Motor Trend's August 2005 Radar Detector Shootout

http://motortrend.com/features/consumer/112_0508_2005radar_buyersguide/index.html
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Decent test; interesting outcome.
Thanks for the link.

 

What a crock of crap the V1 outscored ALL competitors, but didn't win?

BEL Vector 995 -Escort 8500 X50 Red - Escort 8500 X50 Blue- Valentine One
Total - 100 pts 84-78-78-88
Value Ranking 2-4-5-3

 

The Valentine 1 did win. Did you skip to the end instead of reading the article?!

 

Amazingly, the V1 did score higher this year compared to last year. However, Mike needs a boot up his you know what and get with the program regarding POP radar. The Escort is King regarding POP.

V1 owners should not be too discouraged, however, as the V1 still remains the best detector to own in states or provinces that do not allow radar detectors as evidenced by its Radar Detector Detector performance vs. the Spectre III. That and it does have the best laser detection out of any detector tested, although I think most of us know that laser detection really does not exist as proved by SML's final test in that section: "In our trailing vehicle test we selected the best detector for laser alerts, the Valentine One. It was placed at the 1/4 mile cone behind the target vehicle at 1,000 feet. In ten tries the Valentine One did not give any advanced warning to laser being aimed at the vehicle in front of it. The laser was fired from the same lane as the target vehicle and not angled across the street."


2005 Tests
http://www.speedzones.com/

 

You know what, I found out the same exact results when I'm playing with a laser pointer with one of my cats and the other gets in the way of the beam! Laser is light, the last time I checked, it doesn't travel through solid objects so I'm not too surprised that the V1 didn't pick it up. Lets use some common sense here!! I wonder if I can get paid to do this kind of stuff too...

Sunny

 

Get a strong enough laser and it will. Yag me baby. Faint wisp of smoke, that's all.
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LOL! Yeah, they sell some battery operated ones that will burn through small objects like paper, foam, etc for less than $750 USD.

The test is basic geometry. If you have a beam thats only several feet in diameter aimed directly at an object, a significant amount or almost all of that is going to be blocked and/or reflected back towards the source (hence its use in the traffic enforcement arena) and the rest will scatter.

Based on the sloping surfaces of the front of nearly all vehicles, this scatter is going to be reflected over and around the lens of a V1 especially positioned directly behind the targeted vehicle.

Now, if you put this car in a drafting position to the right or left or directly next to the vehicle its being aimed at, I'm sure the V1 results will be much more positive.

I'm only trying to remember the size of the beam from memory but I'm sure its less than a handful of feet wide which isn't enough without side to side movement to scatter into the V1 lens. It begins and ends very narrow or else it would be more than contestable in court, agreed?

I took the golden state exam from way back; this test was an exercise in futility.

Sunny

 

The ONLY defense against laser is a jammer. The Passport 8500 can hook up to their laser jammer, that's the way to go.