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      01-19-2016, 12:43 PM   #1
Zamorskii
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Valentine 1 Upgrade

I guess, I've been out of the radar market for awhile, so that my Valentine 1 needs an upgrade to get the latest K-band junk fighter. Without it, the radar is quite a nuisance as it goes off with 3-4 sources pretty much all the time I get on the highway.

I do like the arrows and find them helpful, but living in MN where speed cameras are against the law, I wonder if simply upgrading the V1 I have for $289 makes sense or I should look into other options, as the market already moved on way further past the V1's technology. What do you guys think? Is something like Escort Max 360 worth $650 with all that additional Defender database stuff?

Has anyone gone through a similar process and how satisfied are you with your decision to go one way or another?
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      01-19-2016, 01:22 PM   #2
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I had a V1 and sold it here on the forums earlier this year for like $275 and used that money to purchase the Escort Max. From my short experience with the Escort Max I was pretty excited that all the false alerts were silent and I appreciated the GPS lockouts of all known false alerts.

The only thing I disliked about the detector is that the casing/housing construction was unsatisfactory for me and basically fell apart while mounted on the windshield due to it bouncing. You can see pics and videos here of what I mean. http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1145464

I'm not certain about the Max 360 if the construction is the same or not but based on the pictures.. I think it is. The perfect detector would be V1's construction ( magnesium housing put together with screws ) and Escort Max's technology.
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      01-19-2016, 01:55 PM   #3
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https://www.rdforum.org/forum.php

The above is the best forum for informed evaluations of windshield CMs. No one but the user can evaluate all the variables one particular driver may encounter.

If you want the official Escort forums, go to http://escortradarforum.com/forums/index.php

There are also excellent YouTube videos by Vortex who also maintains a nice web about such things.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgL...3XgAeLrEYp51sw

My CMs are in my signature below.
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      01-19-2016, 02:21 PM   #4
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I use the Escort Redline, which works very well and costs around $500. I haven't noticed any build quality issues like Kzang mentioned with his Max.
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      01-19-2016, 04:14 PM   #5
Zamorskii
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kzang View Post
I had a V1 and sold it here on the forums earlier this year for like $275 and used that money to purchase the Escort Max. From my short experience with the Escort Max I was pretty excited that all the false alerts were silent and I appreciated the GPS lockouts of all known false alerts.

The only thing I disliked about the detector is that the casing/housing construction was unsatisfactory for me and basically fell apart while mounted on the windshield due to it bouncing. You can see pics and videos here of what I mean. http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1145464

I'm not certain about the Max 360 if the construction is the same or not but based on the pictures.. I think it is. The perfect detector would be V1's construction ( magnesium housing put together with screws ) and Escort Max's technology.
Yeah, I saw your post about the built issues of the Passport you got.

The way I am looking at it, I either spend $290 on the upgrade or buy another radar. V1 costs $399, so that means I have $110 equity in the unit I have now. My main dilemma is do I buy into the V1 technology now and potentially have an obsolete unit in the next 2-3 years, or do I take a step forward and get into the technology with Bluetooth, potential real-time updates, etc. etc. etc. ....
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      01-19-2016, 04:34 PM   #6
saigonpaul
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V1

Until you get it worked out, you can help the (k band) by (if you have POP) to disable it. That will take care of the lane change mirror interference. As for getting away from the V1 I would not.
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      01-19-2016, 09:35 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zamorskii View Post
I guess, I've been out of the radar market for awhile, so that my Valentine 1 needs an upgrade to get the latest K-band junk fighter. Without it, the radar is quite a nuisance as it goes off with 3-4 sources pretty much all the time I get on the highway.

I do like the arrows and find them helpful, but living in MN where speed cameras are against the law, I wonder if simply upgrading the V1 I have for $289 makes sense or I should look into other options, as the market already moved on way further past the V1's technology. What do you guys think? Is something like Escort Max 360 worth $650 with all that additional Defender database stuff?

Has anyone gone through a similar process and how satisfied are you with your decision to go one way or another?
Funny - I just upgraded mine and am amazed at how little junky detectors and other cars set this off. Like yours, it used to go off in traffic continuously or God forbid, near strip malls. It still alerts you to door openers, but it seems fewer doors. I have to say, I like the unit again and if you are used to a V1, the upgrade seems to make sense. I now have it installed full time again and am happy that I spent the money on the upgrade. It is quieter.
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