Escort Passport 9500ix Radar/Laser Detector (Black)
by Escort Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: $431.95 You Save: $68.00 (14%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $397.48 (click here) 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 9500ix Radar/Laser Detector (Black)
Customer Review: Buy Some Accessories
Summary: 5 Stars
Easy to install in the car and works out of the box. However, I strongly suggest you read the manual first. If you're like me, one of the main reasons I went with this one was because of the database of redlight cameras, etc. Since there's no telling how long it's been on the shelf before it arrived in the mail and you took it out of the box, you'll want the most current database available. Escort updates it weekly and you get 90 days free trial and I think after that it's $19.95 per year.
I didn't realize the true impact of needing a 12V dc power supply. I figured maybe I could connect it to my pc via USB and it would draw whatever power it needed from there like some of my other gadgets. No. It needs a 12V dc power source and the only thing I had was the one where it plugs in the car. That meant I had to drag my laptop out to the car in the middle of the night to update the unit. (If you're impatient like me you'll want to play with this thing as soon as you get home from work.) So, today I went back to Amazon and ordered an adapter so I can power it up from my local 120V ac outlet inside the house. Much more convenient to update if via my desktop pc.
And, if you have two cars you'll probably want another mount kit and smart cord. Saves the hassle of remounting it every time you drive the other car.
Almost forgot. Make sure you read the manual and note the default settings. POP, Ku and some other settings default to OFF. Most likely you will probably want to change a few things.
As far as how well it works....???? Don't really know yet. I've only had it a couple days and drove to work with it once so far. It picked up the one hidden camera I knew about and mentioned a couple others I didn't know about even though I had not at that point updated the database yet. I'm optimistic.
Perhaps more to follow after I've had it awhile.
Customer Review: Not worth the money
Summary: 1 Stars
I live in Phoenix where we are blasted with red light cams and photo radar etc. We got a unit here that does not come close to the claims it makes. For starters, this radar detector will absolutely not let you know about intersection cams and fixed photo radar until your within 100 yards or less which means unless you know the cam is there, your caught. If you know the cam is there, why do you need this anyway, you'd slow down regardless or not make the turn. As far as performance of photo radar vans, not once did this unit alert us until we were literally right next to the photo radar van itself; again completely useless. I've used radar detectors in the past and those old units alerted me a half mile to a mile away of anything. This one simply does not even alert you before you are well beyond the point of no return. If you are anything like me, the last thing you want to do is put your concentration on the radar detector, you need to trust it to alert you in plenty of time to make a speed correction. This unit requires your attention because it does not alert you at all, period until your within 50 to 100 yards. As we all know, police radar, laser etc have a much higher range than this. Here you are simply not covered. Perhaps there was something wrong with my unit, regardless I have returned it for a refund. To the credit of this detector, the false alert filter is a dream. It is by far the best performing for filtering out unwanted radar triggers such as retail store automatic doors. The suction cup windshield mount this comes with is flimsy and cheap. It will hold the detector in place once or twice before you need to reposition it and\or re apply it so the detector remains stable and level. The two tiny suction cups are not able to support this for very long at all. Overall, very disapointed. Save your money and your own common sense will keep you safer than depending on radar detector this for sure.Customer Review: You must learn how to drive with a radar detector
Summary: 4 Stars
The 9500ix is the first detector that I have ever used or purchased. I figured that I would go with the top of the line, and I believe that the 9500ix is truly that. However, it took me a while to figure out how exactly the best way to drive with the radar detector was. My first extended use with the 9500 was a long road trip up I-5 through California and Oregon. In California, I found that most police used radar (Ka band) that was always on--the 9500ix worked great and detected the signal usually about 3/4 to 1 mile in advance. However, after I crossed into Oregon I got an immediate full Ka band warning. I thought that I had slowed down in time and I was thanking my 9500ix for warning me in sufficient time (even though it only warned me about 7 seconds before passing the stopped patrolman). To my surprise, the officer followed followed me and then pulled me over for speeding from the original encounter. (only got a warning thank god...) At first I was very angry that the 9500 did not warn me in sufficient time. But then I realized that it must have been an instant-on police radar gun and since the road was deserted in front of me, the 9500ix would have had no forewarning.
Thus I learned an important lesson... the 9500ix is not going to help you with instant-on guns (when directed at you). Now I try to drive with a car 1/4mi in front of me so if an instant-on gun is being used, my 9500 will detect the policeman's radar gun when he is aiming at the car in front of me. The 9500ix has worked much better since using this technique.
Also, laser detection is hit and miss (not because of the 9500ix, but just the nature of the lidar guns.) I was driving and saw a police officer pulled over ahead of me shooting me with Lidar and the 9500ix never made a chirp.
As other people have stated, the GPS functions of the 9500ix are great and the reason I ultimately purchased this unit.
Customer Review: I think Escort Redline would be a better choice
Summary: 4 Stars
If you do a lot of highway driving especially living in L.A. where speeding in city streets are few unless you're driving wrecklessly the GPS autolearn feature doesn't do much but get in the way. I turn off the redlight camera alerts since it's pointless on highways and getting a warning on the 405 about a redlight camera gets annoying after a few times. I'm still not too sure about it's effective range yet but I do get warned about Ka bands which are 100% police. Unless you're doing 150 this will definitely do the job. The autolearn w/ gps is definitely a plus when you get off the freeway on your daily commutes, but it does have auto-mute feature on both 9500ix and Redline and unless you plan on sitting at that spot with your detector on for a long time having a better range would be more beneficial.
The only other benefit other than the autolearn feature would be the GPS for speedcams on the highway or something, but you don't have that problem in L.A. so kinda useless for me. Also the autolearn is mostly good for blocking annoying X band and some K bands from automatic doors and such. You can mark speed traps but that gets annoying too, might as well be getting false alert set by you 95% of the time. Unless you were planning on running a lot of redlights for some reason and just not the ones with a redlight camera no need for the redlight gps. My detector rarely goes off with the current settings so when it does I brake, but sometimes you wonder if it's even working -.- (it is though).
So all in all if I had to choose between the 2 for the price I would get the Redline, but the 9500ix is still quite good. You can always invest in just the GPS standalone component and add it to your Redline down the road. If you live in other states the speedcam feature may be quite useful, also if you plan on a long road trip.
Customer Review: Simply amazing product and I love it
Summary: 5 Stars
After I did a lot of research, It pretty much came down to to V1 or the passport red line Vs the 9500ix. I ended up picking the 9500ix because the GPS functionality (which works great, and the unit is so quiet after the first couple of weeks of driving on the same routes), which significantly reduced unwanted signals and while keeping it on highway mode, keeps its sensitivity very high.
I like the Auto mode for adjusting both audio and brightness.
It picked up scatter laser and alerted me, which highlighted the importance of installing laser jammers (since I initially thought, there is no laser being used where I live now).I ended up installing the Blinder M47. I think they are the best affordable combination, and If you search around and buy them separately, you can save extra $300-400.
I bought the detector from Amazon. I originally bought one for my wife too, but she didn't think she needs one so I had to return it. Will see, I hope she doesn't get a ticket, because I am the one who eventually pay for it :-)
I bought the blinder from hayneedle (my first purchase from them and I think they are good like Amazon), they had promotion code which saved me $192 from the regular M47 price, which was even lower than they advertised on their website, and yes they are certified and legitimate website, since I looked them up first on BBB website , then called blinder USA and confirmed that they are and that my product will be covered for warranty.
BTW.. if you buy the detector from Amazon directly (not from any other sellers through Amazon), you are covered under warranty , since I called Escort and E-mailed them , after reading some warning reviews about that.
Please drive carefully, for your safety as well as the safety of others around you