Escort Passport 9500ix Radar/Laser Detector (Black)
by Escort Inc.
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Escort Passport 9500ix Radar/Laser Detector (Black)
Customer Review: NOT "MAC" Compatible
Summary: 2 Stars
All updatable Escort detectors require "Detector Tool" program. Escort's "Detector Tool" is a PC program, I repeat, PC, which you must download to your computer to update weekly location data base.
If you only use and have access to Mac computers like me, you can, go around this problem by partitioning your Mac's hard drive to be able to use PC programs BUT, for me, it's A HUGE PAIN and inconvenience. So I do no such thing. I just update whenever I can - whenever I get access to a PC computer, like friends, which is once every few months. I have gone over a year, once, without being able to update the software and data base of my 9500ix. And people do not like me downloading some "mysterious program" and "doing things" to their computers. This is after paying to buy $39.95 Escort's 3 year Location Data Base subscription. You can simply BUY A PC COMPUTER to go with your GPS Escort Detector so you can update the location data base.
.....
My impression, other than NOT being MAC COMPATIBLE:
I have both 9500ix and 8500x50. I like the convenience and GPS features of 9500ix but 8500x50 is better at detecting K/Ka bands. There is also Escort Redline which rivals V1 supposedly - but these *sensitive* detectors can get very annoying by "over detecting" everything, many false signals: Bank security system, automatic garage door openers, and local hotdog joints alarms etc etc. Btw you cannot use two detectors at the same time because one reacts to the other. False signal detection is a BIG issue in radar detectors. False detections will drive you and your passengers crazy and render your detectors useless as you become desensitized to onslaught of sheer number of alarms thus making you ignore the real legit alarms. There are quiet detectors that's smartly calibrated and equipped to detect more real threats and less false/over detections: 9500ix fall in this category and it excels at it with its fancy algorithm analyzing programs that cancels out "false" signals by process of elimination after detecting the signal and it's GPS location two or three times. It's not a perfect concept but in practice functions more than acceptable, though YMMV.
X band is no longer used, mostly. K and Ka bands are your main concern. These are the most common signals used by traffic cops. These non-laser radar guns trace signals can be detected without directly being aimed at and from far ahead thus warns you of their presence nearby.
Laser gun use is increasing however there are limits and inconveniences for them to use it: The laser guns are expensive. They need to be more or less straight in front of you or behind, i.e., they cannot get a good reading, or any reading at all, if shot from perpendicular or side angle. Also, though disputed and supposedly improving in newer laser guns, they cannot shoot from inside the vehicle through windshield, meaning they have to shoot with window open or from outside. Particles in the air, such as snow, rain, fog, dust all affect the laser gun's accuracy.
Detecting Laser signal is essentially the same thing as saying 'I'm shot and I'm dead' as you fall to the ground. It does pretty much nothing as far as "prevention" because once you realize your detector detected Laser signal it is rather too late. Laser detection alone is, you'll find out, not as helpful as how it may appear on the ads, packages and specs. It will allow you to keep tabs on whether you've been hit and how often (remember though, false laser detection is also a big problem with many detectors: things like sun ray, your car's airbag sensors, car engine, toll sensors are some of the common known causes).
Only thing effective against laser is your visual vigilance in identifying the threat far enough ahead by being aware of the road terrain-configuration far ahead of you and slow down before they are able to get a clear angle to aim and shoot at your car. Get in habit of scanning center and side shoulders far ahead for anything unusual. 'Not sticking out when in doubt' is a good idea as well as stay behind the car in front of you as they can't shot through cars. Laser is a single beam and can only be shot at one target at a time, e.g., it cannot be aimed at multiple cars at the same time to instantly get speed readings of all cars: only one at a time and must be aimed at small reflective areas on your car such as headlight, license plate, and chromed shiny metal parts unless your car is a light, bright, and/or metallic color in which case your whole car is a target (dark non-metallic non-reflective paints are better and large and/or blockish cars such as SUV are Not good). You gain more time to react, that is, slow down by having a less reflective car and making your car harder to bounce laser signals off of by eliminating reflective elements.
Also simply know all possible danger zones and known speed trap areas ahead. In this case GPS features such as ability to "mark" your own speed trap locations and the updated Location Data Base help (mostly Red Light Camera locations and not many, if any, speed trap location data though). There are jammers that jams and/or alter laser signal reflectivity that messes up the speed reading - these are ILLEGAL in most states and you are getting into a different ball game there. However without jammer elimination of laser threat can only be luck of the draw. Night time darkness, around the bend, you cannot cover all possible scenarios so there you go.' When in doubt slow down' will work.
Oh, Red Light Camera location alerts work well as long as you can upload weekly updates regularly. There are some quirks like you get nearby RLC camera alerts when you are driving on highways but I heard they are working on firmware update(?) by making each RLC GPS location marks directional thus when they don't match the direction you are traveling you get no alert or something like that.
You can go find out about more quirks from Escort's user forum and you often get the answers from the horse's mouth there. But be aware these "detector" forums are ways of detector industry to perpetuate and draw the interest and mystique. Expect onslaught of exaggeration, over enthusiastic claims, dubious technical studies and jargons, chitchats and argument to hedge through that can overwhelm you. Escort forum's Escort Rep can give quick response but consider the source that he's just a "mouth" speaking and covering for the company, not the decision maker. As far as Mac compatibility, I believe the decision makers of the Escort company stubbornly believes it is not necessary and refuse but the "mouth" is caught in between promising again and agin something that will never come. Who knows, maybe they will surprise me one day.
Bottom line: if you use PCs or are a Mac person willing to partition your HD to use PC programs, 9500ix is nice quiet user friendly detector that's quite capable, adequate and easy to live with. Radar detectors are not "automatic" do it all genies that spells out where police is and what they are doing - YOU need to learn to identify what it is trying to tell you, compensate the limits of its capabilities and FIGURE IT OUT. Mostly people will "get it" soon enough like getting know what your dog is trying to tell you if you pay attention. If you need *more* detection and/or want to get into "the worlds of detector enthusiast" look into V1, Redline, 9500ic and others. Escort's iQ seems like a good choice as it doesn't scream "I have a Radar detector!" as it looks like and, it is a regular GPS unit with radar detector with pretty much all 9500ix features, I believe, BUT NO MAC COMPATIBILITY.
As a Mac only person and Escort's refusal to provide Mac compatibility (despite leading on since the release of 9500ix that they would) I can only give 9500ix two stars (that goes same for 9500ic and iQ). I DO recommend 9500ix for people with PCs.
Customer Review: Passport 9500ix - I really tried to love this detector but it's not reliable
Summary: 2 Stars
I read a bunch of reviews and most people liked the detector so I picked one up. I have been using it for about 4 months now. I wanted to like it but it turns out I cannot. It's just not reliable and I literally feel like I was ripped off by Passport. I have been so frustrated by it's lack of reliability I have considered on more than three occasions pulling it out of the car and selling it on Ebay at a loss to get some of my money back.
PRO's: Looks great, seems to be well built, generally has very good radar/laser performance. Comes in a nice case. Is very configurable.
CON's: Customer support sucks, priced too high for it's performance level, did not come with everything you need to use it out of the box. red light camera, speedtrap (GPS) marking feature is usually useless, gives false POP alerts at the worst times. features that are selling points make the unit even less desirable.
I was very impressed with the nice case the unit came with. the unit looks great, appears to be well built. the unit completely relies on software updates from Passport, they really are a REQUIREMENT to get the detector to work. Of course you only get one update for free otherwise you need a subscription. Download database updates and firmware updates from website and apply them via a windows program that talks to the unit via USB. This program is also how you configure the unit to your liking. I was not warned however that I would need to own a laptop or purchase an AC adapter to apply these updates to the detector. Seems there are two serial number sets 19xxx and 22xxx (if I remember the #'s right) if you have a 19xxx unit the unit must get power from an external source to power up the unit to apply updates to the detector. This would be fine if you knew this prior to purchase. If an AC adapter is required the AC adapter for powering it up at your computer in the house should be INCLUDED. IT'S NOT. I consider this a SCAM for Passport to get another $20 out of you. FOR $500 EVERYTHING YOU NEED SHOULD BE INCLUDED PERIOD! I contacted their customer support by e-mail about this and stated my position on this subject and was IGNORED by their support. No phone call back that I asked for from them, and NO return e-mail. I almost returned the unit then on principal alone. I should have. Instead I spent the $20 and I can now update the unit in the house at my PC instead of getting a laptop and taking it down to the car to make updates possible. The 22xxx series units do not require an external power source and the USB hook is all you need to allow you to apply updates.
I bought the 9500ix purely for the red light GPS detection feature. There have been hundreds of these cams installed at intersections in the Chicagoland area. It has become the State/Local Government's "Cash Cow" for ticketing people who do not make a "complete" stop before making a right turn on red. Now idiot's on the road are afraid to turn on red and there are many more rear end collisions. That's another story, but it is the reason I bought the 9500ix. To remind me to make a complete stop and stop funding the government. To this end this detector is a complete failure. I applied the most recent database updates and started using the detector. About 50% of the cameras I happened about were in the database. The rest I had to "mark" myself. Easy enough to mark them. After driving on a set path to work the first day with the detector I marked all the missing red light cams. The next day on my way to work. It notified me of most of them but still missed a few that I marked. The whole point of this feature is to warn and remind you of the cam. The detector forgets to warn me more often than my own brain. Some lights I manually marked 6 or 7 times before they finally started to be warned. Some cams I am warned sometimes but not other times. No rhyme or reason it just seems like the detector is dozing off. Some intersections I am warned just AFTER I EXIT the intersection, NOT BEFORE I ENTER IT. I even reset the unit back to factory settings multiple times and re-applied the database updates. this made no difference. I also cleared the database and marked them all manually. This made no difference either. I configured the unit to show my speed when idle and the sat icon on the display so I could verify I am not loosing GPS signal... I'm not. When I do loose GPS signal I get a verbal "GPS Signal Lost" warning. My speed or the sat indicator never wavered when traveling past intersections that no warning was supplied even when I know for a fact the location is marked. It's just not reliable at the main thing I purchased it for. a TOTAL LET DOWN.
The radar/laser performance is very good and has surely warned me in plenty of time to avoid a ticket or two. There is problems with radar alerts as well. My problem lies in the POP alert. At least every two days or so this detector gives off a false "POP" alert at the strangest time for no apparent reason. These POP alerts appear to be completely false. How do I know this? Because more than one time the detector "POP" alerted while I was doing at least 20 over (I drive fast sometimes, no lectures please) on the highway with no other cars near me and no police anywhere nearby. Had to be false alerts it has happened more than one time and I never saw the police or received a ticket. It also has never happened in the same place twice. Once It false POP alerted while I was being stupid and doing 95 in a 55. That scared the crap out of me to say the least.
Other selling point features like the anti-false GPS memory are not that great either. Driving down the interstate near some well known speed traps for example. First time a cruiser is there shooting radar you are warned. Third time the location is auto marked as a false alert and you should NEVER get another warning on that band in that location. It sometimes forgets to NOT warn you due to the crappy GPS warning system. Does not matter if it's a different cruiser that band in that location is IGNORED. What happens the 5th time you drive by there and a cruiser is shooting. Nothing. No alert the Detector thinks it's false when it clearly is NOT. Not the worst thing if you mark it as a speed trap as intended and always heed the speed trap warning when the detector remembers to give you one. I would rather know there is a cruiser shooting there and the radar detection is far more reliable than the GPS marking. So I cleared the locations and shut this feature off. Result. Now I get false alerts all over the place. I can live with that... I have had detectors long enough that my brain can determine if the radar alert is to be taken seriously or not. I would rather be false alerted and know to be on the lookout than not be alerted and not know to be on the lookout.
It does a fine job as a standard radar detector. Unfortunately most of the advanced features that are supposed to raise the bar and the price are not worth crap. I do like the speed display and pay more attention to it than my speedo in the car as the detector's display is quick and easy to look at and the speed appears to be accurate.
I'm still thinking of getting rid of it possibly in favor of a cheaper unit that does not have features that do not work up to par anyhow.
Customer Review: Cannot Compare to V1
Summary: 1 Stars
Recently I had the great misfortune of evaluating this product during an 800 mile Thanksgiving trip to visit my family and the saying is definitely true; sometimes you take things for granted. I certainly took certain things for granted when I had my Valentine1 with me; like knowing when and where the cops were trying to get me, or maybe being able to actually read the display in sunlight, or was it the hardened magnesium case?
My car had issues right before my Thanksgiving trip so I dropped it off at the garage and somehow forgot to bring my V1 with me. The shop closed for the holiday and I knew there was no way I was traveling 800 miles without a radar detector so I headed to Best Buy and picked the most expensive detector on display which turned out to be the Escort Passport 9500ix.
The first thing I noticed as I unwrapped it was that I had just spent almost $600.00 for a radar detector that had a great felt lined carry case but inside that case the actual detector was extremely cheap flimsy plastic and it was lacking basic accessories like a visor clip and permanent mounting hardware both of which are included in the price of the V1. I also immediately missed the V1's magnesium case and solid look and feel.
As I mounted the 9500ix the suction cups seemed undersized until I remember that this detector is probably half the weight of my V1, however even the mounting bracket seems flimsy. I would really hate for this detector to fall off the windshield and hit the dash during the 120+ degree summer days which occasionally happens to my V1. So enough about the cosmetics how did it actually perform? I have broken it down into the functional areas that I think any detector user wishes to know.
Setup - To be completely fair I will admit I took this detector out of the box, plugged it in and went, with absolutely no tweaking whatsoever. However this was also all I did to my V1 so it is still a fair comparison.
1. Display - It is well known that blue is the hardest spectrum of visible light for the human eye to process yet this detector's display is a brilliant blue. And yes, when I glanced at the display while driving it was quite hard to look at or rapidly interpret. What was most annoying was when an alert did occur the display did not immediately tell me what band it had discovered which is a critical element of any alert; X band is door openers, K is usually a door opener but could be a stationary cop, Ka is almost always a mobile or stationary cop or a road construction speed detection sign, and Laser means slam on brakes immediately. So for the display to take a good 5 seconds to switch from stating it had an alert to showing me what band it had detected was completely unacceptable to me.
The display also completely lacked any directional capability. The V1 shows the direction and strength of the alert which greatly improves my situational awareness. If the alert is from side to side it usually means its just door openers or a cop passing over or under a bridge, if its to the back but getting stronger it is a cop approaching from the rear, etc etc. With the 9500ix's limited display I felt completely blind to what was going on around me.
2. Audible - The detector's speaker was horrid. While alerting it attempted to talk to me but the speaker was tiny so it came out as some screechy static that was barely comprehensible. Either stick to beeps only or put a little more quality into the audio department.
3. Detection Range / Accuracy - I can only hope that I had a defective unit or there was some setting that was mis-configured, if not then this detector will make some cops very happy. In 800 miles with this detector set to hwy (straight out of the box) it only alerted 5x on the highway. Two were road construction signs and it did not alert until I was almost close enough to read my own speed on the road construction sign, 1 was an actual cop and it gave me less than 2 seconds of warning, the cop was on the other side of a hill on the left side, fortunately I was going the speed limit. My V1 would have easily picked out this bogey from at least 5 miles. The rest I never did figure out. I am not bothering to count the amount of times it went off in the cities due to door openers, garage openers, etc.
4. Other Features (GPS/Photo Cameras/Traffic Warnings/etc) - According to the manual, this detector has a plethora of other features which are lacking in my V1. However, none of them will matter if you get a ticket. During my 800 mile trip I needed to know only three things; where the bogeys were, how far away they were, and what band where they using, and this detector failed miserably at providing any of that information.
Summary - I did not even bother driving back home with this detector. I took it back to Best Buy when I reached my holiday destination and actually felt safer knowing I had to look for bogeys on my own instead of believing this detector would in any way save me. Fortunately my return trip was uneventful and I am safe once again thanks to my V1, M20 Laser Jammer, photo blocker spray, and PhantomPlate tag cover. I guess it is fortunate that not everyone has a V1 otherwise cops would have to find a new source of revenue.
Customer Review: Living with this has been a pleasure
Summary: 5 Stars
I owned an old Uniden radar X/K band detector. It beeped ALL the time. Highway/City was a laugh. Escort finally solved the problem. After a months' use of my 9500ix I can drive all over and not get a false alarm the whole trip. If it beeps, there is only one meaning - traffic enforcement is nearby.
Update: at one intersection my 9500ix occasionally falses for no reason - there is no radar there. Today (7-1-2010) I found out why it "falsed" which really it did not. On the cross traffic there is periodically a speed enforcement officer (and every time it falsed at that intersection it showed PD frequencies). Today I saw the traffic stop - turned out the motorcycle was 2 blocks down the side street just leaving the radar on and even though I was 90 degrees off the radar signal, it still picked it up and showed me police frequency. Turned out that officer liked that intersection alot which was the source of my signals. Rule of thumb - disable the auto lockout feature if traffic enforcement is in a usual place - end update
Basically, high end radar detectors have come a long ways - let me explain why I like this so much.
First off, it's MUCH more than an radar "detector" - its a spectrum analyzer. Picture these two scenarios:
#1 I'm driving home past that speed sign with the big LED display which uses K-band radar on 24.145 Ghz and my old uniden clunker goes off with a K-band alert. Yea, I know - the sign is there and I'm doing 35 in a 25. 100 feet past the sign is a Harley with red and blue lights who is also operating in the K band on 24.168 Ghz. My uniden can't tell the difference. It's a detector, not a spectrum analyzer, It lights the K light and beeps, job done, and hopefully I get a warning, but since the sign is 2 blocks from my house I ignore it and get to meet and greet one of our fine traffic enforcement officers.
#2 I have my 9500ix installed now. It knows where I am thanks to the onboard GPS. It knows the streetsign is on 24.145 GHz. Up till now it doesn't beep. But then there's the Harley up ahead operating on 24.168 Ghz. He's not supposed to be here! Full blast alarm comes out of the radar detector and I go for the anti-lock brakes down to 24 mph before the harley can lock on my signal.
Because I've become accustomed to not getting false alarms ALL the time I take my 9500ix seriously.
Try another scenario. Up ahead the light is turning yellow. Without my 9500ix I might be tempted to try and "make it on yellow" - but this light has a red light camera w/ $283 fine. It's in the 9500ix's database of driving hazards, so long before I see the yellow, my 9500ix cautions me about the camera, and I decide to stop on yellow. No radar detector can do that.
Finally, because my 9500ix can be customized to give you the frequency of the alert (like the 24.168 Ghz Harley radar speed enforcement device above) I've started to get to know my local police by the frequency they use. Those streetsigns (I have 4 within 1500 feet of my house) are just there to drive everyone batty who has a radar detector until they get careless. That does not happen with the 9500ix after its programmed.
*IF* my 9500ix goes off, there is a good reason for it, and I check the display to see the frequency since the strength is indicated by the beeps. I have my cheat sheet of what cities use what frequency for their radar and can tell quickly if they are operating in the area.
In total, including the driver warning bands, the 9500ix receives 8 bands, I run with highway sensitivity and all bands turned on without a single false alarm. A popular option is to shut off X band since so few police departments use it but since I have locked out all X band interferance sources I'm not concerned. Who knows - somewhere out there an X band radar unit may have my name on it.
A side effect of those automatic speed signs setting off everyone's radar detector is that the police can leave their vehicle units in the lock on position, which is where we want them. The police figure people will ignore it or give up entirely with a radar sign on every block, but in reality they are just a 2 mile beacon alerting you to a speed trap nearby.
The old road and track sensitivity reports that showed brand A to sense a radar transmitter 100 feet sooner than brand B are worthless too now. I'd much rather have ALL false alarms removed so when I get an alert, match frequencies, I *KNOW* there is speed enforcement in the area than an extra 100 feet which is a fraction of a second.
As for long term maintenance, I just take my laptop and usb cable out to save my personal noise emitters to disk and get on the internet to upload the latest non-radar threats to my unit as they come about.
While the 9500ix commands a high price, its feature set is well worth it. Combining GPS and a fine microwave spectrum analyzer produces the ultimate traffic safety device.
Customer Review: Escort 9500ix VS Beltronics GX65
Summary: 4 Stars
WHICH ONE IS BETTER? READ AND FIND OUT. I bought both the Escort 9500ix and Beltronics GX65 for a week long, on dash, real world comparison. They both are sold by the same company and they offer a 30 day, money back guarantee. I figured, what the heck.....I'll try them out, side by side. These units were both mounted at the same level on the window of my truck.
I read all the reviews I could get my hands on and narrowed it down to these two radar detectors. The Escort 9500ix and Beltronics GX65 models are touted as the most sensitive window mounted units available with the new "GPS" advantage.
DISPLAY- Both units have the option of dim, medium, bright, dark and auto mode. The Escort 9500ix has blue lights. The background of this unit is black, but glows blue around the numbers, to a point of skewing the display a little bit. At night, it is easier to read. The Beltronics GX65 has red lights with a pure black background. The GX65 display is crystal clear, day or night. Advantage Beltronics GX65. Importance - Moderate.
POWER CORD- While sitting behind the wheel, the Escort 9500ix cord plugs in on the left hand side of the detector unit. The Beltronics GX65 cord plugs in on the right hand side. Depending upon the set up of your vehicle, SPECIFICALLY THE LOCATION OF YOUR POWER SUPPLY, this could make a big difference. Both of the detectors have a dark display mode, where the display goes completely black (for night use, so other drivers can't see your detector). While using dark mode, the only thing that lights up is the very end of the power cord, where it plugs into the power supply. The unit still makes sound, but only you will be able to see the light at the power supply. Very ingenious idea! Advantage to neither. It depends upon the location of you power supply. Importance - Moderate
SIZE and BUTTONS - Both units of virtually the same size, however, I personally prefer the shape and button layout of the Beltronics GX65. Importance - Low
WINDOW MOUNT - Both the 9500ix and GX65 use the same exact window mounts. For an expensive $500 dollar radar detector, I feel that the mounts are very cheesy. My old mount on my $79 Whistler was superior to this window mount. Both of these units tap the window when driving. This is due to the design of the mount. The mother company needs to improve this window mount in my opinion. Importance - Moderate
GPS "LOCKOUT" CAPABILITY - Both units have the ability to "Lockout" any false signal. When you know the detector is sensing a false signal, all you need to do is tap a button three times and it will permanently lock out the false signal. This is an absolutely fantastic feature. Both detectors also have the ability to warn you of red light cameras, photo cameras and speed traps. This is also a nice advancement. You can manually set the detector to warn you of any known speed trap in your area. Nice feature! The only GPS negative is when you're driving down the interstate and you drive over an intersection with a red light camera. The detector will sound, even though your not going through the light. This is the only negative I've found regarding the GPS system. Importance - VERY HIGH
AUTO LEARN - This feature is only on the 9500ix. You drive a false signal 3 times and the 9500ix will automatically lock out the signal permanently. For any proactive person (most people who purchase a radar detector!), this feature is not that important. The moment I drive by any false signal, I lock it out immediately. Why would I wait to drive by it 3 times? It only takes three taps of a button. On the other hand, for someone who is electronically challenged, this feature might be a lifesaver. With this feature, theoretically, after a few weeks of driving, you should be able to drive around your home area, never touch your detector and all false signals will be locked out. Therefore, no more false alarms, Police warnings only! Advantage: Escort 9500ix. Importance - Moderate
SENSITIVITY - This area is the most important of all. The reviews and tests I've read online, showed the 9500ix as being slightly more sensitive to Ka, K band and laser. It's only a few hundred feet, but that could be the difference between a speeding ticket or not.
These results are not scientific, but in every situation I encountered, the 9500ix picked up true police radar a second to a few seconds quicker the the GX65. This is really the main reason I decided to keep the Escort Passport 9500ix. In my opinion (and the scientific results back it up), the sensitivity of the 9500ix is superior to the GX65. Advantage: Escort Passport 9500ix. Importance - CRUCIAL.
THE WINNER, and better detector where it matters most the ESCORT PASSPORT 9500ix. I shipped the Beltronics GX65 back for a full refund.