With all of this conversation about radar detector installation, my Escort (5 or 6 years old), is about to go to the electronic junk yard.


When looking for a replacement, is the Escort and Valentine fairly equal? Is a less expensive unit just as good? Or, is it like fine wine, and you get what you pay for?
THANX
King Fala

 

If you truly have an EE (which I was as well) I shouldn't need to explain the fact that the radar detector will always have current going through it, even at idle.

Depending on where you ground it, a module is most likely controlling that ground, which is not a true ground, and can keep alive the affected module. But I'm sure you already knew that, and were just testing me..

I had it on an Aston Martin 3 weeks ago. A much less than pro (sloppy) install of an Escort was causing the infotainment stack to not hibernate, killing the battery over several days.

 

The Valentine is good for sparse country or freeway, as it's very sensitive. Mine will go crazy occasionally around K or X, which is annoying. It's nice to have a rear-facing detector on the fwy.

I LOVE the fact that the Escort knows where it is by GPS, and you can block out a fixed signal. For example: we have a lot of those fixed signs that state your speed on surface streets. They will set off the detector. With the Escort you can hit the Mute button twice to tell the unit to shut up when you pass it. Now when I drive with Escort, it usually only goes off when there's a valid KA (cop) signal.

 

That's exactly why I chose the Escort 9500ix over the V1. Love it for around town and highway driving

 

That is an interesting debate - car and driver did a recent review of the two and gave the Escort-MAX the edge over the Valentine One, by a slim margin and one would said not a valid reason for radar detection selection as the Valentine one is Superior to Escort with both radar and LASER detection by far and away. I went for the Valentine since it is the only one with directional indicators, since it has both a forward and facing radar capability. The Escort has more gadget options with sensitivity control, but I can live with the extra beeps from the Valentine.

Escort Passport Max vs. Valentine One ? Comparison Test ? Car and Driver

 

Since the only location that's satisfactory for me is on the dash, I don't think having a "backward" look, like the Valentine, would work in my instance. Although I suppose I could always try it out and return it if it didn't work out.


However, I will get all of the info on both the Valentine and the Escorts and go from there.


Thank you all, I appreciated your input.
Luck
King Fala

 

Okay - Valentine One beeps a lot, it is a good work out for your eyes

However the good news it saved me from a ticket

I was driving down a stretch of road. The Valentine went off with the Rear detector. I hit the brakes, and looked back and could not see anything, no other cars nothing !

Then I saw it. As I turned a slight bend in the road, a flippin bike CHP was coming from my left via a parallel road. He pulled in behind, valentine was going off of course but he could not do jack