I have an Escort 8500 and it does the job quite well, picking up Narcs a whole mile before visual confirmation. I think it looks better and is smaller than the V1, but I think the V1 has a better K range. I know the 8500 is upgradeable like the Bel above, and I think the new V1's are upgradeable also. Now the 8500 doesn't have direction signals, but it does have a front and rear antenna like the V1, and I usually slow down when I get an alarm and don't care which way the Narc or bogey is coming from. Now the 8500 doesn't have an exact bogey counter, but in expert mode can display 4 X, 2 K, and 2 Ka bands all at once, so you can usually tell if they are bogeys or not.
In response to your questions, I just know from experience that the 8500 is very easy to use, and I don't know about the V1. The 8500 has an automatice mode which detects and adjusts to radar signals so I never have to switch between highway and city. I also have it set up to display my vehicle voltage when there are no radar signals detected and then to alarm with sound and visual alerts when they have been detected. There are many features that can be easily programmed and are fun to play with, but now I just turn my car on and never have to touch a button. Now for price, you can find the 8500 on ebay for new for maybe $230, but I just decided to go with the warranty and got mine from Best Buy for $299. Now the V1 from Valentine's website is $400.
All in all, I think both detectors are superb, it just depends on what features you want and how much you are willing to spend.
