Everyone at Buy Radar Detectors would like to thank all of those that sent in an entry to our Review a Radar Detector and Win a T-shirt Contest!
All of the winners should be getting their t-shirts in the next two weeks. Ryan Reckard sent us the best review of the bunch, and we though all of you might enjoy it. This is the kind of testimonial that helps others who are shopping for a radar detector! We like it when we can tell customers what other people think about a product!
Review: I have owned many radar detectors, including a few Whistlers, Cobra, a Valentine1, and a few other brands. While many of these detectors do detect radar, I have found the Escort Passport 9500ix to be the best one for me. I started out with the cheap ones and eventually upgraded to the Valentine1, and now the 9500ix.
What I love about the 9500ix is the autolearn and the fact it has GPS and great sensitivity. As there are red light cameras, speed cameras, and mobile speed cameras in my city, this detector has been a life saver. The police only use radar and pacing for speeding tickets here, so this detector is perfect. If the detector starts beeping, IT IS A POLICE. I have driven all around the city in the last 6-8 months I have owned this detector and when it chirps, it is always a police or speed trap because of the awesome anti-falsing GPS.
I can't ask for a better detector, the sensitivity is great and it automatically adjusts just about anything for you. The brightness, the volume, the sensitivity, the mute under 20mph, the automute, the autolearn, anti-falsing, and city-highway selection is all automatic (which can be disabled) -- is just incredible. This detector alerts of red light cameras, speed cameras, and the mobile speed cameras are found well in advance using the anti-falsing GPS radar detecting.
If you do a lot of city driving, travel the same highway frequently, or just like to drive, this detector is perfect. GPS adds tons of features to the detector and that is why I gave up the arrows from the Valentine1 because it was useless to me when it went off every 5 seconds. Arrows on the 9500ix would make it the absolute winner, but GPS makes up for the fact you don't have 2 sensors. Think of the GPS as the extra arrow, only better.
Remember to check back again for future contest and thanks again to everyone that sent in a review!
I have heard some rumors that when you accidentally lock in the police patrol vehicle with this unit, that it is virtually impossible to unlock it, hence if you run into that patrol car again you will not get the warning.
I thought that you could unlock any individual "locked in data," but that is supposedly not the case. Furthermore, it supposed to be very difficult if not impossible to erase locked data from that unit in general.
It is hard for me to believe that this state of the art radar detector would have such faults.
Any comment on that appreciated.
"To unmark a location, simply press the MRK button when you are receiving
a marked location alert. The display will read Unmark? Press the MRK again to
confirm. The display will read: Unmarked."
So that is rather easy.
Keep in mind that the marked locations are GPS based. It does not mark a physical police vehicle, only the location the false signal was noticed.
So you are correct in that if you are in an area you have marked as creating a false alarm. You would not be notified if a police car was there and using the exact radar band you are now ignoring to clock people. It is a personal preference to take a very small risk at this happening, or you could just unmark the location to be safe.
"The GPS filter button turns PASSPORT's
GPS-powered TrueLock feature on and off.
(default is on)
To lockout a false alert, (X, K or Laser
only) press the mute button three (3)
times, (either on the detector or the
SmartCord) during the alert. Pressing the
mute button the first time will silence the
audio. Pressing it a second time will
generate a prompt on the display that will
read: Lockout? Press it a third time to
confirm that you want to lock this signal
out by location and frequency. A Stored
message will be displayed.
Once a signal has been stored, the
detector will reject this signal the next
time you approach this area. (The GPS
indicator will rotate clockwise, providing
a visual indication that the signal is being
rejected).
To unlock a signal that has already
been stored, simply press and hold the
mute button while the GPS indicator is
rotating. The display will read: Unlock?
Press the mute button again to unlock it
from memory."
As a last resort you can clear the database:
"At some point you may want to clear all of
the data in PASSPORT'S database. This
includes all markers and your false alarm
locations. In order to do this, simply press
and hold the SEN, BRT and MUTE
buttons at the same time. To confirm this
action, press the GPS button."