Escort Passport 9500i Radar and Laser Detector
by Escort Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: $359.95 You Save: $90.04 (20%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Car Audio or Theater See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Escort Passport 9500i Radar and Laser Detector
Customer Review: Won't stay on windshield
Summary: 2 Stars
The 9500i works pretty good except on laser speed units. With laser it just tells you that you can prepare to get a ticket. I works pretty good on radar if you can manage to keep it stuck to your windshield.
What would seem to be a fairly simple problem Escort is not willing to address. The unit weighs 8 oz. It hangs from your windshield with 2 small thin cheap vinyl suction cups for only a short period of time. A hot day will have your 9500i bouncing off of your dash and falling to the floor; so will a cold day. Over a few weeks the cups start losing their ability to hold the detector to your windshield and it falls on the floor. I have tried proping it with the rear view mirror or spraying the cups with hair spray (a customer support suggestion) to make them hold. This works for only a little while. Customer support will send you a dozen or so suction cups if you talk to them; sales is only too happy to sell them to you without even telling you to go to customer support. They will also sell you a visor clip but the 9500i needs to be positioned so that the top of the unit has an unobstructed view of the sky so that gps satilites can comunicate with the unit.
All of the buttons controling the unit are on the top of the unit and not visible to the operator. So now it up to you to try to remember which button does what. Good luck. Or fumble around trying to remove the unit and put it back so that you can read the buttons.
It appears that Escort/Passport is trying to live on their laurels and fails to address some vary simple issues. I would look around for a company more concerned with addressing their customers legitimate complaints.
Customer Review: From Valentine One to Passport 9500i
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, the V1 is a fantastic and ultra-sensitive detector. I've had three of them in the past 10-years. The range is fantastic and it saved me countless times. It does have the arrows, which are great and all, but I found myself not really needing to know where the threat was coming from. What I really wanted was to 1) know the threat was real and 2) slow down to the posted speed limit if it was. The V1 never delivered on the "Is it real part?". It was always barking at me, proud to point me to various non-threatening radar-sources in the city or along the highway. Yes, it saved my ass a lot, but the noisy commute was getting to me.
I purchased a 9500i after reading some favorable reviews online. After one week, I knew this style of detector was right for me. The sensitivity was very equitable to the V1, but it shined because of its built-in GPS feature. I pass by six K-based RADAR Speed Limit signs each way on my commute. With GPS marking, I could easily lock out those specific non-threatening signals. The next time I would pass by, the system would be silent. When approaching one of these "marked" locations, the GPS icon on the display would start to rotate. This was essentially the 9500i saying, "I'm picking up the radar signal, but I'm not "bleeping" because you told me this exact location is not a threat". Simply awesome! The unit is quiet until an unknown threat is detected. When it detects something, it alerts me and I slow down. A few seconds later, I'm usually smiling as I drive by a LEO at the posted speed limit.
Like I said, simply awesome.
Customer Review: WARNING - Interferes with XM Radio
Summary: 2 Stars
I've had the 9500i for over a year now and it works fabulously as advertised. It is quite simply the best radar detector ever made. The GPS lockout feature is worth the price. I live in a police state (Ohio, where this detector is made by the way) and the cops use every band of radar, lidar, and airplanes to keep us citizens in line (under their thumb). The GPS lockout feature on the 9500 keeps my daily commute quiet while I keep all bands up and running. It only beeps when there is a cop. I also have the ZR3 Laser Shifters and they work as advertised and integrate flawlessly with the 9500.
The down side however is big. It took me this long to figure it out and Escort doesn't seem to know anything about it. This, to me means they have no intention of addressing it. The problem is, it interferes with XM Radio reception to the point of making XM virtually useless. Over the last year since I've had the 9500 I've experienced dramatic XM signal loss that is incredibly irritating. I've replaced my XM receiver and the antennae twice and harassed the poor Punjabi customer support guy from XM to the point that I think he cried. Only recently did I discover that the problem with my XM Radio is in fact caused by my radar detector.
When I turn the radar detector off, I instantly regain my XM Radio signal. When I turn the 9500 back on, I instantly lose XM reception. It is crystal clear, undeniable, unacceptable, and needs to be addressed by Escort.
Customer Review: I'm disappointed.
Summary: 1 Stars
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.
Customer Review: Delivers the Goods!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using radar detectors for years, but always went with cheaper ones before because I didn't really think there could be *that* much of a difference between the products. But I still got tickets from time to time with the cheapo units (not surprised there), so I finally decided to just spend the money on a high-end RD. After a lot of research and comparison shopping, I bought the 9500i a couple weeks ago.
After taking some time to see how the 9500i performed during my daily driving routine, I am finally ready to write a review. Let me start by saying that the 9500i is a great product that really delivers the goods! I love the TrueLock feature that allows me to block out locations known to give me false positives. This works through a combination of GPS positioning and frequency, so you can still get real positive alerts when driving through a previously locked out area.
I also like the Mark Location feature, Expert Mode, and the way the 9500i displays my speed right there on the unit. I find that it's easier to glance at the RD to check my speed than to look all the way down at the speedometer.
Anyway, I have had zero problems with the 9500i since I bought it and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new radar detector!