Not sure if the display is laser or LED, but blue is more difficult to create than red, hence the price difference.

If you actually check out the link to the newspaper story, it shows the CHP officer with a Lidar gun. V1 and Passport are equally ineffectual against Lidar.

Best bet is to not have a front license plate. Technically this is illegal but up to now it has not been enforced. Now that CHP is starting to use Lidar they may start ticketing for no front plate, but the fix-it ticket for that is way cheaper than a speeding ticket for 30 over.

So how do we find out in what states the "Blinder" is legal, or illegal?

I know radar detectors are illegal in Virgina, so I'd assume a laser jammer would be as well.

Of course, they're illegal in VA, but it's very difficult to get caught and the penalty for getting caught is less than any speeding ticket. It's a risk well worth taking IMHO.

The 8500 also has a bogey counter but it actually displays what bands are being shot and how many, not just a count number.

It also has a spec display where you can see what frequency they are using and you can figure out what radar/laser equipment they are using.

V1 displays the bands in use as well as the bogey counter and the direction that the signal is coming from. Not the exact freq though.

Here is a lively thread on Officer.com discussing the use of radar detectors..Officer.com is a website dedicated specificly to law enforcement officers and topics..It consists of 90%LEOs..Check it out.

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57808

Correct. The laser beam is very narrow and aimed at your plate, away from your windshield where the detector is located.

This is no longer a fix-it ticket in California. It has been made into a moving violation. Besides, they can aim at your headlights as an alternative.

Valentine, no doubt. Also a:
http://blinder.net/ Why? Laser "gots yas in an instant". Yes it works.

Regarding front license plates...
I've wondered about this on the 944 with retracted headlights. With no front plate and no headlights to aim for, what do they point the laser at next?
Any law enforcment guys on the board have any ideas?

Plenty of front end and bumper to aim at.

The laser flares out fairly significantly by the time it reached the average vehicle - it's just that when you detect the laser..........you have already been had.

You think 18" at 500' is wide? You're right, though. Usually when you detect it (if you do), you've already been painted.

Recall that the laser is hand held and that the 18" waves around a bit before lock on.

The ultimate: Blinder Laser Jammer - they work very well.

And travel in a pack, or pick an area that cannot hide the fuzz.
Cogito ergo zoom!

Ok, so now I have my radar detector and I have it mounted on the winsheild right below the rear view mirror. To my limited understanding of California law, I don't think RD's are illegal but I know that you can't mount anything to your wind shield. So what do you when your in the city, at a light, and a police car is right behind you? Obviously he see's the RD. In your experience guys, do cops generally pull you over for having and RD in the car where an RD isn't legal but mounting on the windshield is?

Am I supposed to scramble to hide the RD if I see a cop closing in behind me?

Mount it low, on the dash, in the middle so it is resting on the dash itself.
V! works A1 this way -

I had it mounted low at first but then I read somewhere, possibly in the manual to not obstruct it by windshwield wipers..hehe...so i mounted it high again.

Receives right under the wipers - up high you have the freaking cord and hard to read etc - go low....

Good article on the V1 here...

http://www.laserveil.com/valentine/one/

Mounted up high is the way to go. Mounted higher gives you more advance warning of upcoming stuff. I have a V1 and used the longer straight (not coiled) cable and ran it up the A-pillar, across the top of the windshield, down to the rear view mirror, and then over to the radar detector. That way there's very little wire exposed.

LOL--great link! Those fellas aren't exactly breaking any stereotypes are they?

You still get some protection against laser - first off, have you ever tried to aim a simple laser pointer at something 500' away? Try it. You'll get "jitter" and variation of maybe a couple of feet each way. Can't be any easier with a heavier handheld "gun" think like L.E. uses. So there's a chance to get a warning before getting painted and having a return sent to the unit. Secondly is the "scatter" from another car ahead of you getting zapped. Point is, it IS possible to get warning with laser, but it's more difficult than with radar. The FAQ section of the V1 page supports this.

Recently got my V1. It's already paid for itself. That thing is awesome. My only gripe is that despite the excellent filtering, there are still a crapload of false "X" warnings in this area (enough to be annoying) and an occasional false "K". However, compared to my old Escort, the frequency of false alarms is pretty low.

I'm not advocating speeding or driving like a maniac, but the sad fact of the matter is this whole "speeding" thing is a B.S. game about revenue and control - nothing more. When I see TWO speed traps on my way to work (<5 miles) on the same day and one of them just plucks someone randomly from a pack of cars driving 10-ish MPH over the limit for the hell of it, it's a B.S. game and unfortunately it requires every tool in one's arsenal just to keep the crooks' hands out of my wallet. . . If the speed limits were more reasonable to begin with and commiserate with the speeds that are proven daily to be perfectly safe and efficient by thousands of people that drive on a particular stretch of roadway without incident, such things wouldn't be necessary, but that's the state of our system. Pretty pathetic, really.

Anyway, another enthusiastic thumbs up for V1.

I'd be inclined to get the Passport 9500i. Integrating GPS into areas of common false alerts and frequent speed traps is ingenious. I also like the idea of alerts being disabled when you're going slow, like in a parking lot.

Yep!
 

Yep, my father (retired LEO) and my brother (active LEO) both look down their noses at me (and other) radar detector owners, but when I asked them what they do when they get pulled over, they said they "flash the badge" and get out of tickets. So, I told them the V1 is my "badge"!!!

Re: Yep!
 

Art...you kinda learned this one the hard way, didn't ya? Your road trip down south? ;)

Sweet, a replacement for my Uniden GPS-RD. Anyone know a place to get one for a discount?

I've gotten my previous Passport RD's from wholesalers on eBay for huge discounts.

Re: Re: Yep!
 

I think I did pretty well on the 3300 mile trip as my speedometer broke (still broken) in TN, about 400 miles into the trip and I drove the rest of the way using the tachometer to estimate my speed and I didn't get a ticket! I bought the V1 for my daily 60 mile commute in my MazdaSpeed3 and it's all expressway driving and the V1 really helps!

Some of the interesting features of the Uniden GPS-RD

You can tag places that are known speed traps and the unit will alert you from position only.

It records short duration weak alerts. If it detects the same signal more than once, it records the position and keeps a log of "false" signal positions. The radar detector will still alert you, but it will not use sound during these encounters.

It also has some rudimentary GPS features. It has stored the position of Major citys and can give you an approximate direction, distance and time to reach. It also allows storage of user recorded points of interest, i.e. home location, work, airport, etc.

It was pretty advanced for a Detector I purchased in 2002. The main reason I purchased it was for the speed readout. None of my Porsches had very accurate speedometers, due to tire size changes. This makes the speedometer unimportant.

on the V1 site is instructions for eliminating the X function

The ONLY way to avoid a Laser ticket is to JAM IT! No matter how good your detector is your still caught, unless your lucky enough to get a stray beam from another car that is close and being targeted.

I use Blinder M20X on my 911. Saved me many times
Got it here cheap
http://stores.needfultoyz.com/Categories.bok?category=Automotive%3ALASER+JAMMER