Super sensitive!! Plenty of user customization options Easy to use Came with a straight cord and a coiled cord. Did I mention that it is sensitive?

Sensitive, quite a few false alarms. Strange mounting system.

Great at sniffing out radar, can pick up radar from a mile away on a hilly road! This blows away all other detection units I have demoed or previously owned. I have not been hit with laser yet (but hey i''''m not complaining) so I do not know how well that works. Lots of usefull features to customize the detector to your needs. Could be a little cheaper but still reasonable for what you get. Main beef with the unit is that even in city mode I still get a bunch of false alarms, but its better than not going off at all!

Similar Products Used:

Whistler and Cobra crap.

Programmablity, Excellent Range, Good Audio, Compact size, Awesome Price for protection offered.

Small, hard to read at a glance display makes audio completely nessesary. Cannot track multiple threats. Falsing on KA in presence of most other detectors.

As a former Valentine One user I must say I am very impressed with this detector. My v-1 was a 98 model and was getting outdated. I sold it and decided to go for the Bel 980 at about half the v-1 price. For that I expected to lose about half the performance. Not so. This little package does about the same on K and better on encountered KA then the V-1. There is frequent falsing on KA from other detectors, but "city all" mode helps that a little. By playing with the detector I also found a hidden voltage meter feature that came in handy recently with alternator problems and programmabilty for the amount of dimming you need in dim mode. I would not go so far to say that this is the best detector in the world, but I do believe it's an unbeatable value. If range is most important to you then this detector is for you, but if you've got to know which direction the radar's coming from or you face multiple radar threats at once on a regular basis look to the passport 8500 or V-1.

Similar Products Used:

Valentine Radar Locator,-little over half the price of v-1. Performance very close in reception range.

Very versitle and easy to operate while driving. Display is bright and easy to read. Automute feature keeps you from playing with the buttons while driving...Could make the difference between life or death.

I really with that it had the compass feature.

I would recommend it! I talked it down in price at the store. Order online because its cheaper and you wont have to haggle the price. Remember that a ticket now a days cost around a $100 or more... (*Three tickets and its paid for ..LOL*)

Similar Products Used:

N/A

Incredible range, attractive appearance, well made, good volume.

Visor bracket is cheap.. Mine broke.

FANTASTIC!! I used a cheap Cobra detector for a while, but I would see the cops before the detector ever went off. I have a 3-hr commute up I5 once per week and this detector is INDESPENSIBLE! It catchs KA-band CHP with incredible range. On a typical 3-hr commute, I catch 4-6 speed traps with this awesome detector... always with plenty of time to decrease my speed to the speed limit. I highly recommend this detector. I turn the X-band frequency off to avoid false alarms. X-band is not used by police in L.A...

Similar Products Used:

Cobra. 980 BLOWS IT AWAY!

Very good range. I got a KA band signal from over 4 miles away.

Falses too often on Walmarts

Haven't used a Valentine, so I can't compare, but have used many since mid 70's. The reason I purchased this was for the upgradeability. Hope to be able to keep this one and not watch it go obsolete within 1 year. Had the old fuzzbuster way back and have used others.
The range on this thing is great. At about 1 mile on previous detectors it would finally go off. Hell, I could see the cop coming and I have bad eyes. On the Bel980 got a signal two separate times on KA and didn't see anything. Maybe 10 seconds later another short KA signal. Was down to 65, it seemed a long time, but about 2 minutes later the little group of 4 or 5 cars gets closer and the leader is a Wyoming HP (near Lusk) with the new low profile lights. I now believe.
True it does false, but why not call it a test of you reflexes. On another product I drove all day and it never went off. It made me wonder if it even reached outside the car.
I have 2 times had to contact the manufacturer. The Whistler people where snooty A**holes for such a Sh**y product, that out of the box didn't work. At Bel I lost the piece that covers the top of unit that you click the suction cups or visor clip into on the Bel and got one within in a week. Their Price?????? let's just say reeaaallll good. I give the Bel people *****

Similar Products Used:

Whistler 11??, was a high end
Cobra

range

lots of false alarms and not knowing if the are real

After reading the test from radar test I bought the new Bel 980 for my wife"s Jag...I have a Valentine in my Ferrari and Suburban......I think the Bel is OK but a pain in the butt...Its goes off (but unlike the Valentine it has no arrow to show where the cop is) so I slow down and stay slow cause don't know if the guy is in front.,past me, in back with the radar off clocking me,or a false alarm.. ect...Most times I never see anything..With the V1 I know

Similar Products Used:

Valentine 1

Huge range. Easy to program and customize. Attractive.

Lots of false alarms around stores, but I'd rather have some falses than have it miss the real thing.

It's amazing how far away this can pick up radar. You can take your time to slow down and merge, and still be safe way before the cop. This product was a great buy, I'm very satisfied, and it gives me much peace of mind. Don't hesitate - get one!

Similar Products Used:

None.

Could not find any.

Goes off everytime someone passes you with a radar detector. Way too many false signals

Would not recomend it to my worst enemy it gets on your nerves with all the false signals.Do not buy anything off of emrkt .com they charge you a 15% restocking fee

Similar Products Used:

I sent it back & bought the passport 8500,it is alot better other than loudness.

Range
Features
Noise

-False alarms
-False alarms
-False alarms

Well, this is my first time using my radar detector so I didn't know what to expect. I just got back from a roadtrip and here is what I found out. There are just too many damn false alarms on this thing! I always get a Ka-1 warning and it is difficult to tell if it is the real thing or not. Usually, it is not and this frustrates me. It seems that big trucks puts off a warning a lot. But, when there are cops around, this detector is great. There is great range . There a also a few false alarms on K band also. I guess it is better to be safe than sorry. My advice is to ignore the K-1 and Ka-1 alarms and to take caution once those bands get a stronger detection. Overall, it is a good detector but selectivity could be better.

Similar Products Used:

none

-Range and sensitivity
-Upgradeability
-Easy to program
-EVERYTHING!

Okay, nothing's perfect. The only weakness about this is the visor bracket. Just use the window bracket! Since that has nothing to do with the detector, I guess it is perfect!

This detector is awsome! Don't even think about wasting your money on the Valentine or Escort 8500. This one blows them all away. It's the best looking of the three, and it has the best range and sensitivity. You can upgrade this later on, so you'll be using this one for a long time (I wonder how long the people who spent $400 on a V1 will use theirs for). Don't waste your money on anything else - buy the best there is. If you go to www.pricescan.com you can find this unit for less than $250 (even though it retails for $400)! Why spend money on a detector that sucks at picking up K & Ka. You'll get a ticket within 2 months becasue you think you're protected. Next thing you know, good ol' smokey's standing next to your window.

Similar Products Used:

Cobra ESD-9200