V1 is very good and provides firmware upgrades regularly as well as keeping its resale value quite well. i have a passport 8500 and am very happy with it. i have it hard-wired and mounted above and to the right of the rearview mirror. it's invisible from outside the car, so i don't get people following me and using me as an "el cheapo" detector, and it is invisible from in front of and to the side of the car. i've been pulled over (for no front-plate) before and the officer did not see a thing.
in regard to the V1 vs Passport, i like the Passport more because it is less expensive, smaller and in my experience falses less often. this is from first-hand experience but it is hardly a scientific test of any sort. a friend of mine has a V1 and when riding with him it was a veritable cacophony. this was in about 2003, so it is entirely plausible that after six years the V1 falses less. for me it also came down quite a bit to price. i was able to get a passport 8500 with a hardwire kit for $140 second hand, whereas the V1 is $400 brand new. if you are having trouble justifying the cost of either detector, however, consider how much a large speeding ticket is. a 21+ mph over ticket here in illinois is somewhere around $300, IIRC.
there are a lot of things important to consider and keep in mind when using a detector, though.
it is a radar detector, not a cop detector.
many more advanced/wealthy/vindictive police departments and state troopers use instant-on laser. in this case you will have absolutely no advanced warning whatsoever unless someone directly in front of you gets tagged.
depending on how clever an officer is, there are numerous ways to defeat detectors even when using X, K, or KA band, not even necessarily instant-on KA. for example if an officer is sitting at an extreme angle at the opposite end of a sharp or large curve. this also holds true for officers sitting on the other side of a hill from you.
a radar detector is a tool and gives you advanced warning in many situations. don't expect it to make it possible to drive irresponsibly and get away with it. you will still need to be very vigilant and be sure that you don't let the fact that you have a radar lull you into a false sense of security.
as i mentioned previously, if you have the unit mounted in an obvious place you often get people tailgating you or if you get pulled over you are unlikely to get any clemency at the hands of the officer. most tickets i've gotten have been reduced, "written down", changed to warnings or i've been able to get them dismissed in court. this is mostly because i have the detector covertly-mounted and am polite to cops. it's only a matter of time until you get pulled over and no matter what keep in mind that the cops are only doing their job. whether or not you agree with their methods or the fact that they are there in the first place instead of concentrating on violent crime, be polite and courteous. you don't have to go telling on yourself, but cops appreciate when you treat them like human beings.
edit:
one more thing, do not turn off X band. don't do it. at least thrice in the time i've had my detector it has saved me exactly because of this. there are a couple of state troopers that sit on a major highway at a disused onramp and use absolutely nothing but x-band. they're being clever because x band is almost never used and many detector users have it disabled as it is the most likely to false (garagedoor openers and other low-band radio signals use the same frequencies).
Last edited by dankru; 03-12-2009 at 10:29 PM..
Reason: added x-band info
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