Escort Passport 9500i Radar and Laser Detector (Blue Display)

In anticiption of an upcoming 1000 mile road trip, and knowing my tendancy to drive a bit fast, I decided to purchase a radar detector. Having never owned one in the past, I did extensive research and settled on the Passport Escort 9500i and I wasn't disappointed.

During my 1000 mile round trip, 600 miles of it was in Trooper laden Washington State. No less than a dozen times, the Escort was able to give me enough advanced warning of either rolling radar or stationary laser speed traps to get down into the speed limit and avoid a ticket.

You'd expect this though. That's its function. The extras on this really make the 9500i shine though. With the built in GPS, you can permanently silence those annoying false positives from the grocery store or fixed "Your Speed" signs. However, if you roll through a silenced area and a NEW radar signal is detected, it will alert you immediately.

If you drive a bit fast over long distances, or even can open...Read more

This will be my third and possibly last Passport product. The PASSPORT 9500ix is a really good product. It would be a great product WITH THE EXCEPTION that, even at the $499 price, Escort still wants to milk you for more. In order to hook the Passport up to your Desktop, you have to purchase an AC converter (12 Volt DC Power Cord) from them for $19.95 + shipping. Or if you own a laptop, do all of the updates and configuration in your car, (or find a very, very, very long USB cable to run to your desktop). Unlike GPS and other products, the Passport will not power off of the USB. I ended up buying a car AC/DC battery adapter at Meijer for about the same cost, but no shipping.

The database subscription I thought would be a very nice option and for a 1 year subscription @ $19.95 is a pretty good price, but wait, guess what. Unlike the rest of the world, Escort claims they don't have the ability to give your subscription code via email. Strikes me as odd since I...Read more

First things first, Escort has discontinued the 9500i in blue (but not red), which is probably why Amazon is the only authorized dealer that's selling it for well under MSRP.

A few days after I bought this, I took a trip from Detroit to Chicago, so I really got a chance to see how this fared against my trusty Beltronics RX55 Pro Radar Detector. I'm happy to report that this is the best radar detector I've used.

I thought the blue display was a gimmick for Escort to fleece tuner kids out of fifty bucks, but I was really surprised to see how much gentler it was on my eyes -- and perhaps more importantly, how it doesn't scream "RADAR DETECTOR HERE!" the same way red displays do.

Of course, actual reception is going to vary widely, based on driving conditions. Sometimes I'd get warned a mile ahead of...Read more