First of all, it helps to know about radar and laser. X, k, and ka band, and Laser. Let's look at Laser, If you are paying attention and the cop is not hiding, you will see him shooting the laser. There is a law that says cops can only use the speed they capture if it is within 1,000 feet. The laser gun will read your speed further out but when you are within 1,000 feet, he can use your speed for his purposes. You will definitely see him if he is not hiding. Harder to do in the city. Easy on the interstate.
Radar. You don't have to worry to much about x band***8230;.***8230;.especially on the interstate. K band and ka band***8230;...very dangerous. 2 modes for k, on all the time and instant on. 3 modes for ka***8230;.***8230;.***8230;... on all the time, instant on, and pop mode. Ka band is the only band used in the pop mode. The bell is your best defense to ka band. The ka band is so wide it takes time for a radar detector to detect it.
There are 3 frequencies allowed for police radar on the ka band and the bell has a function that it will only scan these 3 frequencies making it more sensitive to that band than the other detectors. Instant on...... if you are speeding, and you are the only car, or if traffic is very light***8230;...I don't care what kind of detector you have***8230;.***8230;..it wont help with instant on. The cop doesn't turn his radar on until he sees u, by the time you detector goes off***8230;..its too late.
Ka band in the pop mode. Most detectors don't pick this up. The bell is the ONLY detector that caught this. Police are not supposed to use the pop mode for speed readings because it's so fast, it's been proven to be inaccurate. This is what they are supposed to do. Use the pop mode to get the reading, (your detector probably wont go off) then use instant on to verify the speed. (your detector will go off)
With this being said I would go with the bell or the escort. I own the escort. All of these detectors are good. I guess the arrows are good on the V1, but if YOU KNOW HOW TO USE A DETECTOR, you can do without the arrows. When I say, know how to use, I don't mean plugging it in and turning it on and slowing down when the thing goes off.
Just keep this in mind. It's a RADAR detector. Not a cop car detector, or a police officer detector.
Police people are smart, if they have been doing traffic for a while, they can estimate how fast you are going by just looking at how fast you are approaching. I went to a bridge that crosses over I95 and just spent some time watching the cars go by. I'm no where near a good judge on speed, but after watching for a while I could tell the cars that were speeding.
Another thing, (this was true 2 years ago, I don't know what other type of motion sensors or devices that has come out since then to set a detector off on the ka band, so don't hold me to this) IF YOUR DETECTOR GOES OFF FOR KA BAND IT IS DEFINITLY POLICE RADAR, as this is the ONLY thing that will set a detector off on the ka band. Hope this helps.