Review Escort 9500i Radar Detector
The Detector of the Future is Here!
In late December, visitors to industry leading RadarDetector.net were asked to describe their visions of what radar detectors would be like in the future.
Some of the most common responses from detector enthusiasts included:
More sensitive Laser Sensor
Easier programming
GPS to detect False Alerts
Frequency counter
Auto mute
USB dataport
All these points would make ideal improvements the majority of users would love to see. As fate would have it, almost at that moment, I received one of the first Escort 9500i radar detectors. After giving this new Escort a complete testing and evaluation, we were delighted to find it had all the “future” features people were asking for in our poll.
Escort’s new GPS powered Escort 9500i radar detector provides permanent relief from false alarms, including automatic door openers, motion sensors, and other radar based sensors. At the same time, it allows the user to program and/or download safety camera and speed trap locations directly into the unit.
The features of the Escort 9500ix include:
• TrueLock feature that permanently eliminates false alerts by location and frequency
• Autosensitivity Mode provides real-time radar performance based on vehicle speed, plus Highway and City settings
• SpeedAlert feature provides an instant view of your vehicle speed during an alert
• Mark Location feature allows you to instantly “mark” known speed traps, cameras and other places of interest
• Voice announcements provide instant audible feedback for easier programming
• Auto Volume feature automatically increases the alert volume in noisy conditions such as a loud radio or road noise
• Easy to use Preferences allows you to customize up to nine features
• Ultra Bright Alphanumeric display with 280 LEDs
• Expert Meter tracks and displays up to eight radar signals simultaneously
• Spec Display provides actual numeric frequency for any radar signal
• Selectable radar and laser bands (on/off) allow you to customize which bands are being monitored (X band, K band. Ka band. Ku band, Laser, POP, SWS)
• Allows you to backup your Truelock data and other software related functions
Driving Impressions:
The first thing any seasoned radar detector owner wants to do is drive to all the local “false alert” hot spots in their neighborhood. That immediately reveals one of the weak spots for any detector.
My first stop was a local CVS Pharmacy that has a pair of automatic door openers at the entrance. As I approached the store, my Escort SR7 remote radar detector was at full alert in K band, but the new 9500i was completely silent. My first thought was of disappointment, thinking this particular 9500i was a bad unit.
But then I remembered the manual mentioning the 9500i’s autosensitivity mode. This lets the detector adjust its sensitivity (city/highway) based upon your speed. As I was creeping along at only 15 m.p.h., the detector lowered the sensitivity to city driving. I switched the detector from automode to highway, and the 9500i was at full alert.
To program a false alert location, you press the mute button three times on either the detector or the smart cord. Pressing the button the first time mutes the audio of the detector. Press it a second time and the display reads “lockout?” Pressing it a third time makes the display indicate the location is “stored”.
Next stop was a Shell Mini Mart located a few miles away. Since a highway passed directly in front of this location, I figured I could test the autosensitivity mode at both highway speed and low speed.
I switched the detector back to automode and drove past the Shell station at 55 m.p.h. Both my SR7 and the 9500i alerted at approximately the same time on K band.
Making a U-Turn, I drove past the same location again, but at 25 m.p.h. Again my SR7 was at full alert and the 9500i was silent until I was directly across from the entryway.
I pressed the mute button on the 9500i and the detector went silent and the GPS location was stored.
I made one more pass by the Shell Station at 55 m.p.h. The 9500i remained silent, while the SR7 was at full alert.
With a Little Help From Police
Being a weekend evening, the local police department, sheriff’s office and highway patrol were all involved in a D.U.I. traffic saturation patrol. That meant there was a lot of opportunity to test the range and sensitivity of the 9500i.
The range and sensitivity of the 9500i was stellar as it gave plenty of warning more than a mile away, even with the approach having a number of curves and hills.
At the last radar “fishing hole,” I coaxed an officer friend of mine to park across the street from the Shell Gas Station. He parked in a car dealer’s parking lot to run his Falcon K band hand held. My interest was to confirm that the 9500i would alert to another radar source at this location, after earlier marking the location as a false alert.
I approached the officer’s location at normal highway speed. At over a mile away the 9500i began alerting to the officers K band radar gun and the signal strength graph increased as I approached. The 9500i was at full alert on the officer’s radar gun as I passed, even though I had previously marked the spot as a false alert location.
The Paradise Valley Police Department in Arizona was the first agency in the nation to deploy automated traffic safety cameras back in 1987. Since then, other agencies in the area have seen the profitability of these devices and followed suit with installation of their own photo radar and red light enforcement camera programs.
The following afternoon, I headed to Scottsdale and the Phoenix area to mark off several of the safety camera locations and see how the 9500i alerted.
The City of Scottsdale installed a number of speed enforcement cameras on the 101 Loop that were operational for a nine month evaluation period. During this period, the City of Scottsdale projected their efforts generated an additional one million dollars in revenue. At this time, the cameras are still operational, however they are not issuing any citations until the evaluation is complete and the city council votes to maintain the program.
These speed enforcement cameras are also unique in that they do not use radar or laser to measure a vehicle’s speed. Instead, they use sensors embedded in the pavement. This makes these cameras totally undetectable to all other radar and laser detectors.
As I approached each of the six camera locations on the 101 freeway, I pressed the mark button on the 9500i. At this point the 9500i displayed “Mark?”. Press the mark button again and you’re prompted to assign it a label as either being a Speed Trap, Camera or Other location. Then by pressing the mark button a third time, the GPS coordinates are stored in the 9500i’s memory. Since these were all camera locations, I marked them off as camera locations.
After marking all the 101’s camera locations, we went back to see how the 9500i alerted. Traveling at a speed of 55, the 9500i alerted with a voice prompt one mile away. Then the unit’s display counted down the distance in feet until I reached the camera.
When I slowed down to a speed less then 50 mph in the approach to camera locations, the 9500i reduced its notification automatically to a half mile away.
Next we marked several school zones and other known high enforcement areas as “speed traps.” Again, at each of these marked locations, the 9500i sensed our speed and adjusted the distance of the location accordingly.
Review of Other Features
AutoVolume Feature
One new and very cool addition to the 9500i is the AutoVolume feature that automatically increases the alert volume level when the ambient noise in the vehicle (or on motorcycle) is too loud because of music, wind noise or perhaps even a nagging back seat driver.
The AutoVolume feature was very handy when I did my test drive with the 9500i installed on my Harley Davidson Ultra Classic. In highway cruising the 9500i could easily be heard above the roar of my Sreamin Eagle exhaust and when I slowed down for city driving, the detector lowered the volume accordingly. I also was pleased to find that the 9500i interfaced with the HARD Escort system from Legal Speeding when giving radar and laser alerts. However, I was a bit disappointed to also discover that the HARD would not alert when the 9500i gave warning of marked speed trap or camera locations.
USB Port – Interface Software
Another Industry first is that the 9500i is the only radar detector that has a USB data port that will allow you to back up and store marked and true locked locations to your computer and to allow you to merge data with other users.
Audible Alert and Voice Prompts
The 9500i has both audible voice and tone alerts. The audible warning for radar or laser will start with a tone followed by a voice alert of the band. Meanwhile, the display indicates your vehicle’s present speed. The detector display will then indicate the strength of the radar signal, and a few seconds later, automute. Each of the four radar bands (X, K, Ka, Ku and POP) and laser have their own distinct tone for easy identification.
SmartCord
The 9500i comes with the standard SmartCord found on Escort’s current line of detectors. Pressing the mute button on either the detector or the SmartCord will allow you to mark false alert locations.
SpeedAlert
The SpeedAlert feature will display the vehicles speed on the 9500i during the first few seconds of the alert, as long as the vehicle is traveling above 15 m.p.h.
Brightness Adjustments – Backlit Buttons
The 9500i has five brightness settings starting at Full Dark to Auto. The Auto setting will set the brightness of the display according to the ambient light in the vehicle. The 9500i has backlit control buttons, making it easy for the user to adjust options during night driving.
ExpertMeter – SpecDisplay
Hard core radar detector users will also appreciate the ExpertMeter and SpecDisplay options. These allow users to track up to eight radar signals simultaneously or display the actual numeric frequency of the radar signal being displayed.
Interfaces with Escort ZR3
For those of us that need that extra laser jamming protection, you will be pleased to know that the 9500i also can interface with their ZR4 laser jammer, thus providing high end radar detection and laser jamming capabilities.
Recap of 9500i
Without question, the detector of the future has arrived with the new Escort 9500i. Our tests show this innovative unit sets a new standard for functionality, usability and upgradeability. It has earned its place as my number one pick for 2007.
The 9500i should become available for resale in April of 2007 with the retail price of $449.95.
66 Responses to “Review Escort 9500i Radar Detector”
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any pics?
photo will follow shortly and this weekend will also have video
The total false alert guard, i believe will have a flaw. Many time i had my x50 i ran buy the localspeedsigns and the signal freq change a fe points. Why this has me concerned is that when it does this the 9500i will alert as it was an actually real alert.
Sounds like a very powerful unit… wonder how that USB feature will pan out… peer-to-peer false databases?
Stealth?
Finally a detector that will take on false alerts!!!!! I am interested in seeing the range of this detector. If someone ever has a problem with flase alerts this is a detector for them. I am very interested to see this detector tested range wise
You have the best gig, man! Good job Roy!
I would love to see how it performs
I think I am defintely getting one
Will the escort website have it before you Roy or will you release it the same time?
Looks like a solid product and sounds exciting from what you posted. Now let’s see how it stacks up to all the others.
How many data points will it take ? Is the memory upgradeable so we could have a national database installed ? (everyone
uploads their local info to a central point on the internet ?)
http://www.speedcheetahusa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=78#78
Roy I want one and I want one now 😉
I must say I was drooling through the entire article..
=]
How may “marked” locations will the unit allow you to store?
correction:
How >many
I think the 9500i is the best looking Radar Detector out there.
Escort really out did them selfs this time!
What i was most impressed about after reading roy’s post,
was after locking out a false alert in a known false alert area , the 9500i was able to detect a police radar gun in the exact same location.
That tells me the 9500i is so sensitive, it is able to distinguish real police radar from door openers,alarm systems and the like.
That are just a slightly off from police radar frequency.
A few good points from a Major Electronic Geek.
This detector sounds great but……….
GPS GPS built in antennas receive a minimum signal when inside of the component they are in. If they are not connected to an outside external antenna they are extremely prone to losing a signal especially during the following: Rain, Snow, Sleet, Cloudiness, Heavy Foliage areas, Electromagnetic storms, Tall City Buildings ect. will block the signal and cause the GPS to not function correctly or at all.
Sorry this is a fact Crying or Very sad
Second to the interference GPS devices have a certain amount of channels they can pick up to home in on a GPS signal. How many will this detector have?
Third, GPS accuracy ranges on each model, some are accurate within 10 feet some within 100 feet. The accuracy of this detector really can’t be proven….. It has no map on it so how would one really know how accurate it is.
Fourth, GPS satellites hit the GPS device differently each time you go out for a drive. If you mark a “POI” Point of interest one day, it may be way off the next day. Again, the user entering a point in which they got a false can not really have assurance on where the GPS is homing in on their detector and if the saved POI was off on a particular day or if its accurate. This could cause you a ticket! Rolling Eyes
Auto-sensitivity Mode provides real-time radar performance based on vehicle speed, plus Highway and City settings
Can this feature be turned off? I see a problem with this if you are in the city and going slow, but over the PSL and a cop pops you with instant on.
Internal Temperature:
GPS Devices get extremely hot, So do Radar Detectors, what was done to counteract this so it does not over heat?
Also in the severe cold GPS Devices have to warm up will the detectors GPS feature be effected this way too?
Last I read where Roy went to a local pharmacy and set his 9500 to ignore the false alert, but when he had an officer shoot the same band of radar the detector alerted. My question is, was the frequency of the false signal the same as the officers radar gun? In order for the test to work 100% the officer and the false signal would have to be the same frequency.
I have seen officers use the same frequency gun as a false signal, this is why I ask.
Last question, will the new detector allow you to detect X, K, KA, Laser and KU at the same time? Unlike the V1 which makes you choose either KA or KU.
Also the Red LEDS look pretty dim are they as dim as they look in the photos? Are the Red LEDS brighter than the X50’s?
Ku band protection??? Is that to say Ku is coming soon to the US? I can still upgrade the software on my X50, can’t I?
I was wanting to get the Bel RX65 until I read your review of the new Escort 9500i that is coming out in March. I actually was very impressed with what I read. My 2 questions to you is:
1. Do you think for the extra $100, it is worth waiting until March?
2. Do you think the performance of the 9500i will match or even exceed the Bel RX65?
Thanks for all your help Radar Roy.
will it be stealth like the STi Driver?
What is the size of the unit, is it heavy?
stlx50, you are so full of sh*t you have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to gps. f***
Keep me posted 🙂
Roy I just bought the 8500 x50. I had a escort 7500 standard. The new x50 falses all the time compaired to the old 7500. I guess its because its not as sinsitive, to say the least I want to take it back and get the bel 65 or this new 9500i, can you get the results up on the performance of 9500i VS the bel65. Thanks
Can’t wait to add this to my aresenal!!!
I know very well what I’M talking about with GPS. Thanks. I wonder how this detector will work compared to real gps. Everything I said is true.
A few things I would like to know and also brought up by other people.
1. Is this stealth like the STI Driver?
Who knows when we all may enter a state
that bans detectors!!!
2. What are the maximum tolerated
temperatures without damaging the
detector?
In other words, can I leave it in the
glove compartment overnight in the
freezing cold or leave it in the glove
compartment with the windows shut in 100
degree Michigan heat?
3. I have heard of a national database for
some kind of GPS anti-speedtrap device
where you download the list of all known
USA speed traps and the GPS component of
the device will alert you whenever you
approach a fixed trap. Does this Escort
have a list like that available for
download?
4. What are the max detection ranges for
all bands and laser on this device?
5. Compare the Beltronics RX 65 and STI Driver vs this new Escort.
Thanks
1: No, the 9500i is not stealth like the STi
2: Cold will not damage the detector, heat will. It is not recommended to keep the detector in a parked vehicle during the summer, when the temperature inside the the car could exceed 165 degrees
3: Presently there is no list, this is something that Escort is considering
4: The range tests are basically the same as the present 8500 X50 and you can view those at http://www.radarbusters.com
5: The Veil guy just published a comparison at laserveil.com
I just ordered my 9500i from escort today. They are shipping as soon as Feb. some time. no exact date… The factory told me that they are selling them direct for the first 2 months before releasing them to the chain stores. Also they said that the specs for the 9500i are the same as the 8500 x50. Another interesting thing is that they said there wasnt any software for the units yet to back up your database…? Nice
In response to the “Major Electronic Geek” the gps that is inside of this unit is new technology. the SiRF III GPS is EXTEMELY sensitive. I currently own a handheld GPS with this technology in it (Garmin 60csX) and I get signal in my own house which was virtually impossible for the prior gps models. Also it takes time for GPS units to get a lock but the SiRF III technology virtually gets a satelite lock in seconds. This is the real deal!
Installed the 9500i this morning. Integrated perfectly with my ZR3 laser shifter. GPS signal was aquired in my driveway in less than 5 seconds. I was able to ignore pesky door openers with three presses of my remote button. I was also able to simply mark the location of a local speed trap and cameras. So far it works exactly as advertised. I ordered directly from Passport.
Well folks this changes everything… Just upgraded to a X50 and will wait a few months. do some homework on the 9500i, but if it is close to what they claim I will buy one.
I am a doubting Thomas but Escort has always sold an exceptional product, hell my original Escort from the 80’s still works – I only upgraded to a laser detector because Ohio and NJ went that way.
My questions are how much data can the unit hold – I cover most of PA, NJ, DE and OH. And how long will a backup battery hold the info. A national downloadable database will be the bomb…
I cannot imagine what it would be like without most false alarms. My original unit was a used Fuzzbuster from the early 80’s that I sold at a garage sale in the early 90’s.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Radar-Detector_Speed-Trap/join
Roy, Is the 9500i VG-2 or VG-3 detectable?
I have had my 95001 for 12 days now. I like it and it keeps a lock on the gps no problems there. BUT, I dont think I has the same range as the X50 did. It also goes off on laser if you honk the horn on 2 differnt cars. 06 GMC Van and a 03 chevy truck.
No one is returning my email for a test, all i can find is where people have drivin around with it and say its close to this or that…Thats not a test. And if your driving in a new area the GPS is worthless. Because you dont know where the false signals are yet…. I spoke to escort and they told me when you lock out a false alarm it locks out the hole BAND, not just the freq. the false is on… But since its a small distance that is blocked the passport people are not to worried. BUT there is places near strip malls for example that have one false after another and that can leave you blocking a cops radar unit during the valuable time it would be alarting to a cop serveral thousand feet ahead of you if hes on the same band as the flase lock out. I’m not sure what bothers me more, the fact that the passport rep. might be wrong or if this does have less range than the x-50. This realy sucks not knowing for sure since it was $515 with the protection plan and tax since im in Ohio. Im afraid this is going to be like the 8500 was, later comming out in no time with the 9500i x50 saying it has twice the range and can block per actual frequecy not the hole band….
UPDATED. I talk to Passport again, this time I didn’t want to talk to someone that just knew as much about the 9500i as I did. I got a call from the head man in the service dept. He spent 40min on the phone with me and answered every question I had about the unit.
The 9500i does block just the exact freq. the false is on. They have a algorithm for how it deals with the freq changing like one person mentioned earlier. He wasn’t able to mention how it worked but like he said and I’ve personally seen….It just works!!!.
The horn problem does happen sometimes with certain cars. they can tune down the sensitivity so it wont do it but who wants that? If you think about it, how often do you honk the horn anyway?
City mode V.S. Hwy mode V.S. Auto mode. Here is the scoop….Hwy mode will not change the sensitivity at all. The auto mode will decrease the sensitivity on X & K bands gradually from 0-50Mph. At 50Mph the detector is at full power. The X50 only decreased the X band, so this is a new feature with all the false alarms from the new door openers. City Mode keeps the X & K decreased the hole time its on.
9500i is not stealth like the STi this is a problem for us in Virginia and DC.
I have run the Beltronics STI for about 6 months now. Please don’t tell me I have already got a unit that is outdated. However, I have had $450.00 worth of fun dumping non radar detector running cars that were riding my bumper at 87 MPH right into the hands of the Flordia Highway Patrol. Am I evil!. But if this new escort is better….I gotta have it!…Words of Wisdom from an old radar runner from the days of the Whistler that you would hide in a Kleenex Box on the dash……Buy the Veil Coating…no detector can help you on Laser when they are spot picking with Laser…Unless your really behaving well…your had when Laser hits you unless you are able to smoke the tires to slow down without being noticed..The Veil and STI Driver seems to give me 3-5 seconds to get my act together before the cop goes ahead and takes his eyes out of the cross hairs.
Has anyone heard of the STI being set off in KA band by the Newer trucks that run GPS and Sat. to keep logbooks etc. Ran with a driver and his would intermit bark KA when he passed this type truck..mine stayed silent…However. Mine has been sent back to factory for new radar horns…2 weeks after bought the display said service required…The good news. I had my STI back in less than 5 days…
Roy thanks 4 THE 8500 its saved my ass looking forward too the 9500i loyal scottsdale client its the only way i can enjoy my 740 il !!!
More testing on the 9500i VS 8500 X50. My girlfriend bought the X50 because she didn’t want to spend the money for the 9500 but wanted something better than a Wal-Mart special…..
Cool now I am able to test it with my 95001. I mounted it side by side and very close to each other, this surprisingly did not cause any false alarms…
Well I’m happy to say the 9500i beat the x50 buy a few seconds at the normal false alarm locations. On X band it was very close. The K range was much better with the 9500i than the X50. I wasn’t lucky enough to get hit by KA…lol
By the way the guys of LIDAR are testing this puppy in March 07 so keep checking there site for the real test zone.
So, it looks like my 8500 x50 may end up on craigslist in the near future…
I can’t wait.
So are these available for purchase yet? i see that escort’s site has it up for sale yet radarbusters has it listed as available in april? is it safe to buy one now?
Roy,
I have ordered a 9500I however I came across a large quantity of bad reviews at radardetector.net I was very impressed with your review of the unit however I am concerned with all the bad critiques.
Just got my 9500i, ordered from the escort site. Wondering why the factory default settings have the bands Ku and POP set at “off?”Went to “preferences” and turned them on.
I have an escort 8500 & I went through 2 radar traps with an officer looking through some sort of device that looked like binogulars is that a new radar & if so what kind because my detector didn’t go off??? There was another incident where officer was on side of highway aiming right @ me & again didn’t go off. What gives??? This 8500 is 3yrs old & has been sent back for upgrades & still gives me false signals. I’ve been loyal to Escort for many many years but with all the traveling I do I need a detector I can count on. Any recommendations???
Thank you,
Bob
Sounds like the officer was using laser instead on Radar, please review this page:
http://www.radarbusters.com/support/choosing-detector/laser-enforcement.asp
As far as changing the factory settings, why? There is no Ku in the US and unless your in NV, no POP
If there becomes a p2p of false alerts and know locations what is to stop the police from getting on and marking them self as know falses and updating the database to currupt it. I could see this being a real issue if there were to become a national database.
I live in Littlerock Arkansas and they have just gotten KU band here – or so the HP occifer that pulled me over for 84 in a 65 the other day told me. He wasn’t real talkative, too busy writing and I didn’t want to piss him off more than he seemed to be by asking a lot of questions. Near the end of last year I believe they were also playing around and testing out some kind of photo radar in one of their favourite speed traps. It was a pretty large boxy looking apparatus but I only saw it once. I guess they got KU instead.
I just ordered this from Crutchfield…living just a few miles for the Escort store in Cincinnati, I was able to save $20 by not having to pay tax on my purchase. I talked in length with a couple of different employees at Cincinnati Microwave and they both told me since Escort bought Bel, the Rx-65, 8500, 9500i, and the Sti driver are almost exactly identical on the inside. The differences in the pricing would be the feature set…the anti-spectre on the Sti, the GPS and KU band on the 9500i, no voice prompts or KU on the 8500, no stealth on the Rx65. They told me as far as the radar tests you see online, it just depends on who is doing the test and how they are doing them, as no two tests are alike. I figured that I haven’t been to Virginia or DC in awhile, the GPS feature is more valuable to me.
Wow can’t wait to get new 9500.I have a laser jammer zr3.People need to know this don’t work every time.Why don’t we see better test for this??I live near RT30 Mansfield,OH.They have a very good speed trap area.The one that got me was,I was going down a hill going west,he was setting in the middle on the eastbound side(before rt13 exit),on the other side of a wall(didnt see him till i noticed the zr3 lit up rear sensor).70 in a 50 ouch.Im not sure but i think you need 3 sensor/jammer units for the back not 1 like they give you .It has 2 for the front I think you need 3 for the front also.One sensor/jammer needs to be adjusted level,one needs to be adjusted slightly down,and the last slightly up.As you go on past RT13 and past RT39 you start down a hill.At the bottom of the hill they are sitting in the middle.If not,the next bridge they are on it waiting for any laserjammer.The zr3 don’t seem to jam at a angle.
Radar Roy, you havent been to Texas recently. The highway patrol is in love with POP mode. Same for some of the major cities (ie Dallas and Houston), in fact they just turn off their Ka and go POP crazy!
uhh bob everyone knows rockymountain company watever is a false company that should be sued because whatever crap they make never works… read the article on roys website.. they make phazer if u didnt know that
oh yeah also roy which radar is really the best right now between the sti,rx65 and x50. i curronly own the rx65 and its range isnt that impressive to me which one really is the best?
Hello,i’m thinking to buy one 9500i.But what about to use it in Europe,Lithuania?What about photo radars,and now police everywhere started to use russian “Berkut” in pop mode.So is it good choice or me to buy this 9500i?Thanks a lot.
NO KU in us ??????
We got KU in Texas one of the first was
a small town Galena Park…..and I only found that out after getting a new radar detector 5 years ago. I have since come across other Ku in Texas.
sorry got KU and KA mixed up sorry!
I’ve gotten Ku a few times driving around in a shopping center parking lot. It’s 13.xxx GHz. couldn’t pinpoint it. Maybe it was picking up a multiple of an I.F. from some other transmitter? When Ku band displayed on the readout, it did not alert me with a tone… I was oping to hear the Ku tone 🙂 Anyone know what’s causing this?
What about RDD’s? Does it hide from those/pick up the radars they’re running long beforehand so you can unplug?
Roy If Edcort wom’t put up a data bass for the 9500i who would. Do we just plug the detector into the computer like our camera’s or will a program follow?
^^Escort^^
Hi Roy
I’m from down under in new zealand I got the 9500i from flautos and its gold!! not olny am i loving the gps but im loving the speed indercation when it picks up a ka band.
However can i down load the pole camera locations yet or is the software stil not around? if so can you point me in the right direction?
Just had it in today had a test drive in dubai and yes it works great picked up all cameras have to see teh mobiles and handheld yet but so far great. only on Jumaira road frequent false alarm but as there are 15 traps on a 2 mile stretch i can not lock them out, but as this is a beach road you will never drive fast. other roads easy block out, just need to find out if this one is undetectable by the police
Yeah, this Radar seems sweet, and yes I wll be purchasing one ( after some parasite stole my 8500 x-50) BUT this technology is hardly new!!!
my wife uses my old uniden g.p.s 9000 purchased about 6 years ago with preprogrammed camera sites for N.Z as well as a COMPASS and programmable speed trap sites!Go UNIDEN! so the 9500 is kinda retro tech in a lot of ways also minus a compass.Love to see what Uniden would be like now, if they had’nt ceased production!
I just purchased this detector my self after reading all the reviews. It was a toss up for me between the 9500i and the Bel STi, but after carefuly reading numerous different reviews I decided the only advantage the Bel STi seemed to have was it’s stealth capabilities, an issue that’s of no concern to me since I don’t drive a commercial vehicle over 10,000 lbs and don’t live anywhere near RD outlaw states.
I haven’t used it long enough yet to form a novice review worthy opinion of it other than it is easy to use for its exhausting list of built in features. I knew I made the right choice with this model though due to it’s GPS marking feature. For anyone living or driving in Nevada the stealthy-ness of your detector is of no importance, the GPS is however critical. Nevada Highway patrol uses a standard radar detector proof method of writting millions of tickets everyday.
In Nevada they paint 1 foot wide horizontal white lines on both sides of the road in some areas, then they paint simular lines in 1/4 mile incriments down the road for a mile. At the end of these zones it’s nothing to see up to 8 NHP cars around the next turn or over the next hill crest with sometimes 2-3 people pulled over by each one of them.
They never run out of customers the way they are doing it. They have a small aircraft flying high above who uses a stop watch in his hand to time each car as it passes by the white marks, then they have a chart to calculate the speed based on the time and he radios into the large clump of awaiting patrol cars when he has a speeder. There’s nothing for any radar detector to pick up with this tricky method they use heavily here.
Enter the GPS feature of the 9500i, now I can mark off on the GPS system of the 9500i where these white line areas on the highway are located and I get a warning each time as I’m coming up on one. This works perfect out here because the roadside in the desert out here is featureless so it’s impossible to make a mental note of where the marks are even if you drive the same route every day. You can try to watch for them, but it distracts your driving and your always afraid you may have briefly missed one. 9500i works absolutely perfectly for this.
Having the alert go off is just what I needed to help me pay better attention to my speed. When driving down long stretches of featureless desert highway its all to easy to accidently have your speed drift a little hi (or low). Leave it to luck that when you do accidently drift over the speed limit slightly there’s going to be a cop ready to take your hard earned money from you. Before purchasing this I had just recieved my first two tickets (for anything) in my life. Both only 2 days apart, both for doing 80mph in a 75. JUST 5 miles an hour over the speed limit due to accidental speed drift. Both times over 8 other cars were lined up on the side of the road with me all also getting tickets from the NHP zero tolerance crack down fundraisers. The tickets were only $67.00 each, and no points on my license since they were in a “rural zone”, but still, that’s $134 I could have used a lot more badly than they needed it.
My only complaint so far with the 9500i is a mounting problem with it. I live in Nevada on the California State line so I do about equal driving in CA. In CA it’s illegal to have suction cups on your windshield, so the supplied mounting bracket isn’t an option. Velcro to the dash looks like crap, plus it places the detector behind my rested windshield wipers. Escort doesn’t offer the visor clip for the 9500i because it places the unit too close to the roof of the vehicle and has an adverse effect on the GPS feature. So for now I’m stuck with using the suction cups in Nevada so I can use the much needed GPS. Then when I cross over into CA I have to use rubber bands on my visor since the GPS isn’t needed by me for highway driving there like it is in Nevada. It’s a big hassle having to do this so I wish they could come up with a legal alternative mounting option for it I could buy as an accessory like someway to clip it to the bottom of my rear view mirror (the rubber bands didn’t work well when this was tried, and bailing wire made the install too permanent, not to mention it wasn’t very cosmeticly pleasant to the eye). I have to use this same detector in multiple vehicles so a built in system wasn’t a viable option (nor affordable).
My only other complaint is with the Escort Company in general. After reading numerous online complaints from other people it seems they are all to eager to look for any excuse they can to void their warranty. Escort is the only company I have ever heard of in my life that voids the warranty if you don’t buy your product even brand new sealed in the factory box with serial number in tact from an “authorized reseller”. That means no Amazon.com or eBay, or numerous other (their list is enormous) populr and modern online shopping locations those of us on the internet frequently use, even if it’s still new and sealed in the factory box, your warranty is null and void. They also void warranties if products are not installed by a factory authorized reseller. They lost my sale on the ZR3 laser “shifter” because of this policy. I went into my only local authorized reseller and they were so unfamiluar with the Escort product line that I may as well been talking about it to a temporary employee at a Walmart. Not to mention there’s no way some kid working for $5.00 an hour in their install shop is going to install anything in my vehicle, factory authorized or not. If an item is sealed in a factory box when purchased, serial number in tact and a problem is due to a manufacturers defect it should be covered by the warranty no matter who you bought it from or who installed it. There are consumer protection laws in most regions insuring this despite Escorts “policy”.
Radar Roy I read once said that Escort listens to customer feedback on features, desires, and complaints about their products. I do like that about the company and in reading his comments on the matter it sounds like they mean this when they say it. I’d like some features added to the 9500i that could easily be obtained with a firmware update via the currently unused USB port on the device.
1) I’d like to see a fix for the issue the Guys from LIDAR pointed out where when a false signal is locked out it can also lockout a true threat signal. After seeing their review and footage showing this problem I’m not comfortable taking advantage of what was supposed to be a great feature and the primary reason behind the use of GPS in the system. Till then I just don’t use that feature and everytime I get a false signal it just annoys me that the claimed feature doesn’t work as claimed.
2) Feature I’d like to see added is an ability to take further advantage of the built in GPS capabilities. Since there are big brother is watching you paranoid people in the world they should make it an optional feature, but a Unique Identifier code could be software installed into each unit. This would be great for tracking and catching stolen radar detectors. Not to mention it could also save a lot of broken car windows when theives learned that stealing this particular detector will only lead to their arrest since if they try to use the device after being reported stolen the GPS will pinpoint their location. Escort could even generate more income by offering this as a monthly paid service like LoJack for stolen cars and laptops.
3) Worthless feature (future spoken feature at least) is the ability to have a public submittable on line data base you can download for speedtrap locations by other people that can be used with the GPS system. In a perfect world this would be a good idea, however in our world this would never work. Not all people are competant or trustworthy enough for this to ever actually work. Not to mention the speed trappers themselves will also have access to this information and know when they need to change up their locations. Its a good idea on paper, but in the real world we actually live in its not a very well thought out working plan.
Comment on Escort 9500i Radar Ka-band around the curve test by rufnek258 –