Home > Consumer Reviews > Escort Passport 8500 X50 Radar and Laser Detector (Red Display)

I use my X50 mostly when I travel. After about 6 months of owning my X50 I started up my truck and got a "Self Cal". I contacted the manufacture and was told that this is a known problem when the unit is left on and the vehicle is started. Okay why didn't they say that in the manual. The service tech walked me through a "reboot" and seemed to take care of the problem. After a couple of months I experienced the same issue this time after the unit was turned on for about 15min. I called the manufacture again and was told that I needed to contact Amazon to see about sending the unit back (Great customer service). After working through those channels for a couple of weeks I finally called the manufacture back to ask them for assistance. They informed me that my unit was now out of warranty and that if I wanted I could send my unit back with a check for $85.00 and they would refurbish my unit and return it. This will be my last Escort product. I have owned several Whistler and Beltronics in the past and have never had to have them "Refurbished" after 8 months. I thought I was buying a top of the line unit, not an over priced maintenance toy. Thanks for reading.

This is by far one of the best purchases I have ever made for my car. I have only had it for a day and it has already saved me twice. People complain about how the speaker isn't loud enough which I noticed it's not. However, it comes from the factory set to standard loudness. If you just program it to loud you are good to go. Not a single thing wrong with this product yet, and I don't think I will find anthing wrong with it. Great buy can't even express how happy I am with this radar detector

Have not found the unit to be any better or worse than any other detector that I have owned. It works but still produces as many false alarms as the last Radio Shack unit I had for half the money.

This is my third radar detector from Escort and my second Passport. I owned one of the original Escorts as well as the original Passport. The original Passport served me well for 20 years, but I recently took a job that put me on the road much more, so I decided it was time for an upgrade.

I had planned on purchasing a Valentine One, but after reading the reviews here and elsewhere I decided to go with the Passport. It seems it affords the same protection at a much lower price. Additionally, it has some nice features the Valentine doesn't. For example, it automatically reduces the sounds of the alerts after warning you. I understand, this needs to be done manually on the Valentine.

Additionally, if you would like to run in stealth mode, you can turn off the display on the unit and use the lights on the cigarette lighter as the indicator. (You can also mute the alarm from the cigarette lighter plug). With the Valentine, this is an extra cost add on.

I think the arrows on the Valentine would be nice, but I wasn't willing to pay that much more for them.

It does have laser detection, but my understanding is that unless you incorporate a laser jammer, it doesn't do you much good. Escort does sell a jammer that does integrate with the Passport 8500, so this is another plus if you need laser protection.

I have read some reviews that says Amazon is not an authorized dealer. I contacted Escort before my purchase and they told me that if purchased directly from Amazon you are fine. With some of the resellers, that may not be the case. This is important if you ever have a problem with the unit as they only honor warranties from purchases from authorized resellers.

As far as the red versus blue goes, I would have liked the blue display, but it is only cosmetic and the purpose of a radar detector is function. That being said, if you are going to buy a radar detector, buy a good one. The Passport 8500, the Valentine One and there is a highly rated Bel detector that will serve you well. Most of the rest will just tell you when you're about to recieve a ticket.

Finally regarding the cigarette lighter functionality. It is only useful if the cigarette ligher is visible from the drivers seat. In two of my cars it is hidden by the steering wheel, limiting it usefulness.

All in all, I'm pleased with the purchase. I paid less for this than I did for the original 20 years ago.

Its a great detector for sure and I like the progamability, but sure enough 16 months it displayed the service warning and no longer works. It almost seems like its programed to go home after a certain amount of time kind of like E.T. I dont know if I am going to fix it or get something else. I had the valentine one but it bugged the crap out of me with the false x band warnings. I guess $60 bucks isnt too bad for a repair but it should last longer than this. On the bright side it did pay for itself finding those traps. 3 stars for reliability / quality issues.