Valentine V1 vs. Passport 9500ix initial comparison

[jrich4411]

One of my very first purchases after i bought Jackie in July '09 was a radar detector. I spent several days reading lots of threads on the 3 Bimmer forums I subscribe to as well as on radardetector.net. I chose the V1 as all the reviews claimed it to be more sensitive than the Passport. I had found a used V1 on Fleabay that had the hard wire mount, the remote display and the rear view mirror mount (which does NOT work on the Z4, but does work on my Ford Expedition winter vehicle) for $425. I couldn't touch a Passport for under $500 then. However, I quickly found that the V1's false alarms became very annoying. Every time I drive into the city - which I do several times each day - the V1 goes off constantly. Since then, I have wished many times over that the V1 had the GPS memory feature that the Passport has. I know some people say that they would rather have the false alarms then possibly miss a real alarm. However, I find that 90% of the false alarms are in areas that I don't speed in anyway.
So my wife has wanted a radar detector of her own for some time now. Shortly after purchasing Jackie she bet me that I would be getting a speeding ticket within months. Not only have I not been pulled over in Jackie thus far, but she got a speeding ticket herself just a few months later - not in Jackie, but when she was hauling the horse trailer to a show. She hasn't lived that one down yet.
I see that Amazon has the Passport on sale for $399 with free shipping - so now's the time to get another one. I figure I will test them both side by side for a few weeks to see which one I like, and give the wife the other.
The Passport arrived today. So tonight I head into town for just a quick comparison & test of the GPS autolearn feature of the Passport. My V1 is mounted just to the right of the rear view mirror - I had fabricated a mount that I screwed in just beside the left sun visor mount. I used the stick on mount for the Passport just to the right of the V1. The Passport is also slightly lower than the V1 buy an inch so that the GPS has a clear view out the windshield. I used the Passport with all defaults, which includes the sensitivity in Highway mode, the most sensitive mode it has. The V1 is in smart mode which is supposed to filter out some false alarms. I have used it in all 3 modes and never found any of the to make a difference.
So I head into the city. The main road in has 5 locations with false alarms - a commercial building, Vista Foods (grocery store), Walgreens pharmacy, CVS pharmacy, and Rite-Aid pharmacy. All within a mile and a half. Right after that I can loop around and do the road again from the same direction. The total loop is 5 miles.
So first up is the commercial building. The V1 goes off first with the Passport about a half second later. Next is Vista - the V1 starts almost 2 seconds before the Passport. The V1 is still reporting Vista behind me when it sees Walgreens ahead of me. By now, the Passport has shut off. It never does see Walgreens. Now I do not actually drive directly by Walgreens as it is 1 building down a side street, but the Passport never shows it. Next is CVS. Again, the V1 kicks in a couple seconds before the Passport. The V1 is still showing CVS when it starts seeing Rite-Aid, whereas the Passport stops alarming for a couple seconds after CVS when it picks up Rite-Aid. The V1 also sees Rite-Aid for a good 3 or 4 seconds after the Passport has stopped alarming. I also see that the V1 is occasionally picking up interference from the Passport's signal bouncing off other cars & buildings.
So I loop around a couple times. On the third pass I see that the Passport is storing the locations of the false alarms, just as it is advertised to do. Fantastic! I head around for a 4th pass to test that I can drive the entire loop without the Passport sounding the alarm, and this feature works flawlessly for all 4 locations it had marked. It does still visually indicate when it is seeing the false alarms. About halfway through the 4th loop, the V1 goes off in a different location reporting a signal behind me, and within a half second the Passport also alarms - must be a real signal this time. A few hundred yards down the road the V1 goes off again, this time indicating that it is beside me (there is a parallel road). The Passport did not give an alarm this time.
So, after just on quick test drive, I can see that the V1 is definitely more sensitive. I am already loving the GPS feature of the Passport. I will leave them both in the car for 3 or 4 weeks until I see a dozen or more real signals, which should give me a good indication of how they compare with each other for their primary and most important purpose. I'll try and keep a log and if anyone cares, I will report back then.

[r4gs]

amazon has an ongoing promotion on the passport 9550ix specifically for $399 brand new? am not seeing this though. there is a fantastic deal through a zposter in the classifieds section for getting escort or bel radar detectors.

thanks for the side by side comparo though. i have a v1 as well and bought it principally for its sensitivity (range is most important to me) and live adjacent to a small town with few false alarms if any. i'm actually quite used to falses and usually am able to discern the significantly weaker signal very quickly.

[dekaliber]

I've had a V1 for about a month and a half and agree that it's pretty chatty. I keep the volume pretty low, about 12 o'clock for both dials. When I'm driving somewhere that has lots of false alarms where I don't usually speed much anyway, like in the city, I just switch the V1's volume knob to the 9 or 10 o'clock position which makes it completely silent while still remaining on. If there's a strong enough signal to be an LEO, I figure the blinking lights are enough to alert me. There's no mistaking actual police radar for a false alarm. The signals are vastly different.

I haven't tried the V1 on the different "smart" modes yet. I think it's basically a filter to weed out the weak alarms, right?

[jrich4411]

Amazon does have the 9500ix for $399 - there is a coupon code to enter in. PM me for the code. Where I live there are several stretches in the city where the V1 doesn't shut up on its own for a couple minutes at a time. I have the remote display just above the steering column so the mute button is close, but it still annoys me.
The V1's smart modes are supposed to let it automatically decide when certain signals are false alarms and it then will not alarm. As I stated above, I have never seen any difference between the 3 modes.

[r4gs]

in 'A' mode, the v1 is fully active and alerts against all potential radar signals. in small 'L' mode, it is applying simple 'logic' to filter out x-band completely. in large 'L' mode, the v1 still scans x-band, but filters the signal out based on strength. it will still alert to high-intensity x-band threats. as far as i'm aware, x-band police radar use is almost extinct, and i run my v1 exclusively in large 'L' mode.

[BU Z4]

Originally Posted by jrich4411

One of my very first purchases after i bought Jackie in July '09 was a radar detector. I spent several days reading lots of threads on the 3 Bimmer forums I subscribe to as well as on radardetector.net. I chose the V1 as all the reviews claimed it to be more sensitive than the Passport. I had found a used V1 on Fleabay that had the hard wire mount, the remote display and the rear view mirror mount (which does NOT work on the Z4, but does work on my Ford Expedition winter vehicle) for $425. I couldn't touch a Passport for under $500 then. However, I quickly found that the V1's false alarms became very annoying. Every time I drive into the city - which I do several times each day - the V1 goes off constantly. Since then, I have wished many times over that the V1 had the GPS memory feature that the Passport has. I know some people say that they would rather have the false alarms then possibly miss a real alarm. However, I find that 90% of the false alarms are in areas that I don't speed in anyway.
So my wife has wanted a radar detector of her own for some time now. Shortly after purchasing Jackie she bet me that I would be getting a speeding ticket within months. Not only have I not been pulled over in Jackie thus far, but she got a speeding ticket herself just a few months later - not in Jackie, but when she was hauling the horse trailer to a show. She hasn't lived that one down yet.
I see that Amazon has the Passport on sale for $399 with free shipping - so now's the time to get another one. I figure I will test them both side by side for a few weeks to see which one I like, and give the wife the other.
The Passport arrived today. So tonight I head into town for just a quick comparison & test of the GPS autolearn feature of the Passport. My V1 is mounted just to the right of the rear view mirror - I had fabricated a mount that I screwed in just beside the left sun visor mount. I used the stick on mount for the Passport just to the right of the V1. The Passport is also slightly lower than the V1 buy an inch so that the GPS has a clear view out the windshield. I used the Passport with all defaults, which includes the sensitivity in Highway mode, the most sensitive mode it has. The V1 is in smart mode which is supposed to filter out some false alarms. I have used it in all 3 modes and never found any of the to make a difference.
So I head into the city. The main road in has 5 locations with false alarms - a commercial building, Vista Foods (grocery store), Walgreens pharmacy, CVS pharmacy, and Rite-Aid pharmacy. All within a mile and a half. Right after that I can loop around and do the road again from the same direction. The total loop is 5 miles.
So first up is the commercial building. The V1 goes off first with the Passport about a half second later. Next is Vista - the V1 starts almost 2 seconds before the Passport. The V1 is still reporting Vista behind me when it sees Walgreens ahead of me. By now, the Passport has shut off. It never does see Walgreens. Now I do not actually drive directly by Walgreens as it is 1 building down a side street, but the Passport never shows it. Next is CVS. Again, the V1 kicks in a couple seconds before the Passport. The V1 is still showing CVS when it starts seeing Rite-Aid, whereas the Passport stops alarming for a couple seconds after CVS when it picks up Rite-Aid. The V1 also sees Rite-Aid for a good 3 or 4 seconds after the Passport has stopped alarming. I also see that the V1 is occasionally picking up interference from the Passport's signal bouncing off other cars & buildings.
So I loop around a couple times. On the third pass I see that the Passport is storing the locations of the false alarms, just as it is advertised to do. Fantastic! I head around for a 4th pass to test that I can drive the entire loop without the Passport sounding the alarm, and this feature works flawlessly for all 4 locations it had marked. It does still visually indicate when it is seeing the false alarms. About halfway through the 4th loop, the V1 goes off in a different location reporting a signal behind me, and within a half second the Passport also alarms - must be a real signal this time. A few hundred yards down the road the V1 goes off again, this time indicating that it is beside me (there is a parallel road). The Passport did not give an alarm this time.
So, after just on quick test drive, I can see that the V1 is definitely more sensitive. I am already loving the GPS feature of the Passport. I will leave them both in the car for 3 or 4 weeks until I see a dozen or more real signals, which should give me a good indication of how they compare with each other for their primary and most important purpose. I'll try and keep a log and if anyone cares, I will report back then.

I wish I could write a 5 page essay like you!!!

[tjank123]

Although I prefer my V1. The Bell STi cannot be picked up by the latest police spectre radar detector detector. This is important in Virginia since using radar is illegal to use and in DC illegal to possess. The V1 is readily detected by the Spectre radar detector detector (RDD) at 135 to 189 feet. Passport 9500ix is detected at 228 -310 feet. Check out test results http://www.1stradardetectors.com/best-radar-detector

[Diokaef]

I'm going with the REDline I think it's better then the both above (I used Both of those before) and I tested the redline, Also you can add the GPS feature to it.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by jrich4411

Amazon does have the 9500ix for $399 - there is a coupon code to enter in. PM me for the code. Where I live there are several stretches in the city where the V1 doesn't shut up on its own for a couple minutes at a time. I have the remote display just above the steering column so the mute button is close, but it still annoys me.
The V1's smart modes are supposed to let it automatically decide when certain signals are false alarms and it then will not alarm. As I stated above, I have never seen any difference between the 3 modes.

Do you know if the power cord connectors are the same for both? I have the V1 hardwired to my X5 and is considering the 9500ix for the MCoupe. It would be nice to be able to switch detectors between the cars using the same hardwired power cord in each cars.

Do you mind PM'ing me the coupon code for the 9500ix? Thanks.

[jrich4411]

Originally Posted by tjank123

The Bell STi cannot be picked up by the latest police spectre radar detector detector.

I can see why that would be an iimportant consideration down your way. Fortunately, here in New England we don't need to worry about that.

Originally Posted by XMetal

Do you know if the power cord connectors are the same for both? I have the V1 hardwired to my X5 and is considering the 9500ix for the MCoupe. It would be nice to be able to switch detectors between the cars using the same hardwired power cord in each cars.

Do you mind PM'ing me the coupon code for the 9500ix? Thanks.

This morning I plugged my V1 hard wired cord into the Passport and it fired right up. Of course the V1 remote display did not work as I didn't expect it to. If I keep the Passport I will hard wire the one for it as I will use the remote display for it as well.

PM sent

[XMetal]

Thanks for the power cord verification...and the coupon code! I don't use the remote display...so it shouldn't be an issue. Thanks again!

[XMetal]

JRich,
Forgot about a question that I've been meaning to ask: How is the "false" laser detection on the Escort compared to the V1? My V1's laser detection have been annoying as heck as it's main function seems to be only good at picking out Infiniti's (those with laser cruise control). 95% of the time, when the laser detection goes off nowadays, I start hunting for an Infiniti first instead of a patrol car Does the Escort does any better in this respect (false alarm on laser)?

[jrich4411]

XMetal - I really can't answer that as it has never been an issue around here. In the year that I've had the V1 I can onl\h remember the V1 going off because of another car twice, maybe 3 times. I didn't know about the Infinity's laser cruise control, but that explains it. We don't have an Infinity dealership nearby so I don't see many to begin with, and even less that have their cruise on. FWIW I've already decided on keeping the Escort and I've purchased the ZR4 laser shifter to add to it. I probably won't get to do the hardwire power install & custom mount until next weekend. For now I'm using the suction cups and the V1's hardwired power.

[phylo]

One other point in the V1's favor. There is an app and a piece of hardware for your iphone that turns your iphone into a remote display as well as real-time traffic cam/speed trap warning thingy.. Its called radaractive and it kicks ass! There have been a couple of times when I have been speeding over highway 17 here in California and the V1 didn't go off, but because someone had already seen the HP there on the side of the road and marked it I knew they were there and slowed down and didn't get a ticket.. The app doesn't require you to have a V1 so its still pretty useful even if you have the Passport or any other radar detector for that matter.. I highly recommend adding it to your phone. There is also another app called trapster for the iphone and I believe android as well that does the same thing.

Phil