Quote:
Originally Posted by vp fiberglass
I'm asked this question ALL the time. My stock answer is this:
The V1 is more sensitive than the Passport products. That means more warning time, which is good. It also means more falses, not so good. Then there are the coveted arrows and bogey counter. V1 loyalists (and there are many) tout the arrows as being crucial to their experience, and no one else has them.
The Passport (specifically the 9500ix), is less sensitive so may reduce warning time, depending on the scenario. It is however, as another member pointed out, smarter than the V1. The built-in GPS technology allows it to store known speed traps. It "learns" where you are getting false hits on your daily commute and areas that you frequent. It has a built-in database of red-light and speed photo radar and known speed trap locations.
Laser performance is similar. To my knowledge, there hasn't been any comparison testing of these units on laser detection. Most testing is done on laser jamming.
So the bottom line is that you will likely get better performance out of the V1 on the highway and on road trips. You'll know if the threat is behind you. But you'll also find yourself turning it off around town because of the annoying falses. With the Passport you may not get as much warning time and you won't know which direction the LEO is hitting you from. You should still have plenty of time to react if you're paying attention. You're more likely to consider the threat a real one, and you'll be able to leave the radar detector on ALL the time.
If they're using LIDAR in your area, neither will protect you without some sort of laser "jamming", "shifting" or diffusion.
Of course, there are other subtle and debatable differences, but I think these are the main points to consider when weighing your options.
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Before I actually learned how to program my old Escort, I got so many fals alarms that I just tuned all of them out. Basically whenever it made a noise, I rarely saw cops, so I got used to just hitting the mute button and go along with my way. So it was completely pointless. But then I researched my area and they only use Ka, POP, and LASER. All the others are things false alarms.
So, now it is programmed just for those and it only makes an alert if there is a cop. Mine is setup to also show my speed on the screen at the time of the alert, which is kinda cool even though I usually know my speed.