Escort Passport 9500i Radar and Laser Detector
See it at Amazon.com for $397.50Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(1 out of 5)I'm disappointed.
After i thought my blue passport 8500 x50 was stolen ( turns out a friend was playing a joke...ha...) i went out and bought the newest passport that escort had to offer. The gps thing was cool and being able to lock out signals. Marking locations is a diff story...the thing is if you mark a location in the your local area, you ALREADY know everytime you go by it that you should be careful, so having the escort tell you that its coming up in 2400 ft.is superfluous. I was told the the antenna was the same as the 8500 x50 therefor the sensitivity should be up to par to the 8500. However, i experienced alot of lag on the the k and ka bands. It doesnt start reporting till about 2 or 3 bars in. To tell you the truth, i bit my first speeding ticket using this radar a couple days ago. I was going up a hill and coming down, i saw the cop, and at the same instant my radar goes full blast. It was error on my part to be speeding by myself, but i was disappointed by the useless warning. Regardless i never got a ticket in the 3 yrs i used the 8500.
when i got my 8500 back from my friend, i tested them side my side in my car, and indeed, the 8500 was more sensative to signals by a good 2 seconds. sometimes more. This convinced me enough to return the 9500i and keep my old 8500 x50. i am disappointed in Escort's new 9500i.
(5 out of 5)This thing is fantastic.
The first thing I want to say is that I ALMOST bought the passport 8500 because of what I read from one of the other reviews about a side by side test between the 9500i and the 8500. I read more about the topic and discovered that you can not compare the sensitivity of radar detectors by sticking both of them on your windshield and driving down the road. When they are that close to each other, they interfere with each other.
Boy am I glad I got the 9500i. The GPS functionality is great and I have blocked out all the false alarms on the usual routes I travel. So easy to do it, just hit the mute button on the device or the smart cord three times and you never have to hear that false alarm again. Sweet.
This thing has great range too. It picked up radar up to 5 miles away from one particularly well hidden detector along the Ohio turnpike.
Also, with the GPS function, it displays the speed you were going when you got "pinged" with the radar, so you can tell if you need to slow down or not. I know what you are thinking, but just because the detector is going off doesn't mean that someone with a radar gun can tell your speed. For a radar gun to detect speed, it must hit your vehicle then bounce back. This is only good for a mile at the most and under prime conditions. The detector just has to pick up the radar reaching it, so it can pick up from much farther away.
When you first get the alarm, it is usually with one bar on the detector. You can safely slow down (No slamming on the brakes) before you pass the radar source and the 9500i will keep you informed about how strong the signals are.
Another great thing about the GPS function, you can mark those pesky vascar spots. See, vascar doesn't use radar...so with any other detector, you are not protected when you pass over the white lines on the road. With this device, you can mark that spot so you know where it is next time, and it will warn you that it is coming in the appropriate amount of time depending on your speed. Sweet again.
The only down side that I can find in the 9500i after taking it around where I live and down the highway about 20 hours worth is that when the first warning shows up you can never be sure if it is a false alarm or not. You have to wait and see if it goes up high, or just stays a low signal...false alarms are almost always low signals. However, once you pass that low signal and it goes out of range, you can not...after the fact...still mark it as a fake signal to be blocked. It would have been nice if the device would allow you to still mark the most recent alarm a minute or two after you pass it. Obviously, you can mark it the next time past, but I'm just saying.
Mounts easy, comes with a nice case, extra suction cups, smart cord is awesome, and the dark feature (audio only, no light) can't be beat at night.
Overall, a GREAT device, can't recommend it enough. It has already saved me a ticket and I've only had it 2 weeks. Paid for itself.
p.s. Just so you know, radar detectors are legal in pretty much the entire country except for a few states (as long as you don't have a commercial driver's license). You can read about it on the Escort website.
(5 out of 5)Quite simply the best radar detector out there
This is an amazing device. Everyone knows the protection you get from owning a Passport radar detector, but let's face it, it can also be a pain in the rear around town. There are WAY too many false alarms.
Well, this can virtually eleminate them. Whenever you encounter what you know if a false alarm (be sure!) you can program the unit to know this signal in this location is a false alarm (total of 3 keystrokes, not hard). You will never again get that alarm in that spot. Amazing.
It is also "smart" and knows how fast you are going, auto adjusting the sensativity on the unit, again reducing false alarms.
If you drive much and want to avoid "revenue generation" tickets, this is a virtual must have purchase.
(1 out of 5)Unrealized Potential - USB does NOT work
As a radar detector I find the 9500 is slightly less sensitive than the Bel STi. I can live with that given the GPS integration... however, and the reason I'm penalizing this product is the complete misinformation surrounding the use of the USB port... there are no drivers, no published data formats and no software to take advantage of this feature. Right now the product gets 1-star for misleading advertising related to the capabilities of the device. Here's the official word from Escort regarding the USB port: "It is good to hear from you! We have not had an inordinate amount of returns with the 9500i. Currently the USB port is only used internally. In the future you will be able to download and save your marked locations, and download other customer's saved locations. In the far future, you will also be able to download software from us using the USB port. We have no time line on when these functions will be available, but our engineers are currently working on them. Thank you for your patience, and we will announce any new capabilities on our website."
(5 out of 5)This thing is amazing!
I had a Escort Passport 8500 X50 before getting this, and this thing blows that detector away! The ability to get rid of false alarms and mark known speed traps is worth the high price alone. Factor in the fact that it tells you how fast you are going, and you can share the profiles you create about speed traps and false alarms online with the provided USB port is just icing on the cake! Heck, there is even a site out there already dedicated to doing just that...
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Once people start getting on there and sharing the profiles that they create we will eventually have a online database of all known speed traps and false signals on major highways and citys, and eventually the whole country!
Just imagine, you're going on a road trip, you go to that site, download a profile that tells you where to slow down and has all false signals for the major highway you are going to travel and you really don't need to worry about cops any more!
I cannot wait till that is possible...