A worthy upgrade from my ancient Whistler 1490

My previous radar detector was a Whistler 1490, I loved the text display, and it seemed to be a quite sensitive detector, sometimes *too* sensitive, falsing when there was no radar around and I was the only vehicle on the road, it would often false with a single X-band blip when I was parked in my driveway with the car facing our wood-lot, now, unless our deer are using radar guns in the field, there's no possible way it could be picking up an errant signal.....

anyway, back on topic, I first purchased a Cobra XR-S 9530 to replace the Whistler, but it failed most dramatically on it's first test the next morning, as I was traveling a back road to work, going the speed limit, if a little under, coming down over a hill, my Whistler picked up a cruiser running K-band a good quarter mile away, the Cobra only alerted me to the radar *AFTER* the cruiser had passed my rear bumper, and only with a halfhearted beep, needless to say, the Cobra was returned that evening

I then proceeded to do research online, to determine what would be the best detector for me, it came down to the classic question, Escort Passport 8500 X50, or Valentine One, both detectors rate well, and seem to be very close in features and performance, but the V-1 was only available from their website, and the P-8500 was available at a couple of stores locally

When I found an "Open Box" 8500-V50 (actually, a store demo model) for a decent price, I decided to take a chance

I hooked it up in my car ('07 Saturn Ion) and set up the Whistler as well, the Ion has two 12V power outlets, so I can power both detectors to compare them

Right out of the box, the P-8500 picked up a cruiser as it drove past me at a 4 way intersection, a good 10 seconds before the Whistler did, and it detected the X-band door openers in the mini-mall complex at a good distance more than the Whistler, I'd hazard a guess that the 8500 has double the range and sensitivity of my 10 year old Whistler

The interface is also well laid out, and easy to program, as this was a demo model, the detector only came with it's coiled cord and windshield mount, no manual, packaging or box, yet I was able to figure out most of the features without needing the manual (which is available on Escort's website), I turned on X band, POP, set the default volume to loud, and turned on the "Expert Meter" all without needing the manual

The Expert Meter display is a great tool, and almost makes up for the lack of V-1 style arrows, Expert Mode appears to be similar to the V-1's "Bogey counter" as it can tell you how many different types of radar are in use and their strengths

For example, it can show you that that X-Band radar trailer that helpfully shows you your speed is actually shadowing a cruiser somewhere behind it running Ka band, if you have the standard display active, it would only show the X-Band alert and only switch to Ka when it was too late to be effective

the alerts are loud and unique, no there's no gimmicky voice announcement of the bands (the Cobra I had had it, and I hated it), just attention grabbing alert tones, that rise, geiger-counter wise as you approach the radar source, unlike the Whistler, which began to "stutter" as you approached the radar source, playing truncated "braps", the "braps" on the 8500 get so rapid as you approach the source, that they soon merge into a single "flatline-esque" tone, it really gets across a sense of urgency

the text display (mine is red) is clear and legible, even in Expert Meter mode the individual LED elements are clean and defined, the red LED display is generally preferable if you do a lot of night driving, as red does not affect night vision as much as other colors, it's also less visible at a distance, so it'd be harder for other drivers (or a cruiser to your rear) to see that you're using a detector, yes, the Blue LED model looks "cooler", BUT blue LED's are more visible at a distance, and blue light scatters more easily in the human eye, making blue lights harder to look at at night

When I was looking at the blue LED demo model at the store, it struck me how piercingly bright the blue display appeared to me, if I was using the blue model at night, I'd have to dim the display down at least one notch, as blue light really hurts my eyes, it'd also be extremely obvious to a following police cruiser that you're using a detector, as those bright blue LED's would be visible to the officer in the cruiser, with the red LED display, I can leave the display on maximum brightness all the time, even at night, without affecting my dark adaptation

The only downsides to this detector are the price, it *is* an expensive device, and the windshield mount, specifically the suction cups, is incredibly flimsy, the windshield bracket slides into the back of the detector, and has four lock positions, depending on the angle of your windshield, this makes the detector quite front-heavy, and the supplied suction cups are quite weak and flimsy, I can see a distinct possibility of the suction cups letting go, so I'll be looking for a suitable replacement mount that permits me to mount the detector as high as possible, maybe some suction cup replacements, or a visor clip

I've only had the 8500-X50 for a couple of days, but from what I've seen so far, I'm quite happy with it, it's far more sensitive than my old detector, and the unique Expert Meter makes it far more useful than detectors that only display one radar source, time will tell how effective it really is, but for the moment, I consider it a worthwhile purchase