Valentine One Radar 1st Day

Ah my first post that is not iPhone related in a long time hehe Anyhow, I got pulled over last week for speeding on a 40 limit road and got gun down by laser, so I decided it was time to protect myself with a radar/laser detector.

My advice is before you use one, make sure you understand what it does and how it does it, know what is k, ka, pop, instant on, laser, and so forth. Also, make sure you are not located or driving thru Virginia or DC as these 2 states ban the use of radar detectors.

So if you are all set what should you buy? In my opinion, spend the extra cash or don’t buy it at all, so it boils down to the Valentine One or Escort 9500i, for that price range, currently running approximately $400 – $450. I have tested out the 9500i and I do like the features such as GPS and the voice notification system to alert you to what ever band is detected. However after spending a week with it, it just didn’t work for my style, it is very very quiet and would only alert you when it thinks it is a real radar, thus reducing falses tremendously, but if it thinks wrong? As it did happen to me.which is good not good at all. But hey if you like a quieter ride, the 9500i is the way to go, but note that the laser detection is not as good as the Valentine. Nothing beats the Valentine on laser so far.

The 3 best features on the Valentine are the mute volume control, the bogey counter and the arrows, and I have to say the arrows on the v1 ROCKS! Why? Cos’ with arrows you will be able to determine the location of the radar while you drive pass it, thus you will know if it is real or not. Once you have tried out the arrows, there is no going back.

The bogey counter on the other hand will alert you on multiple signals that it has detected, so say you know for a fact that a certain area you travel frequently has only 2 bogus radars coming from the automatic door openers, but on one trip it detected 3 or more, thus you will know that a real radar is around the corner. And it will filter out which signal is the most important with a blinking arrowing.

Lastly the mute knob, which allows to you mute down to a different sound that you have set instead of complete slience.

So with my first day out, I have got hit by k, ka, laser and instant on, pretty much everything in their arsenal, except trailing and pacing. I am just unlucky this couple of weeks, sigh.

What the last two methods means is that, the cops have the ability to actually trail or pace you while you are driving and then read their speedometer decide if they are going to pull you over and just before they do, they will gun you down with the radar, which by then it is a little too late. Remember, a radar detector is only good and effective when a radar is being use or turned on, thus their ability to go stealth is something that no radar detector is able to pick up, this is the basic understanding you must understand when using a detector. But for all other instances when the radar or laser is activated, nothing comes close to the Valentine One for this price range. It is definitely a keeper.

Enjoy and drive safe.

REVIEW of 3G AT&T Sierra Aircard 875U HSDPA vs Sprint Sierra Aircard 595U EVDO rev A

My new AT&T 875U aircard just arrived, and I just put it through it paces. In 2 words. FREAKING FAST! Check out my speeds. This is running on AT&T 3G network in Dallas TX. Overall, I am very impress with the aircard and the AT&T service so far. I had Sprint EVDO rev A service before this, not much luck.

Theses speeds were recorded with 1-2 signal bars on the AT&T 875U aircard!!!

AT&T 875U vs Sprint 595U Comparison:

Looks:

Similar in dimension.

Packaging:

AT&T 875U came in a packaging similar to a DVD though slightly thicker. Sprint 595U came a smallish cardboard box. The reason for the difference in packaging is that Sprint provides a docking station whereas AT&T does not. The docking station might come in handy, if you need to free up the neighboring USB port when inserting the 875U 0r 595U aircard or you could get a USB extension to do that. The other stuff in the box is pretty standard, CDs, instruction manuals, etc.

Initialization:

I will have to give the 2 thumbs up to AT&T here. The reason is that all you have to do is install the sim card to the aircard, install the software, let the software detect the card and click connect and you will be on the highway. As for Sprint 595U, install the software, let the software detect the card, the software will run through a series of question asking for the lock code and MSID number and phone number, wait again, download the IOTA info into the card and then click connect. I don’t really understand the need for a lock code? It is inconvenient, cos’ if something happens to the card eg. it cannot connect in the future, you will have to run through the series of question asking for the lock code again. Thus having to remember another few numbers. yikes! Whereas on AT&T 875U, you just let the software detect the card and click connect, it’s just that simple! No lock code, MSID, numbers to enter.

Usage:

Both aircards DOES work on Mac OS X, and it achieves similar speed to the PC, if not better! The AT&T and Sprint store guys will tell you otherwise, don’t listen to them. Just go over to Sierra Wireless website to download the drivers for OS X and you are good to go. Note that the Sprint 595U card needs to be initialize on a PC first in order to work on in OS X, due to the lock code and all the good stuff, whereas I believe though have not tried, the AT&T will work right out of the box on in OS X, if not just run VMware Fusion or Bootcamp to initialize the card.

B oth aircards have an internal battery, which is suppose to increase the reception power of the card, thus improving speeds. The AT&T 875U does have a sim card that needs to be inserted.

The speed on the Sprint 595U in my 2 most frequent location (office and home) in the metroplex of Dallas TX was NOT GOOD! I was getting very spotty connection and it was very very slow worst than dialup or no connection at all. This has been verified with Sprint network engineers and a new cell tower is to be completed in 6 months near my office location to improve the reception. I just could not wait that long. At other location around Dallas using the Sprint 595U card, I was getting very decent signals and speeds, but nothing impressive as some has expreience. I guess is just the area where you are and the number of user using the service at the given time. Keep in mind that EVDO and HSDPA is a shared network, thus more users the slower the service. So with these hiccups with Sprint, I had to leave them, even though their advance tech support is really helpful and awesome! kudos to them!

On the AT&T 875U aircard in my 2 frequent location, I am getting freaking fast speeds (please see above)! My guess is that since AT&T had to built new towers from scratch to support 3G HSDPA, they basically had new equipment placed in. Also I believe that AT&T 3G runs on a lower frequency than Sprint, thus having the ability to curve and penerate through wall better than Sprint. Do keep in mind that Sprint still has the largest 3G network in the nation and AT&T is still pretty limited but growing nonetheless.

Price:

Both aircards at retail run for $149 with a $100 mail-in rebate. However, if you click this Amazon link and if you are new subscriber. Monthly rates on Sprint runs at $59.99 for unlimited data and AT&T runs at $79.99 for unlimited data and $59.99 if you are current AT&T subscriber. Both providers require a 2 year agreement, with a true 30 days risk free usage on Sprint vs a prorated 30 day service on AT&T. The increase in price on AT&T could be a deal breaker but for what I need I will to fork out the extra $240 per year more vs Sprint.

Software and Functionality:

On the PC, I have to say the Sprint has the upper hand in term of design of connection manager, whereas AT&T is rather plain. The Sprint 595U card does offer static GPS via the connection manager, though I have read somewhere that someone manage to use it a GPS receiver via Google Earth. The static GPS on Sprint offers you Geocaching, POIs and directions, though more functionality is suppose to be added in the future by Sprint. The AT&T 875u is rather much a high speed modem, that’s it, nothing else, It does its job and only job really well, as it was still giving decent speeds of average 500K d/200K u with 1 to ZERO signal bars vs Sprint, which could not give me anything decent below 3 signal bars (the signal scale for both cards are 4 max). You heard me right ZERO signal bar, I was SHOCK to see that it got connected and on top of that produce decent speeds, WOW! Overall, I am impress with AT&T 3G.

Future:

It look very promising, with HSPDU in pipes and EVDO rev B in the works. More and more phone and aircard manufacturers are coming out with 3G devices and very soon we will be having broadband internet everywhere.

Conclusion:

I don’t think there is anything so wrong in getting the Sprint 595U card, if your area supports it, which is touted to be a lot of areas except mine (which is in the heart of Dallas). Though, I could never see these speed numbers above with Sprint, I have to say that AT&T is very much faster. AT&T monthly service is very much more than Sprint, but you can get the AT&T card for here instantly vs $149 paid up front and $100 mail in rebate at a retail store; AT&T or Sprint. Both cancelation fees to break the 2 year agreement are pretty much the same. Do check out their service maps to make sure their serving 3G in your area, if not when you get the cards they will be bummed down to EDGE speeds for AT&T and 1xRTT speed for Sprint, both very slow in my opinion. If you do plan to roam I do suggest the AT&T card as they support a wide variety of providers worldwide though you do have to pay for roam charges. Whereas Sprint does not charge for roaming it is know that there ain’t that many EVDO networks worldwide compare to GSM 3G networks. I did come across a guy who claim that the Sprint card does work in China, but I do not have the evidence to prove it.

If you are wondering if a PCMCIA or Expresscard or USB is faster? It is the same speed for 3G networks. I would go with a USB aircard as you can bring it around an have your drivers installed on a flash drive, if you ever need internet connection on another computer while travelling. Rather than lugging around a big PCMCIA or Expresscard, the 875u or 595u aircard is the smaller of the two, thus making it easy to carry around.

All in all, whichever aircard or service you choose, AT&T or Sprint. You will not go wrong. I just happen to have better service with AT&T.