Escort - Passport Radar/Laser Detector

I purchased this radar detector more than a week ago. During my use, I was very impressed with the X50's performance. I was particularly impressed with its range during ideal sitiuations, i.e. long open roads. I was able to detect LEO's radar from more than a mile away as stated by many other reviews. The X50 also does well when radar signals originate from around curves. The X50 didn't detect around curves more than a mile away but still gave enough warning to adjust speed. It did o.k. with hills also. The only thing I would be careful with is hills that are very deep. Deep hills do not allow signasl to travel as far thus the X50 may not alert fast enough to adjust speed. City driving is the most negative experience you may have with the X50. The X50 excels at highway and interstate driving, however, the X50 is still very supceptible to false alerts when driving around urban scenes. Areas with high levels of shopping oriented buisnesses are the worst areas for the X50 or any detector for that matter, although I would suspect the X50 does better than a lot of other radar detectors. These areas are littered with alarms and automated door openers and cause havic with the X50. The X50 has some neat features that I haven't expierenced with other detectors. The X50 is programmable allowing the user to taylor its behavior and how it displays information. My preference was auto mute off with spec display on. You can also turn off X band which is not widely used by LEO. There are three types of city modes that allow you to run city mode with X band, LoX, and normal. There is also a POP mode that is off by default. I found the POP mode to cause some false alerts and resorted to leaving it off. The X50 utilizes digital signal processing or DSP. This is a way of analzing signals to determines its validity as a legit threat. I would not by any radar detector without this feature. All in All, I was very impressed with the X50's performance. I was able to take it on a road trip Father's Day weekend where it more than paid for itself. Didn't really detect a lot of activity going but coming back I encountered a lot of action. I was able to make it back home without being pulled over, driving at what "I considered" to be decent speeds. My only gripe is the X50's tendency to false alert in urban areas. For this reason I decided to return the X50 and shell out the extra money for the Escort Passport 9500IX. The 9500IX is basically the same radar detector as the X50 but with the addtion of GPS. The 9500IX has the capability of locking out false alerts which is the main reason I decided to return the X50 and buy the 9500IX. Even though I returned the X50, I would still recommend it. It is an excellent radar detector that may be getting a little long in the tooth. There are other radar detectors that have the same performance with the addition of new innovative features like GPS (9500IX). If you don't want to spend a whole lot of money but still want excellent performance, this is the radar detector for you. I wouldn't take anything from it, on the highway that is.

I've owned the 8500 X50 for over 5 years now and it has served in the 4 cars I've owned in that time (and still does). It's rather basic, but it's supposed to be. I leave it on highway (highest possible) sensitivity all the time so as to get better warning, but even in city mode it gets false hits galore. My positive hits have come from as far as two miles out in the right area and I always get radar hits before I'm in the sights of the radar operator. In terms of radar detection the 8500 works as it should and it does get 360 degree hits. The only serious drawback to this unit is the false hits. On the highway or in the country these are a non-issue. In town they'll drive you nuts. The extra $200 for the 9500ix gets you GPS-based tuning out of false hits after it sees them 3 times. I can't tell you how worth while that is. Save $200 more and get the 9500ix. If you absolutely can't, this unit is still worth its price. I advise picking up the $20 suction mount from Escort. The factory mount works fine but it's cheap, allows the unit to bounce around a bit, and occasionally falls off on a really hot day. Amateur users beware! Instant-on radar guns are hard to defend against. This unit will absolutely pick up an instant-on hit when the officer pulls the trigger, but if you're the only car on the road he's already got you by the time you hear the hit. This isn't a limitation with this unit, it is a fact of police radar. No detector can protect from IO radar if there isn't traffic ahead of you to get hit first (if there is, you hear them getting hit before you get in range). ALSO, laser cannot be defended against with any detector. It is a narrow beam detection unit, which means you will only hear the hit if the laser gun is aimed directly at your car. By the time the alarm sounds, it's already too late. Only a laser jamming unit can help you with laser. The point is, if you have this and you're driving along and see an officer aiming what looks like a radar gun at traffic and you don't get a hit, it's probably laser/lidar and he just never aimed it at you (or you were close enough that he just hit your license plate and not the detector). I have received confirmed laser hits on my 8500 but in every case would have received a ticket if I'd been speeding.

i've been using an X50 for a few weeks now. mostly been disappointed, but i just figured out why. everything i've read has said to turn off the X-band due to the high number of false alarms from automatic doors. i complied, but found that i was passing speed traps without a single beep here in Pennsylvania. i've been playing it safe, watching my speed while i learn the ins and out of my Escort, thankfully. i recently decided to try an experiment, and turned the X-band back on. i've had to put up with the frequent false alarms, but learned an important fact. everything i read on the matter stated that most police do not use X-band any more. that just is NOT true here in PA. it seems that PA State Troopers do still use the band, and this is not the only state. in general, i think that the 8500 X50 is a good radar detector. the tone is loud enough to be heard over moderate music volume (and it has a headphone jack). it has a high level of customization available in the performance. and it can be easily read / understood by novice users, or set up to give experienced users additional information. my advice is this: 1. make sure that ALL bands are turned on. the default for the X50 has at least POP turned off. 2. take a couple of weeks to learn / test your new detector. learn it's range for different bands especially. 3. if you have doubts about it working properly, exchange it. this is a sensitive piece of electronics, and there are probably going to be bad units. don't just blast it in a review because it didn't work for you. try a new one

So far out of all the reviews, anything negative said about this product sounds like ignorant user error. First off this is a RADAR detector, not a cop car detector. If they do not have their radar gun turned on, you will not get a warning, I don't know why this is hard for some people to understand. Also, if you read the manual, POP mode detection is turned off out of the box, so you will need to turn this on. X band will be set to on out of the box, I would recomend turning this off as it is not used anymore as long as you live in a city with running water. K band is still being used though not as common, you may want to research how common this may be in your area, because K band is used in many other devices that may cause some false alarms. If K is not used in your area I would recomend turning it off. I choose to deal with the rare false alarm to protect myself from the few K band radar guns that are used in my area. Anyone who has had the hassle of getting a ticket should be able to see the value in spending the money and getting a quality radar detector. If not waste your money on a cheap, cobra ticket detector with about 50 feet of range.

I bought this one after I returned the V10 from Beltronics (see review). False triggers - yes/few. Did not get any alarms on the bridge I mentioned in the Beltronics V10 review. Tested on: the same minivan. No Mustang ( did not need to). Speed - the first 2 hours speed limit to see how it works. 3 out of 3 detections - LOOKS promising. Design - simple and straight to the point ( black color -wonderful, don't need something shiny saying "look at me... I am a radar detector..." hint at the V10). Ease of use- unpacked, plugged, ready to go. Perfect. Volume control- can't be any easier. Detections - here is where has the V10 beat by 2 miles (really- 2 miles). I got a signal and it kept going, then shut off, go again, etc. same thing. 2 miles later a police car. + 12 out of 12. Let me repeat: 12 police cars (in 3 different states) 12 signals - around the corner (check), over a hill (check), where is he? - ahhh (check), from the ditch - this one too (check), blind folder radar ( check). Got them all - from the woods (check).

I recently purchased this unit as my trusty Beltronics Vector 965 just randomly failed on a car trip (it was 1.5 yrs old). Beltronics wanted 60$ and me to pay shipping to them. For a product that was expensive and is so vital to me (I'm a driver - 8 sets of tires in 4 yrs and enjoy every moment) it needs to work. I really like the 8500 - it's only picking up 1/2 of the false alerts the other unit did. I can't tell on the range - seems a little less so far but that may be that I'm basing that on false alert areas not real radar. I love the power cord and option to run completely dark! Suction cups are not an issue. Simply get an alcohol wipe and wipe the cups then the window and you're good to go. I think heat can very much be an issue with these units - although for the money and the environment they are designed for (e.g. hot car interior) they should be designed to NOT have problems.. That said I will be VERY careful with the new unit. And you should Always get the best buy warranty on something like this - I did. I will not be stuck with another failed expensive detector again.. One other thing - Beltronics / Escort factory warranty is a joke - they will not warranty anything unless you buy it direct from them..

I have had my 8500 x50 for 5 years, and it has saved me from tickets on a long commute dozens of times. Most times I can detect a radar 60 to 90 seconds before I can see it. I've gotten two tickets while using this unit. The first, I was driving in the hill country and when I came over a hill the trooper turned on his radar once he saw me. The device had nothing to detect as his radar wasn't on until it was too late. The second time I was driving I35 between San Antonio and Austin and the trooper got me with a laser. Once again, the x50 had nothing to detect until it was too late. The 9500 has the GPS, but I personally don't need the added features or the added price, so this is the unit for me.

At first it seemed like a lot of $ yet it has helped to save travel time and will help keep the ins co from getting rich. Please know that the traffic authorities do not always have the radar on, so this will not give an "all go" for illegal speed. One must always be alert and reasonable when driving!