9500ci vs Valentineone

steagall1000 · #1 (**permalink**) 2008-11-12

I happen to come accross this video, and thought it was cool to see the V1 and escort 9500ci go head to head. Although I think its best to cut one radar detector off and test independently so they both don't set each other off, this was interesting in the front and rear test. Both of these radar detectors are awesome. The 9500ci I was very impressed with.

YouTube - K band All-Star Game - p.1 - 9500ci vs V1 (Valentine One)

9500ci VS Bel RX65

YouTube - K band All-Star Game - p.2 - 9500ci vs RX65e 6.5

TSi+WRX · #2 (**permalink**) 2008-11-13

Quote:

Originally Posted by steagall1000

I happen to come accross this video, and thought it was cool to see the V1 and escort 9500ci go head to head. Although I think its best to cut one radar detector off and test independently so they both don't set each other off, this was interesting in the front and rear test. Both of these radar detectors are awesome. The 9500ci I was very impressed with.

I agree, the new Escort remote unit is redefining what is possible, in terms of raw sensitivity.

However - and this is in spite of the fact that I've always been an adoring fan of Escort products - I think that it is only fair to say that this such a comparison, between the 9500ci and the V1, is just not quite fair, and that it is, in the end, apples-to-oranges.

Why?

Well, the substantial price-gap aside, there is a fundamental difference in the way these products, simply, "are."

One - the 9500ci - is an external-to-cabin, remote, mounted unit.

The other - the V1 - is an in-cabin stand-alone.

The latter is, no matter how it's cut, somewhat "handicapped" in terms of its detection capability simply by its placement.

The former, its price and relative difficulty of installation nonwithstanding, isn't something that, short of even DRASTIC modifications by the end user, is going to be able to, at a moments' notice, taken off the windshield of one vehicle, and be used in another. Heck, even packing it into a suitcase or carry-on would be nearly impossible, for the business traveler.

Although I, too, appreciate the "academic" value and wow-factor of these kinds of comparison videos (and I am of the belief that the vehicle firewall, as well as physical distance between the two detectors' active components, should provide more than enough compensation in order to allow their "co-existence," for such testing), I do not know exactly how much value they carry in the real-world.

To me, until Valentine Research comes forward with their own remote-mounted unit, I think that the only fair comparison to be made between their product, the V1, and the Escort offerings, would be with either their 9500i, or 9500ix in-vehicle, stand-alone detectors.

steagall1000 · #3 (**permalink**) 2008-11-13

TSi+WRX,

I agree, the comparison is not a fair test. We did a test with the V1 and escort 9500i and both were very close in performance. Either one will give you great performance. Escort is a awesome radar detector.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSi+WRX

I agree, the new Escort remote unit is redefining what is possible, in terms of raw sensitivity.

However - and this is in spite of the fact that I've always been an adoring fan of Escort products - I think that it is only fair to say that this such a comparison, between the 9500ci and the V1, is just not quite fair, and that it is, in the end, apples-to-oranges.

Why?

Well, the substantial price-gap aside, there is a fundamental difference in the way these products, simply, "are."

One - the 9500ci - is an external-to-cabin, remote, mounted unit.

The other - the V1 - is an in-cabin stand-alone.

The latter is, no matter how it's cut, somewhat "handicapped" in terms of its detection capability simply by its placement.

The former, its price and relative difficulty of installation nonwithstanding, isn't something that, short of even DRASTIC modifications by the end user, is going to be able to, at a moments' notice, taken off the windshield of one vehicle, and be used in another. Heck, even packing it into a suitcase or carry-on would be nearly impossible, for the business traveler.

Although I, too, appreciate the "academic" value and wow-factor of these kinds of comparison videos (and I am of the belief that the vehicle firewall, as well as physical distance between the two detectors' active components, should provide more than enough compensation in order to allow their "co-existence," for such testing), I do not know exactly how much value they carry in the real-world.

To me, until Valentine Research comes forward with their own remote-mounted unit, I think that the only fair comparison to be made between their product, the V1, and the Escort offerings, would be with either their 9500i, or 9500ix in-vehicle, stand-alone detectors.