Escort Passport 8500 X50 Radar and Laser Detector (Red Display)
See it at Amazon.com for $178.50Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(5 out of 5)Extremely Accurate and Simple to use. Pricey - but...
Before I actually begin, one thing should be perfectly clear - you're looking at this radar because you understand accuracy is not only important, it is critical when looking for a radar detector. If you look at my other reviews, you'll notice that I've given 5 stars to those products as well - you'll also notice I haven't done many reviews in the past, that's because I only really write reviews for items that I think deserve it. As for the rest, well, I don't keep the product if it doesn't meet the 5 star requirement! So trust me when I say this radar is the best you can buy under $500.
Accuracy:
I've always been a little skeptical about using radar detectors, everyone knows they won't prevent tickets every single time. But, if it can save you a couple tickets it's already paid for itself. I live in Chicago, and frequently drive to neighboring states for work and to visit family. Because of this, I knew that I would have to buy a solid detector that was effective if I was constantly on the road. I made the right choice. Driving on the expressways in the midwest is simple for me now knowing I am using the 8500 x50. It has alerted me much in advance if a cop was gunning and I've always had time to slow down and pass the cop at the posted speed limit. The three main alerts, K, KA, and X are pretty much always on target - and with minimal false readings, it stays quiet when it needs to.
Ease of Use:
One of the best aspects of this radar is how easy it is to use. Right out of the package, it's ready to go. However, if you're a little more technical and always need things a certain way, you can configure it with a number of different settings to fit your style. One of the downfalls is that I wish the x50 would have a better volume control - I feel that it doesn't go loud enough, especially when I'm listening to music in my car. To make up for it, I've moved the x50 from the center of the winshield to more to the left, so it is in my field of vision while I drive to allow me to see the display at all times out of the corner of my eye. In addition, the Escort SmartCord works well with it's auto mute button on the adaptor itself.
Value:
Hands down, the x50 takes the gold as the number one radar on the market. You're probably thinking to yourself, $340 for a radar detector is a lot of money. And you know.. you're absolutely right. But.. if you save yourself two speeding tickets, the x50 has paid for itself (not to mention the pain of having to go to court and traffic school). If this radar was over $400, it would still be worth it considering what you may be saving yourself from. I got the x50 with the blue display because it was from the Sharper Image, and that's all they had. If you want to save yourself $40 by going with the red display, I say do it and save some cash.
The Bottom Line:
If you want to make a solid investment, get the 8500 x50 and don't waste your money with a $100 or $200 radar that isn't accurate - doing that will cost you the price of your ticket plus a radar detector that would be better off being used for a paper weight. Although Bel and the Valentine One are solid detectors, they don't match up to the stats that the x50 has - see it for yourself at www.radartest.com.
(1 out of 5)Beware!
I ordered the Passport X50 from Amazon to save the $18 shipping Escort Radar was charging. I was told by someone at Escort Radar that Amazon was an authorized reseller.
After having my detector on for ten minutes (right out of the box), it did three "SELF CAL"s, then said "SERVICE REQUIRED". I called Escort Radar and was told "If you let the car power up the unit when you start the car, the voltage can be all over the place and the unit gets confused. You must first start the car, and then use the thumbwheel to turn on the detector." It makes some sense, but if this is really the case, why don't they put those instructions in their manual? After trying this many times, the unit was "still confused", so I returned it for a replacement.
My second detector worked for maybe thirty minutes before the same thing happened. This time Escort Radar told me "if you leave it plugged into the cigarette lighter over night, this has been found to cause problems." Well my lighter power goes off when I turn off the ignition, so this doesn't apply. Escort Radar also told me that "excessive heat" has been causing them problems. Now we have had a few days of 100° heat, and I'm sure the car gets hotter parked in the sun, but the design engineers should have accounted for these conditions plus some margin when you design something that is supposed to work in a car. It gets a lot hotter in other parts of the country. There are no warnings in the manual about not using it above 90° or leaving it off in a hot car. You wouldn't design a ski that doesn't work below 35°, would you???
The most troubling part of my conversation with Escort Radar service department was they told me Amazon is not an authorized reseller, and they have no idea where they are getting the units from. Furthermore, they will not honor any warranty nor will they ever repair the unit, not even for money.
(4 out of 5)The good, the bad and the noisy
After driving for ~2 weeks with both x50 and Valentine One I am
keeping x50 and Val1 will go back to the vendor.
Besides the price differential, x50 offers better pop protection,
is less sensitive in the city driving and offers more up-to-date
interface.
On the other hand it lacks arrows and back window radar (it does
have a back window laser detector, which is not the same as a
full fledged radar that Valentine 1 has patented).
Arrows could come very handy, but this alone does not
justify the ~$120 difference between otherwise very similar
products.
Other than that, both units are very accurate compared to some
other detectors that I've tried. The noise level in the city
driving could get excessive, thankfully x50 comes with a very convinient mute button right on their "smart cord" power supply.
I am deducting a star for the lack of a carrying case,
as less expensive units come with carrying cases out of the box
I was expecting x50 to provide this accessory as part of the
product, not a separate purchase.
(1 out of 5)Warning: This is the worst detector I have owned
Well, after reading all the fanatical reviews and owning a beltronics for 4 years and not getting one ticket, I decided to "upgrade" to an Escort Passport 8500 x50. It started out seeming to work wonderfully. I would catch city cops a mile away. Soon, I started getting constant X band warnings every other mile just about when nothing was even around, even in the country.
I just took a trip to Florida from Indiana. I was heading down the interstate about 93, in 70 MPH zone. I looked to my left to see a cop, and all the sudden my detector went off. It didn't go off until AFTER I passed him. Needless to say I got a ticket. Okay, I thought maybe he just turned it on. I can live with one ticket.
So I'm coming back home from Florida. Not paying attention to my speed, because I have this god-graced radar detector. Well I'm following the flow of traffic, about 50 in a 35. Sure enough, my detector goes off, and I look to the right to find a cop sitting there. He comes and writes me a ticket.
This is by far the worst detector I have EVER owned. I will stick to beltronics.
(5 out of 5)Excellent Product
I had used the RMR - C450 radar detector and jammer for about a year. That product was way over hyped and had very poor detection range. On the advise of a good friend I sold the RMR and bought the 8500 X50. I never realized how bad that RMR was until I started using this unit. I have picked up police radar close to two miles from me AND have picked up radar over a small hill well before I topped it. Another great thing is that the false alarms are few and far inbetween. The only issues I have with this unit are that POP detection is not turned on by default, the programming innerface is not real easy, and that POP false alarms do happen (maybe this is why it's turned off by default).