Does anyone have any experience with this detector? If so, aside from performance, are the buttons on top of the unit easily accessible in a MINI window setup? I have an ancient Valentine One, which is great, but I'm considering an upgrade.

 

You should save some money and simply upgrade your V1. THey will take it back and upgrade it to the current specifications for a very good price.

Also, you can check to see if your V1 really needs an upgrade on their website.

I considered upgrading mine until I checked and found that the upgrade was not very significant and the company actually suggested that I just keep it as it is. Mine is now over 5 years old.

 

Thanks for the info. Mine is a first edition Valentine, so I am sure it needs an update. But the GPS features of the 9500i look good to me, with all the speed traps, red light cameras and shopping centers around here. In fact, I call the detector a shopping center detector.

 

Passport/Escort 9500i

I have an older version~8500, I believe. It stays on whatever I drive. It works pretty well w/ MINI window, I can access those bottons on the top just fine.
The new 9500 has identical body shape as the older ones, I think it'll work well on MINIs!

BTW, the 9500 w/ GPS sounds nice & everything, but $500 a piece???
Let's break up the price here:
The older one is around $250~300, depending which one you want.
The additional $200~250 goes to the new features related to GPS and others. Ok, a GPS receiver chip is really cheap in now days, not that much state-of-art anymore. All Engineers did were to register GPS signals, store in internal memory & sales team find a fancy name for this feature... And we are out another $250??? NO NO NO Not for me!
In addition, I bet the response time to alarm you will be delayed by certain amount! This might be the biggest trade-off of having this new GPS features in the unit! Unless they spend a lot of time & money getting a new DSP or processing chip set.
Ok, being a DSP & wireless communication engineer, I could just see people'll get so excited & willing to pay big $$$ for something that costs company very very very little effort & resources.
I hope nobody is passport/escort engineer on NAW.

Did I write to much?
Aside of new features, I really like their detectors! They show me the frequency they detected, how cool is that? I can usually tell from the frequency band if it's an auto-door or a cop is around.

Whichever brand people buy, detector is a much w/ MINI, I think MINI should list a buildin one as a new option on R56!

Happy Thursday guys!

 

What are the options if someone doesn't want to spend too much money on a radar detector? Are there any reliable ones for about $300?

 

I bought my Passport-8500 for close to $300 shipped, it was 2+ years ago when they had a sale. Mine has blue LED, but the red ones could save your $50.
IMO, It's very reliable on picking up police bands. It also displays the actual frequency it picked up, and it can be used as a volt-meter!!!
I had researched to death when I wanted a detector, even read a lot of radar technology research paper. It all came down to 2 brand: passport/escort and Valentine.
I bet they both perform very well, but I am not really Convinced by that arraw thingy Valentine has. I think many people here has Valentine, so this is the start of a detector X better than Y war?

Oh, another thing, I hardwared my 8500 on my Infiniti, it's very easy & cheap. they uses telephone wire & plugs!!! What a smart idea!!!

Now, if someone thinks their Valentine is better, send it to me & let me try it!

 

i think valentine also uses phone cords for power.

 

I am getting a Beltronics r65 which is a nicer escort 8500 [beltronics and escorte are the same now]. My friend has it, has nothing bad to say abou it.

 

It's not about it being a simple thing or how much it cost the manufacturer. It's about what it accomplishes. Being able to "black out" known false alerts and warn of known speed trap areas are great features. I live in a shopping center infested area and an tired of door opener false alarms. Best part is, if a cop is running radar in an area you blocked out, it will still alert. To me, it's worth the $, even if all an engineer did was put a gum wrapper on a wire. What is your suggestion that the added technology would cut down on range based on?

 

What is your suggestion that the added technology would cut down on range based on?
LynnEl, I don't know the new features'll cut down detection range or not. Most likely it will not affect range at all since I believe a good engineering will run radar / GPS board parallet, and keep the same good detection board.
My concern is alarm reaction timing! How much delay this new guy'll introduce? IMO, Reaction time is very important, it'll determine whether we'll have enough time to slow down or run right into police.
I think the following is how 9500'll operate (for example):
1. Radar circuit detects a Ka band frequncy in a near shopping center area, sounds like a cop.
2. Pull GPS readings in right away and store it.
3. Processer will now compare current GPS reading with many many registered data in memory.
4. After X time, didn't find a match, we hear that crazy BBBBBBBBBeep...

Now, this whole process is used to go from step 1 to 4 directly! I certainly like to hear that step 2/3 takes no time, but it might take good amount of time to impact performance. I'll like to hear real life story before I 100% believe in what they claim.
Don't get me wrong, I think they have a very [SIZE=2]innovative idea & spend a lot of their engineering efforts to bring it to us.

I just can't tell myself new features worth another $200+ for me. They already got all the trouble to put a GPS in their system, why don't they make it a NAV+detector unit? Innovation one more step, isn't it?

Happy Friday everyone, we made it!

 

That makes sense. I guess we will have to wait for the tests, or if anyone knows if that has been done......?

 

Has anyone mounted the 9500i with a method other than suction cups that they recommend?

 

http://www.countryjoycrafts.com/350Z/minimount.htm

 

I agree that that is a great mount -- but with the GPS features of the 9500i, does that mount place the detector too far away from the windshield to get GPS signals?

 

I've been eying the 9500i for a while. Finally ordered it from escortradar.com. They got a 30-day guarantee.

I will report back when I get it.

 

You can usually get a better deal by buying through a reseller. Even Sharper Image sells them for about $50 less. I have an older 8500 that I have mounted to the roof liner on the right side of the rear view mirror. It sits about an inch below the roof liner and has an unobstructed view forward. The GPS feature is VERY tempting on the 9500. I know where all the strip malls and convenience stores within 100 miles of home are after several years with the detector. The 9500 looks to be the same size and have the same button setup as the 8500.

 

Amazingly, I can't find anyone that is really selling the detector much less than $450. The advantage to buying from escort directly is you get their latest firmware, which people say is still fluctuating. Escort hasn't released any software updated yet, so if you buy from a reseller, it may have been on their shelf for weeks or months.

 

Does your current V1 have little L and big L modes? that helps cut the falsing quite abit. I bought my V1 just after the 9500i release here is why I made my choice.....

I had experiance with a cheap Cobra detector, ranked 3rd best when it was new and I got it for another $75 off cause Circuit City mixed up the labels no radar tickets (got a pacing one though) with it and two years later I blew it up went without for another year then started seriously looking....

the contedoers

Escort Solo
+
cosmetically appealing
easy to switch around and take with me
easy install
-
short range
AA get expensive

Escort 8500/9500i
+
Range/reception
sound following (no complaints about ergonomics people willing to defend it)
hardwired
GPS
-
well not really any

V1
+
consistantly rated the best for many many years
Arrows (and band and signal strenght and highest threat level target)
Bogies
Range reception
basic operation
cult following
detects everything
-
nominal issue of cost
frequent falses

I ruled the solo out quickly.

The GPS didnt really sell me and here is some of why...
my previous experiance I learned where my common falses were ignoredthosebut could tell when something else is up. With the bogie counter I know when thereis extra right away and I know where it is.

My personal choice boiled down to what gave me the most information in the most rapid accurate and effiecent manner. And the V1 hands down put me in the know and gave me what I need to make desions. I also opted a hardwire and remote install. (I was willing to spend $500 I didnt want to spring the 1+k for a modular system)

My experiance has been overwhelmingly positive. I learned quickly to use the big L mode I'm not bomarded with falses while still being as well informed as possible about POP and Lidar. I have had many "V1 moments" those situationswhereonly bogiesand arrows are able to give you all the info about whats out there.

So thats what I weighed good luck with your descion... this was a chance find for me being in theother generation.

 

Got my Escort 9500i and tried it out this weekend. Very few false alerts on Auto sensitivity mode (based on your vehicle speed). Picked up a cruiser coming towards me from the opposite highway around a curve before I saw it. Locking out local convenience store doors with the GPS feature is cool and easy to do. I just repeatedly hit the included SmartCord mute button on the end of the cig lighter plug. It can also display your vehicle speed. The GPS also picks up much more quickly than my Garmin nav unit.

I mounted mine above the left side of the rear view mirror. Probably not the best for reception, but I wanted it as inconspicuous as possible. I bought some telephone cord extension and tucked in the cord along the headliner and under the side trimming and below to the cig lighter plug.

I may hardwire in the future, but I like having the SmartCord where it is plugged in the cig lighter within reasonably easy reach.

As mentioned in other newsgroups, audio ramp-up is not the best. A fix should be ready by November. For me, it's not a big deal. I slow down at the first beep anyways.

Pictures to follow.

 

Buttons not easily accessible in my setup.



Mute button on SmartCord easily accessible, though.

 

I put mine over on the right side of the rear view mirror. I took an old phone junction box that is close to the color of the headliner, put a 1 1/4 inch screw through it and the headliner with a washer and a wingnut on the top of the headliner holding it in place. Some heavy duty velcro on the 8500 and on the junction box hold it in place quite firmly. I'm on the lookout for some material that is the same color as the headliner to cover the sides and back of the box. It is hardwired to the wires in the overhead. The buttons are easily reached as it is almost an inch below the headliner and is 3 inches or so behind the windshield which also makes it hard to see from outside the car.

 

Interesting, guys -- does anyone have any problem with the GPS not locking in?

 

Initial GPS locking in has not been an issue, but I do lose signal often driving around Manhattan. Picks back up quickly, though. The voice alert that the GPS signal has been lost and then regained may start to get annoying while driving in the city. I will probably disable the voice alerts in the future anyway.

 

At first I accepted the audio ramp-up issue with the 9500i. Basically, as you approach a radar source the volume goes like 1-1-2-2 straight to a full 10 volume with nothing in between. Escort now acknowledges this problem, but told me it was a "preference". Anyway, this "preference" really started to annoy me, so with minimal insistence, they offered to update my unit.

If you plan on getting one, wait until November and confirm that you have the latest update resolving this ramp-up problem, I mean "preference".

 

I got both the 9500 and the Valentine 1 and can assure you that other than the convenient mute button at the power socket the 9500 has no advantages - reacts about 3 seconds later than the V1, does not have the arrows which I really like and will break after about 1 year if you don't manual switch it on and off as per the manual (I had the passport permanently on at the unit and activated it through the ignition - broke after a bit over a year and PassPort told me that I did not follow instruction thus the warranty is void. No issues with the V1 after 3 years of doing the same).