Both are have gotten excellent reviews, however, I've found a detector that has, for me, far more real-world usefulness, than either of the aforementioned: UNIDEN GPSRD.
Fact: it's a mediocre radar and laser detector. Either the Passport or Val. 1 will destroy it in detection of radar/laser.
Fact: constant radar warnings due to false signals, etc. renders any detector a "little boy who cried wolf", meaning after a while, what do you believe?
Here's why I love my GPSRD. It got GPS Satellite mapping! It maps out false signals in your area (where you drive repeatedly), and over time, will begin to silence itself, revealing only NEW sources as they are found. This is VERY useful. That automatic door opener down at the 24hr STOP-&-ROB won't set it off after it has learned that this is a false signal. How do you teach it? Easy - DO NOTHING! If you spot a real radar threat, hit a button marking it as a trap. In a few days, all those false alarms that set off your V1 or any other non-GPS unit, will go away. Silence is good.
It's not as sensitive as the top two, but, you know something - so what.
99% of the time I pass troopers on the side of the road who are not blasting X or Ka band because they typically use the INSTANT ON function anyway. No 8500 or V1 can save you from INSTANT ON, or laser for that matter.
But the GPSRD has something to help you avoid a nasty surprise. It allow YOU to manually mark locations where a trooper sits, a trap, with his radar off. So the next time you get close to that spot it warns you that a radar trap is up ahead.
It also has GPS navagation, albeit not the fancy moving map screen type, but it's there nonetheless. Headed for Fresno? Just push a button or two and it' will tell you, by cardinal points on the compass which way to go, and how long it should take you, given your current speed, to get there - and "as the crow flies" distance to your destination. It's got a database of over 1200 cities in the US. It's a speedometer too, with instantanous, average, and TOP speeds TOO!!!
Try THAT with your V1.
Truth be told, the GPSRD saved me from an instant on trap last night. I had previously marked a spot on the interstate where I saw a trooper hiding blind, but could see in the rearview. When the GPSRD warned me last night about the approaching trap, I moved out of the fast lane, begrudgingly, and into the middle. The tailgator behind me was more than happy to fill the void with a speeding mass of radar reflecting metal. BAM! The GPSRD started screaming, getting hit from behind, and I watched in amazement at how the GPS trap mapping saved me from INSTANT ON.
Again, try THAT with your 8500.
Do I like my GPSRD. No. I love it. If you gave me $300 to buy either of the "top" detectors, I'd buy another GPSRD, pocket the difference, buy some good cigars and light one every time I saw one of you "top" detector dudes pulled over with an astonished and stunned look on your faces.
You can get the GPSRD for about $200 if you poke around on the net.
That's just my opinion. If someone knows of a better solution to the problem of falsing, or INSTANT ON, please lets us all know.
Michael