[5.M0NSTER]

#neverlift. Make them work for that ticket.

On a serious not if you’re in the boonies, detector helps. If you’re mostly in populated area, Waze will give you most up to date information and miles before you get there. At least a handful of users ahead of you at any given time.

[jamesinaz]

Originally Posted by 5.M0NSTER

#neverlift. Make them work for that ticket.

On a serious not if you’re in the boonies, detector helps. If you’re mostly in populated area, Waze will give you most up to date information and miles before you get there. At least a handful of users ahead of you at any given time.

Not sure who first mentioned Waze but I just downloaded it. Need to figure out if it will display on my car screen or if I need a phone mount in visual range. Might be all I need.

[Mason Hatcher]

I do not like Waze. 87 alerts for 1 thing. Never in the correct location. Runs down my phone battery...

[Drop the hammer]

I don’t use anything for daily driving as I keep with flow of traffic. However, when the need arises Waze works great and now is on our bmw screen via CarPlay. Have to keep phone plugged in though as it does draw a lot of juice when running on phone. I combine that with a passport 9500ix for detection and I’m pretty well covered. I could get nailed on laser I suppose. But hoping Waze users spot it ahead of me. No ticket here for 15+ years.
I will be upgrading the detector this fall. I’ll have to research the latest and greatest.

[jamesinaz]

Originally Posted by Drop the hammer

I don’t use anything for daily driving as I keep with flow of traffic. However, when the need arises Waze works great and now is on our bmw screen via CarPlay. Have to keep phone plugged in though as it does draw a lot of juice when running on phone. I combine that with a passport 9500ix for detection and I’m pretty well covered. I could get nailed on laser I suppose. But hoping Waze users spot it ahead of me. No ticket here for 15+ years.
I will be upgrading the detector this fall. I’ll have to research the latest and greatest.

I've got CarPlay in my Porsche so I'll see if I can make that work,

[GKay]

The Uniden R3 or R7 are the best performing detectors right now.

The Valentine 1 gen 2 is also good if you are ok with connecting it to your phone for GPS and have time to tinker with it.

Check out vortex radar website and on YouTube. Also rdforum

I have a R3 and R7.

[AlpineKing]

Originally Posted by Smgs1992

Waze is good if other users are in the area and actively update it. However id rather use my 9500ix its just more reliable imo

Exactly this, Waze reliability is subject to # of users in the area that are actively (and accurately) updating the app. Would assume that due to reduced traffic flow due to COVID/wfh rise, it would have gone down somewhat.

I certainly hope the Theia is not all smoke & mirrors, but mid way through 2020 and no release date is a bit disappointing.

[Socal_R8]

Save yourself $3K get a Uniden install Waze and get a $100 dashcam if you really need one.....

No need for a $3k laser jammer

[flybigjet]

I've been doing a fair bit of research-- the R7 seems great, but very, very noisy.

The V1G2 seemed to have a bit of trouble on initial launch (30% failure rate?)-- but hopefully those issues have been solved.

The biggest difference seems that to get the GPS functionality of the Uniden's, the V1G2 needs to be paired with a phone. Um, no. I'm a fire and forget type, so I don't want to have to deal with a phone in addition to the detector.

On the other hand, I've had a V1G1 for 15 years (never even upgraded it), and it's been great, and I've never missed not having GPS. Also, the V1G2 seems to be the best for filtering out blind spot radar.

I'm still mulling the two-- I'm sort of thinking of a road trip in two weeks, so I suppose I should make a decision soon.

[jamesinaz]

OK, really dumb question time. What is the purpose of the GPS function in a radar detector? Why does it matter where I am when I detect a radar scan?

[MurrayB]

Red light camera and photo radar database. Lockouts of false sources and many other useful things. Check out JBV1 app in the Play Store.

[Smgs1992]

The escort detectors use GPS as well. Like stated it offers speed camera warnings, marks false alerts and when using escort live allows it to sync to other radar detectors and work similar to waze without having to manually mark.

[flybigjet]

Geez. Two days ago, I'd decided on the R7.

Last night, it was the V1G2.

Today? I'm back and forth, back and forth.

Aaaargh!

[flybigjet]

Query:

On one of the Vortex YouTube video's, he shows that the Blendmount for the R7 is poorly designed in that the buttons on top of the detector are almost unusable due to interference from the mount.

Any ideas if Blendmount fixed this?

[AlpineKing]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

Geez. Two days ago, I'd decided on the R7.

Last night, it was the V1G2.

Today? I'm back and forth, back and forth.

Aaaargh!

The struggle is real! Each one has it's pros/cons, hence why the wait for the Theia. The App support for the V1_G2 is not great if you are an iphone user vs android.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by AlpineKing_M6GC

The struggle is real! Each one has it's pros/cons, hence why the wait for the Theia. The App support for the V1_G2 is not great if you are an iphone user vs android.

I'm not sure the Theia will ever make it to market-- it sure seems to be on "indefinite hold". When was the release date, again?

I decided to wait on making a decision-- I'm leaving on my road trip sooner than I thought, so no point in rushing the decision, and I'm not sure I could get a V1G2 in time anyway.

I'm just going to use a suction cup and my old V1G1 for the trip. The software hasn't been updated in 15 years, but it's still a pretty solid machine-- at least for highway driving.

Not the "perfect" solution, but better than nothing, I suppose.

[damnitBobby]

Originally Posted by Sy1616

Sold my V1s and only use Waze. Been great.

Waze is great and I use it every single time I'm driving but it has some limitations. One thing is you have to rely on other drivers to tag cops. If you drive in rural areas like I do there aren't very many Waze users and so a cop may be untagged. Second thing is it can't notify you of cops in motion (which are the ones that always pull me over).

I've had my Uniden for a couple days now and I love it! The GPS lockout for false alerts is very convenient and couldn't imagine a radar detector without it now. Super good range and pretty easy to operate.

[5.M0NSTER]

If you decide to go with a radar detector make sure it is Spectre undetectable.

I had a really neat detector/laser jammer unit once that was confiscated in Canada. The cop must have had a Spectre unit in the car and pulled me over for having a detector. Should have wrapped it in aluminum foil. And the Canadian cop didn't write me up for speeding (which of course I was, their speed limits are bullshit), he wrote me for having a detector.

Can't remember the brand now (it was over 10 years ago) but I was nailed by laser doing 10-15 over multiple times, and didn't get pulled over. On each occasion they would hit me 2-3 times, giving me time to slow down.

[Ahanix]

I’ve had the Uniden R3 for the last two years and it’s been wonderful. I decided to buy an R7 for my car and donate the R3 to my wife’s car but ended up returning the R7. It was amazing but I haven’t had any issues with the R3 + Waze and I felt the R7’s sensitivity was almost too much and my radar was always going off rather than at necessary detections. (It would pick up the radar posted on street poles) as an example.

[ramman434]

I've had my V1 G1 for almost 12 years now without upgrades + Waze on long road trips for the past 8 years. The combo is great.

I've been considering the Gen 2 just because they offer a trade-in incentive of $120 or so off of the price by sending in your old Gen 1. I just haven't gotten around to biting the bullet yet.

[flybigjet]

I just checked the Valentine website-- they will no longer upgrade the software on your V1G1.

So, you get a few bucks off to buy a new detector-- which isn't worth it if you want to keep the old one AND get a new one.

Remember Mike Valentine's tag phrase: "The last detector you'll ever need"?

Riiiiight.
NOT impressed.

[sspade]

Uniden R1 here. Same detector as the R3 without GPS functionality.

Its honestly been really great for my needs. I only use it on the highway for longer trips which makes the GPS functions slightly less necessary for me. Not many red light cameras or false alarms to MARK on the highway at 85 mph.

Hasn't failed me yet, knock on wood!