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radar detector
have had radar detectors since the 1970's. just updated to a escort 9500ix after researching them for over a year. i always research and look around for a product for up to a year or so before i buy no matter what the product, it makes for a better price (esp. electronics) and understanding of each product i buy. best buy for my buck. in my opinion this detector far out performs any on the market at present time. do not take my opinion try one for 30 days and see for yourself. the worse that can happen is you get a free detector for 30 days and you return it. no harm, no foul. good luck with all your choices in life. also forgot to add that i purchased it for 9.99 with the large suction cup holder and smart cord included in price shipped for free. now thats a deal!! GENE

Disappointed in software updates
In less than 12 months the Passport 9500 has already missed one direct hit with laser, resulting in a ticket. The Passport never sounded an alert.

The 9500ix sounds false alarms for traffic sensors. (These are used for traffic metrics, not speed enforcement.) To fix this, Escort wants and my Passport for 3 weeks at the factory, plus shipping.

Ironically, I bought this (rather pricey) radar detector less than a year ago, in part because it can be updated over the web. Escort already charges /year (plus "shipping," unnecessary but required) for an online database subscription and software updates.

Make sure you're getting a unit with a serial number higher than 19xxxxxx, or with "TSR" already installed. If not, you'll have to tolerate the false alarms, or pay 15% extra and go without your new toy for a month.

Otherwise, you've read all the reviews that say Passport and Valentine are neck in neck. Both have incredibly long range and basically the same set of nice features. The latest is some kind of direction indicator. The Passport does /not/ show direction for a live laser signal alarm; the V1 apparently does. The Passport shows direction for a stored trap location (ahead, beside, behind) and distance, even if it's on an adjacent street.

Simply the best...
Consistently I am aware of radar before other drivers. This product offers me a better awareness of my surroundings as well as a stronger sense of safety. I bought a second unit for my other vehicle and have owned them since they first became available. It's my belief that law enforcement would prefer compliance without the dangers associated with a traffic stop. So if they catch you giving them a "brake" they just may give you a break in return. I love my escort 9500ix and I never play with the buttons while I'm driving!

Passport 9500ix - I really tried to love this detector but it's not reliable
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 out of you. FOR 0 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 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.

absolute best price on the web
Getting it here helped me save over more than the next cheapest place. Plus, I have saved a ton of time since I put the detector in my vehicle. I highly recommended getting the visor clip and the straight smart cord.