappa]

There's always eBay but if you watched the auctions and noticed the price they are asking for a "used" unit, they come pretty close to the price of a new unit. I've seen brand new units on eBay selling as much as $100 more than buying it from Valentine One directly. I've read all of the reviews between the Escort and Bel and I've come to the conclusion why settle for less especially if you spent so much on your e90, just buy the V1 and you have the best detector on the market! Mine will be here on Friday!

[hotsand5]

while I think that the Valentine is a serious unit and one of the best, I would get the escort 8500 x50 for less money and same security. I have one and will swear by it...the following magazines rated it #1 (yes the valentine was in the tests)...motortrend, automobile, speedzones, and radartest.com. and reated #2 by CarandDriver. You can see some of the awards and comments on their website. http://www.escortradar.com/x50.htm

[fw10ring]

Originally Posted by hotsand5

while I think that the Valentine is a serious unit and one of the best, I would get the escort 8500 x50 for less money and same security. I have one and will swear by it...the following magazines rated it #1 (yes the valentine was in the tests)...motortrend, automobile, speedzones, and radartest.com. and reated #2 by CarandDriver. You can see some of the awards and comments on their website. http://www.escortradar.com/x50.htm

I agree 100%. The V1 was the standard for a long time but Mr Valentine has not kept up with the new units out there. The Escort 8500 x50 is the best unit at this time.

[Luongo]

If you are looking for a deal, do not order from their website, but call them up and ask for a "returned unit." They will most likely tell you that they are out of them, hoping to sell you a new one instead. Just tell them that you want to order a returned unit anyway. They'll most likely take the order and ship you a new one the same day. That's how I got mine delivered in three days (UPS ground from OH to IL) after ordering. $365 shipped and it was a brand new unit!!!

[uhaulball]

alright so far so good, i called today, spoke to a saleslady, and it came to 365 and some change shipped. i hope the "brand new" part will hold true as well... she did say however that the "returned unit" will be completely functional

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzi

If you are looking for a deal, do not order from their website, but call them up and ask for a "returned unit." They will most likely tell you that they are out of them, hoping to sell you a new one instead. Just tell them that you want to order a returned unit anyway. They'll most likely take the order and ship you a new one the same day. That's how I got mine delivered in three days (UPS ground from OH to IL) after ordering. $365 shipped and it was a brand new unit!!!

i think the notion of "new" is only deception in this case. "repackaged" would probably be a better term to use.

[Luongo]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

i think the notion of "new" is only deception in this case. "repackaged" would probably be a better term to use.

Nope. It was actually a brand spanking new unit. Not a single scratch nor fingerprints on the LCD. I've bought tons of refurbished stuff in the past and can tell when something is repackaged, but this one was a BRAND NEW UNIT.

[agarbati]

Valentine One only sells through their website. And yes, any other Valentine One will be used/re-packaged. I believe they do charge tax if you are in OH because they are in Cincinatti.

Ebay auctions of valentine one go pretty high. I know because I sold mine on eBay. It went for something like $360.00.

Personally if I was going to spend $360.00, I would throw in the extra $40 and get a brand new one.

My advice - go with the new one. It's worth the peace of mind.

[uhaulball]

we got the used ones.... from the v1 website. so its fine i think.

[Chuck_IV]

I was gonna go the used route too, but I had heard some people had to wait a while(I know some didn't) and I really didn't want to have to wait long, and as agarbati said, the $40 is worth the piece of mind(especially considering how much I am paying already), so I just ordered a new one.

It should be here today.

[difush]

If I am doing mostly city driving, which one has less false alarm, any advise ? The area that I am living in is like Manhanttan with less traffic, so you can still speed but lots of bulidngs and interference.

I use to have a older paasport several years back, so many false alarms that I finally stopped using it.

[difush]

BTW, what about the Solo 2...don't really like to go through the hassle of installing the cords..

[uhaulball]

my friend with a g35 has the newest passport. my friend with the rx8 has the beltronics. they both have false alarms a lot, especially in local shopping areas with the security gates. you should just mute it in those areas. probably gonna get false alarms with any radar detector in the city.

[Chuck_IV]

Originally Posted by difush

BTW, what about the Solo 2...don't really like to go through the hassle of installing the cords..

I'd stay away from the cordless ones. I know being cordless is tempting but from what I have read, they just can't put out the power to match the range of the corded detectors.

[homerfromathens]

Originally Posted by difush

BTW, what about the Solo 2...don't really like to go through the hassle of installing the cords..

i use the solo 2. i dont know if the range of its warnings is far less than the range of the corded ones since i never used a valentine or bel or whatever side by side.
however, there is enough time to hit the brake and avoid tickets.
(i usually drive around 160 to 180 km/h sometimes even more and the law here in my country allows 120 km/h.)
the batteries last several weeks and there are seldom false warnings. last year i was sitting in a friends car with a bel (think it was 965rx or something like that) and that thing produced at least 3 times more false warnings than the solo2 would do on the same road.

but be warned: the solo 2 has one kind of frequency that is doesn't detect. i dont remember which one, but i checked out that this frequency isnt used by my country's police.

last but not least: before getting the solo 2, i planned to get the valentine, too, since there are so many positive posts on several boards. but after reading this article on autoweek (http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...FREE/411220705), i changed my mind and thought "let's give the solo2 a shot in order to avoid the work of hardwiring (i dont like cables around)" and i think it was not a bad decision at all.

[fw10ring]

Originally Posted by uhaulball

my friend with a g35 has the newest passport. my friend with the rx8 has the beltronics. they both have false alarms a lot, especially in local shopping areas with the security gates. you should just mute it in those areas. probably gonna get false alarms with any radar detector in the city.

There is a greater degree of customization on the Escort than the Valentine1. For instance, nobody uses X band radar in this area anymore but that is the band that gives off the most false readings since microwaves and other radars put it out. You can set the detector up to completely ignore that band of radar.

BTW, if you call Escort tell them you got a coupon in the mail for a free 2nd smart cord. If you have an older radar you don't want you can send it to them (let them know first when placing order) and they will rebate your credit card $50.

[Chuck_IV]

Originally Posted by fw10ring

There is a greater degree of customization on the Escort than the Valentine1. For instance, nobody uses X band radar in this area anymore but that is the band that gives off the most false readings since microwaves and other radars put it out. You can set the detector up to completely ignore that band of radar.

You can do the same(and more, turn off/on any of the bands, how muting is handled...) with the Valentine 1. See here: http://valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt3.asp