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      07-13-2011, 03:16 PM   #1
saeedg48
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Question Escort Passport 9500ix Radar/Laser Detector

should i get one?
any reviews out there?

where can i find a good deal on a new one?

--edited

now that i've owned one for almost six months i can report that it's the best radar detector out there.
the smart cord connects wirelessly to your iPhone. doesn't get any better than this.
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      07-13-2011, 03:27 PM   #2
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I like mine a lot for the red light camera detection. At first I thought I would really miss the arrows on the valentine one I had but I don't even think about that anymore. The 9500ix has saved me numerous times on the way to work and mini road trips. Most of all knowing where the red light cameras is the best feature for me.
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      07-13-2011, 03:28 PM   #3
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I came accross this about 1 month ago, it was between the 9500ix and the V1, I decided to go with the escort simply because it has GPS so it picks up known speed traps, along with red light cameras, and laser also the setting from auto, auto nox, and highway is really nice if your driving around town or in the city. most of my friends have V1 and after seeing the performance in this there are a few switching over. hope this helps
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      07-13-2011, 03:38 PM   #4
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im going to get one pretty soon. my friend has the previous version the 8500...and that thing has saved us plenty of times so i can only imagine how good the 9500ix will be
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      07-13-2011, 04:50 PM   #5
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when mine makes a noise, there is cop.

simple as that. I highly recommend one.
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      07-13-2011, 04:53 PM   #6
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When the laser warning goes off, it's too late - you've been painted...
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      07-13-2011, 05:18 PM   #7
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Not a bad choice at all. Google for reviews, especially from guys of lidar. Any of these are considered top notch for detection: STi Driver, STiR, 9500ix, 9500Ci, Redline or V1. Good luck.


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      07-13-2011, 05:24 PM   #8
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I sold 2 of my V1's and put the 9500Ix in my wife's car and my daily driver. I too thought I would miss the arrows. And in truth, I do miss them a little. I think whoever said, "when it goes off there is a cop." hit it on the head. That is the best part about this detector. It never goes off, once it learns where the false alarms are, so when it does I slam the brakes. With the V1, it is always going off and I end up just ignoring it.
I still have one more V1 that I am planning on putting in the M3 when it gets here. I am more than happy to sell it and get another 9500Ix. From what I've read, Valentine has the patent on the arrows and Escort has the patent on the internal GPS, so we will never see a radar with the best of both worlds.
In the end, both are great detectors. I just prefer the Escort, because I don't ignore it when it goes off.
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      07-13-2011, 09:02 PM   #9
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I have a Passport 9500ci installed and once you have it, you can pretty much say good bye to cops. It is expensive, so only worth it if you are not planning to sell or return anytime soon. Specials these days are running about $1600 USD installed. I am not sure how different 9500xi is but in Canada if a cop sees one even on the street then you will likely get pulled over.
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      07-13-2011, 09:03 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OC3 View Post
When the laser warning goes off, it's too late - you've been painted...
Not true, if you are using the new ones with shift.
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      07-13-2011, 09:31 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saeedg48 View Post
should i get one?
any reviews out there?

where can i find a good deal on a new one?
have had one for over a year now. Love it and its probably saved me half a dozen times.
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      07-13-2011, 09:37 PM   #12
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I have had mine for two years and it has saved me dozens of times. i don't have any laser shifters but there is one that will work with it. If you are really lucky you may get a signal bouncing off another car. Most of the cops running laser are usually pretty obvious. Most pick a long straight for easy targeting and are often under an underpass.

I love the fact it only goes off when it means it.
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      07-14-2011, 02:26 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by airwave808 View Post
Not true, if you are using the new ones with shift.
The laser shifters are pretty weak, better of adding front and rear Laser Interceptor or Blinder
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      07-16-2011, 03:35 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrisfast View Post
...With the V1, it is always going off and I end up just ignoring it...
Not if it's set up right. Unfortunately, the only instructions for doing this are on the Valentine 1 website and Mr. Valentine seems to discourage anyone from doing this. However, I and others have done it with great success. When it goes off now it pretty much means that there is a cop using his radar.

This is not to take anything away from the 9500**, they are great detectors. But the V1 is equally as good -- better at some things, not so much at others.


Cheers.
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      07-16-2011, 03:40 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by airwave808 View Post
I have a Passport 9500ci installed and once you have it, you can pretty much say good bye to cops. It is expensive, so only worth it if you are not planning to sell or return anytime soon. Specials these days are running about $1600 USD installed. I am not sure how different 9500xi is but in Canada if a cop sees one even on the street then you will likely get pulled over.
The Escort 9500ci, Redline along with the Bel STi Driver and STi-R are all stealth, i.e. cannot be received by a radar-detector-detector that some cops use. I'm not sure about the 9500ix; you'll need to look that up for sure. However, the 9500ix (and Redline and STi Driver) are window mount models and can be seen by cops and thieves when they're mounted in the window. Placing them intelligently (usually up high) will help, but not totally hide them. This is an issue in Canada and in Virginia and DC.


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      07-29-2011, 05:54 PM   #16
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I really like the 9500ci (prefer the accuracy and remote install), but laser jammers are an issue in Colorado...
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      07-29-2011, 07:40 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ersin View Post
Not if it's set up right. Unfortunately, the only instructions for doing this are on the Valentine 1 website and Mr. Valentine seems to discourage anyone from doing this. However, I and others have done it with great success. When it goes off now it pretty much means that there is a cop using his radar.

This is not to take anything away from the 9500**, they are great detectors. But the V1 is equally as good -- better at some things, not so much at others.


Cheers.
I have a V1 - curious about the settings you have? How have you set it up so its better? I fiddled with a few settings (no X ) etc but what more did you do?

Last edited by w00tw00t; 07-29-2011 at 07:54 PM..
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      07-30-2011, 07:24 AM   #18
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I have the Valentine 1, and absolutely love it.
I use it in the "small L" mode, I think it's the Logic mode.

The thing about the Valentine 1 that I like is it makes different sounds depending on the band of Radar being detected, so it is VERY simple to know whether or not it is a false alarm. Where I live in Florida, the Police only use Ka band radar or laser. So unless I hear the telltale sound of a double-chirp (signaling Ka) or the Laser warning, I know it's a false. And the arrows also help out a lot with determining the threat. False alarms tend to jump around on the arrows, and throw multiple bogey counts. True police radar is very directional, and the bogey counts are consistent.

The way I see it, the Valentine 1 is like a nice piece of vintage analog electronics. It's very good at detecting radar signals, but it takes a skilled user to understand what the device is telling you. At first, you think the device is speaking a foreign language.... but eventually you learn how it works and can understand it from the first chirp, and tell instantly whether the threat is real or not.

I have not used the Escort before, so I cannot make a legitimate comparison.
One question I have, however.... how do the GPS points of interest like red-light cameras get updated to the database? Is it like Trapster, where users in the community post the traps and others rate them?

I ask because I have tried using Trapster, but the problem with it is that the community members are all idiots and don't know what a red-light camera actually looks like. They have posted a million red-light cameras in my hometown, when our community does not have a single one. We have the traffic monitoring cameras at the top of our intersections, but those are not for issuing tickets.

Does Escort suffer from the same problem? i.e. a database maintained by unqualified dingbats?
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      07-30-2011, 09:06 AM   #19
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I would think the Escort would be better for a daily drive since it'll learn where the false alarms are, while the V1 would be better for a road trip since it'll tell you where the signal is. Sometimes you can "out run" a signal behind you if they pull off or get someone else instead of having to slow down with every alarm. I would only consider doing this if I knew it was behind me.
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Let me get this straight... You are swapping out parts designed by some of the top engineers in the world because some guys sponsored by a company told you it's "better??" But when you ask the same guy about tracking, "oh no, I have a kid now" or "I just detailed my car." or "i just got new tires."
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      08-03-2011, 08:16 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by w00tw00t View Post
I have a V1 - curious about the settings you have? How have you set it up so its better? I fiddled with a few settings (no X ) etc but what more did you do?
I have X-band off. I also have automute K-band set to 30 seconds. This only affects the "l" and "L" modes. "A" mode does not use automute. I shift from "A" and "l" all the time depending on conditions. I reserve "L" mode for city use since I rarely even get up to speed in the city anyway.

I've tried Ka-guard off, but it really is too noisy in this mode so I leave it on. But you will have to try it and see how it works for you. I'd prefer that it were set-up like the K-band automute in that it would be off in "A" mode, but on in "l" and "L" mode.

Hope this helps.


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      08-03-2011, 08:25 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by subterFUSE View Post
Does Escort suffer from the same problem? i.e. a database maintained by unqualified dingbats?
No. I believe they use a database maintained by a service that is not dependent on the masses. You download it to the computer from the Internet then connect the computer to detector and upload.

Quote:
Originally Posted by subterFUSE View Post
Is it like Trapster, where users in the community post the traps and others rate them?

I ask because I have tried using Trapster, but the problem with it is that the community members are all idiots and don't know what a red-light camera actually looks like. They have posted a million red-light cameras in my hometown, when our community does not have a single one. We have the traffic monitoring cameras at the top of our intersections, but those are not for issuing tickets.
You might try RadarActive which give hardly any false alerts. They use automatic aging of alerts and they can be voted down so the database seems a lot cleaner than Trapster. However, the RadarActive community could be said to have the opposite problem -- not enough users and some legitimate cameras might be missed. But overall, I've had a lot of success with it. You may want to give it a try; it's free.


Cheers.
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      08-03-2011, 11:17 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ColoCane View Post
I really like the 9500ci (prefer the accuracy and remote install), but laser jammers are an issue in Colorado...
I have three 9500 ci units in my vehicles. I def like the installed version becase it can be completely hidden. Typically I have the guys at Safe N Sound in Canoga Park, Ca put it in it in the ashtray.
Laser shifters are an issue in Cali as well, So I had the guys place an off/on switch right in the ashtray. So if Laser goes off, I can quickly slow down vehicle and switch off unit.

I recently had the remote signalling unit placed inside the rear view mirror.
Very cool, very stealth.
Never used Valentine but Im sure they have pros and cons to this unit.
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