Well, I looked through the archives and didn't see a post directly related to the Valentine One radar detector. It got glowing reviews from a lot of members, and was recommended to me after I got my speeding ticket. I thought I'd start a thread.

I bought the unit directly from Valentine (the only way to go, unless you buy used) and it came with a pretty comprehensive set of accessories. Two power cords, hardwire install kit, visor mount, suction mount, cigarette power adapter, extra suction cups, and manual. Shipping was $16.00, FEDEXed. The unit arrived two days after I placed my order. Price is a bit steep at $399, but this thing is supposed to be one of the best and it's certainly not the most expensive unit out there. (I've seen some radar detector setups for $1100+??)

Appearance-wise, it's smaller than I thought it would be. It's also much, much lighter than I imagined. Some people have complained about "old styling" but in my opinion, the Valentine One "looks the business". Very military-looking, built like an HP oscilloscope from the seventies. I'm not impressed by the "ladies shaving razor"-look of some of the other manufacturer's units.

Just for fun, I went for a drive with the Valentine on my visor at night, tracing my usual commute routes.

I noticed a couple of things:

1) Two cops pulled over a car in tandem on the opposite side of an 8-lane highway. The Valentine one picked up a couple of short "blips" on Ka-band about a mile away from the cars.
2) Full-blown Ka alert on a hidden officer on a highway exit ramp, a place where I never knew that police were checking for speed. After I passed up the off-ramp, the V1 still gave the rear Ka-band alert. Interesting.
3) "Speed Radar Signs", (the ones that show you your speed) are detectable from about a mile away on Ka-band. The interesting thing is that when the sign is off (not displaying speeds) the V1 will still pick the sign up from about 300-350 feet.

I like the fact that the unit is pretty much "plug and play", simple to use, and that it has two volume controls (one for mute and one for normal operation.) I can't say much about how the Valentine One is better or worse than other detectors, but it seems to do what it says it will do. Even in the short time I've had it, it's pretty obvious that Ka-band alerts are always speed radars. K-band is sometimes police, but sometimes a false alert and X-band is almost always a false alert. Now I know when not to pass, when to slow down when everyone else is speeding, etc.

Features I wish it had:

1) Individual bogey counters, arrows, and strength meters for each band
2) An option to disable the radar mode display when no signals are being received.
3) The ability to dim the display even more at night.