good sensitivity in the front

no direction arrows.... V1 as good if not better from the front - blows it away from the rear...

Well - it may be as good as the V1 from radar coming straigth at you.... but it detects very poorly from the rear and provides no directional information......

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Passport 8500 - I bought them both and sent back the 8500

It's great. It picks up the DIGITAL KA guns that are now out. Picked up State Trooper from 3 miles away the first day I had it. $100 less than the other Biggie. Programmable later for updates in Radar Guns.

None. No directional arrows? Why don't you just SLOW DOWN when the detector goes off? That's called logic. Traps with more than one police car...Try using the Expert mode that shows MORE THAN ONE SOURCE.

Great deal, great detection, great distance. GREAT.

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Passport 7500
Passport 4600

PROGRAMABILITY, the pilot light on all of the other radar detectors with a "worded display" are quite annoying to me. Too much crap on the screen all the time. Leave it on the single H, C or A, and its nice to see, and not obtrusive.

So far, the "overheating" factor. I live in Louisiana, it gets hot down here!

Im satisfied with the 8500's overall performance, but my post is regarding Howard's comment on the overheating. I'd like to see this discussed more. I've owned my 8500 for a few months now, and never had a problem until recently. I noticed after entering the car at mid-day, it would exhibit false Ka alerts for about 4 to 5 seconds, then go quiet. This would repeat until the vehicle cooled. It also once went into Self Calibration mode, following one of these episodes.

I've since gotten and RMA from Escort, returned it and recieved it back repaired. The repair notice said that it was a "Failed Initialization", and the remedy was PC Board replacement. As far as I can tell, it seems to perform as well if not better then before. The one quirk that I noted though is, the tones are severly DIFFERENT. I've now owned 4 generations of Cincinatti Microwave/Escort products, the Original Escort, the Original Passport, the Escort Passport 4500, and now the Passport 8500. All of them had that signature "Beep, Brap" tones for X and K. Ka, was a "blap blap" sound. Now all tones are more raspy then before. So my questions are simply and quite unscientifically, what does yours sound like?

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Prior to buying the 4500, I owned a Bel somethinganother and a Whistler. Both at that time were seriously prone to falsies. Compared to my other Escorts/CMW products, it functions excellently.

Extremely high range in picking up K and Ka band radar. Very easy to program, good display. Auto-mute and "smart cord" are useful.

Contrary to a review I read (not here), it still picks up false signals in a fair amount; pretty good filtering, but not outstanding.

This is the best detector I've ever owned, period. Its range on both K and Ka band is phenomenal (it goes off so early, you have to drive for a few more minutes before you see the police car), and the auto-mute feature plus the "smart cord" are great. I've used several different detectors, and am shocked at the difference between this one and others (including the worthless Passport 7500).

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Much better than Passport 7500, Bel 890? (not sure of model I had)

Detection range, non-falsing, volume, smartcord, dark mode,capable of displaying 2 Ka signals, 2 K signals, and 4 X band signals simulataneously

Long and heavy

The Escort Passport 8500 is by far the best radar detector on the market. I've driven with it for about 6 months and have always been warned to the presence of radar 4+ miles in advance. Compared to the BEL 980, BEL 880, and Valentine-1, its range is higher and barely falses.

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Bel 880, Bel 980, Valentine -1, Maxon RD-11

Easy to use, easy to mount/dismount from windshield, windshield suction cups that actually stay in place, bright and legible display.

Maximum warning tone volume not loud enough (I want that sucker smoke detector loud ;)

I recently purchased the Passport 8500. I decided it was time for a detector after I got nabbed twice in five days (and the second time was a total "county revenue" offense!)

I had used a V1 a few years back for about two weeks. I sent it back because it was so expensive, it gave false alerts *a lot*, and because I figured that it was basically rendered worthless by instant-on radar any way.

I've been driving with the 8500 for more than a month. On Auto mode, it screens out false signals much better than the V1 did. It stills gets triggered by strip malls, etc, but at least it's clear what is causing the signal. I've had two opportunities to test it on actual traffic radar. Once, it alerted me to a strong K band radar operating ahead. Half a mile later, I ran across a radar based speed monitoring sign.

The second time was this afternoon as I took a run through one of my favorite back roads. This road is heavily traveled, and the police have taken to it as one of their favorite speed trap spots. Sure enough, there were two patrol cars working both sides of the road. They were using instant-on Ka band.

Honestly, I was disappointed at how close I was to the patrol car before the 8500 warned me. But this was likely due to the fact that these cops were only activating the radar when they had visually acquired a "likely suspect". They weren't using it on vehicles grouped closely together. The officers were also using the terrain to hide their presence from other vehicles to give drivers as little advance notice as possible.

I pulled in a ways behind one of the patrol cars, and monitored his radar usage (he was pulled into a parking area parallel to the road.) I waited for him to nail a vehicle. After about 20 minutes or so, he pulled out behind a silver Acura Integra. I did not notice the Integra going any faster than earlier traffic the cop had monitored (the driver was certainly not driving recklessly), but the Integra was alone and, of course, was a flashy sports car, which makes the driver guilty of speeding by default.

All things considered, I must confess that I am a bit uneasy about this detectors ability to save me from an instant-on trap like that one. I think that next I will look into police scanners to determine whether they will give me better advance notice of when cops are operating in my area.

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V1.

The best thing about this radar detector is the sensitivity. It really picks up radar signals very well. When an alert goes off you have more than enough time to slow down to the regulated speed. Can simutaneously monitor up eight signals at once. I always leave mine on Highway mode and turn of the X-Band. Escort really has great customer service. If something does go wrong with the unit they will take care of it 100%.

There are no weaknesses for this unit. I really like how they moved the RJ-45 connection to the right side. The old Passport 7500 has the connector on the left and side and it seems to get in the way. So, overall the 8500 is revised and 100%. I don't think I would go with another product.

Escort has always been very dependable. I have been using their product for over three years, and no tickets yet. One thing I have learned that if you speed, you speed smartly. The dectector is just an aid. Use your instinct. If you see breaklight flashing ahead of you, the opposite traffic blinks their high beams, and checking your rear view mirror then any dectector will do really.

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Passport 7500

Lower price than the Valentine 1 (but you get what you pay for)

No direction arrows like the V1.
No bogey counter like the V1.
Not as sensitive as the V1 to the sides and rear.
Falses more than the V1.

First of all let me say that I will not bash this product or give it a bogus bad review like some people have done to the Valentine 1 (joe from LA, mark from big sandy TX, randy from columbiana OH, bill blake from Maspeth NY or Jim powers from Maitland fl). As a mater of fact I get the feeling that unlike most people who post reviews around here I have actually owned these products.

Anyway I WILL GIVE THIS PRODUCT CREDIT it is clearly the second best radar detector out there.

I went and bought it after reading this website, all of these knuckleheads scared me into thinking that my valentine is out of date. So I went and bought this from a local store (just in case I wanted to return it), actually $324 after tax. I drove one day with the escort then one day with my valentine then another day with the escort. The escort is almost as sensitive (k band and Ku band)as the valentine in the front but loses to the side and rear. But I did notice a lot more false alarms. I missed the counter very much. Drove like a paranoid freak, because when the thing went off I had no idea where to look due to lack of arrows.
Returned it after 3 days. The forward detection of K and Ka is about as good as the Valentine but looses to the side and rear.

So if you do not feel like spending $400 for the valentine, spend $300 for the Escort or spend $200 for the Bell Vector. But do not doubt it the more you spend the better they get. It is kind of like comparing JBL speakers to B&W speakers.

It just depends how serious you are about speeding. I constantly drive 20+ mph over the speed limit...so the Valentine is a must.

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Cobra (1993 model $120)...what a joke only detected garage doors owned it for 3 months.
uniden 6599 (1996 model $150)...better but still too many false alarms owned it for 6 months.
bell vector (1997 model $220)...not bad good value for $220, but still falses a bit had this for almost a year.

Then in March 1998 I bought my valentine...WHOA BABY WHAT A DIFFERENCE...ALMOST UNFAIR ADVANTAGE AGAINST THE BOYS IN BLUE.

Extremely good detection at distances for all bands, especially Ka. Nice looks, packaging, etc. The ability to have the display off yet still have the plug (into the lighter) beep is a definite plus for night driving.

None. This thing works - Period.

Alright...I'll keep this short and sweet. I recently purchased an 8500 as my first detector. I had thoroughly researched both this model and the V1. I arbitrarily chose this one because I could get it at Best Buy whereas
I'd have to wait to order a V1. I just took a road trip from central NY to
North-Central Mass. and I gotta tell you - this thing works like a gem! It was picking off troopers at up to 3 miles, with little to no false alarms at all. It saved my butt enough times in one trip that it's already paid for itself. Please believe me - I'm not an employee of this company nor do I know anyone who is. I'm 21 years old, this is my first detector, and I would recommend it to ANYONE who's thinking about buying one. Time after time I would hear the detector chirp, I'd slow down and move into the right lane, and watch somebody other than me get a ticket! What a great product... Don't sweat the lack in rear detection, either. If you've got an SUV with a high rear seat like I do, the rear detection of the V1 won't help you out much. That was something I didn't even think about until I had my 8500 in my car. Well...that's that. A top-notch product. A+. Happy driving

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None

I'll post more reviews in 3 months

I'll post more reviews in 3 months

I've only used the 8500 for less than a month. This was because I got a freakin ticket from a freakin State Patrol for doing 63 in a 35mph zone. Hence, it made me to get one for future alert (as a driving aid). So far I'm happy with the performance of not picking up all the false signals from door openers and alarms. I've had only 2 encounters so far. Once I detected a cop about 1.5 mile away on a winding curve up the bridge where you'll never see him till the last minute or 100 feet away (his radar gun wave must be boucing all over the bridge dividers). I was happy at that. But the next time I pass a cop and it didn't even bleep. Furthermore he was holding a radar gun (If that was what I think it is....). I was rather confused. Maybe at that time he was just about to turn it on, so it didn't bleep my 8500. I'm going to use it for another 3 months and I'll post more reviews of it here again. I think it's a must to have a radar detector in today's slow driving traffic... especially if you drive over 120mph!

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Never used any detectors before