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  1. #1
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    Default Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    So I've saved up a pretty good amount of money working so far this summer, and I want a new toy. However, I'm not going to spend over $300 on an RD for a car with 166,000 miles, plus I do mostly city driving. For the 2nd time this month amazon.com wants me to buy an RD from them so bad that they'll give me 15% off on select Escort RD's.

    read more below, sorry, for some reason I can't post my whole post in one, I have no clue why. too much text maybe? whatever.
    Last edited by Cruisin'Spartan; 07-15-2010 at 05:00 PM.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    I bought my Whistler XTR-695 (non SE) almost a year ago from amazon.com and love it, it's a great bang for buck detector. I would like to try something a bit different, get more RD experience, and start up a small collection over time.

    I've been thinking about buying an Escort Passport 8500 refurb since I got the first offer from amazon a few weeks ago, go cheap and only spend $150 from the Escort Ebay store. I found an old 32 page thread regarding 8500 and 8500 X50 refurbs and read all the way through it only to find out that frequently these 8500 refurbs had to be sent back to Escort to be rerefurbished. $150 may be an epic steal for S7 performance, but I'll go nuts if I have to send anything back within a few months or pay more after the warranty goes. I know my 695 is no 8500 performance wise, but I've had it for close to a year and it has never showed any sign of dying, plus it has a 3yr warrenty. I admittedly don't even take great care of it, it's mounted high, but it stayed in the car during Michigan winter and still does now with the muggy summer. Temp doesn't seem to bother it any except I lose 1/2 the H on Highway when it's really really hot out, and a slow display on the start when it's below freezing (till the heater gets going).

    So now amazon sent me the same offer again, and after learning about the downside of the refurb, I could live with a brand new 8500 X50 for a great price after the discount. No, the discount will not entice me to buy something face melting like a 9500 or Redline. In the future when I have a real person job and a better car, amazon will get me to bite on a much more expensive RD with such a discount.

    If I get it, I plan on mounting it high, left of the rvm just below the tint strip, X off, POP off, Highway mode all the time.

    So here's some questions after all of this blah blah:

    1. Will Escort honor the 1 yr warranty if I buy it from amazon.com? (I would be buying from them, not one of their merchants as I would not get the 15% off)

    2. I plan on buying the Red X50 because even though I like the blue, I don't really want to spend that much more just for blue LEDs (but I may). Which display is best in daylight or is it not really that noticeable? Remember, it would be mounted high.

    3. Is the direct wire smart cord worth the extra money vs. the regular direct wire? I'm used to just reaching up and muting my Whistler, I feel like I could easily hit the mute button on the right of the 8500 X50 display rather than spend the extra $$ and figuring out where to put the mute button. Or am I missing something about how awesome the smart cord is?

    4. Am I going to notice a decent jump in performance vs. my XTR 695 (remember NON SE version, no Ka Max for me)? If I'm going to drop an extra 100 more that I did for my 1st RD, I'd like to notice a jump in performance, otherwise I could get a Whistler SE for 150ish. I do mostly city driving, the 695 does a pretty damn good job with very little falsing, pretty impressive on the highway too. I face K band from the ELPD, and Ka 35.5 from the MSU PD and Meridian Township PD.

    5. Am I going to have to treat it better than my Whister and make sure to take it down and not leave it in freezing cold or nice amounts of heat to ensure I don't get a Self Cal alert within a year?

    6. (possibly dumb question, but it showed up in the only bad review on amazon.com): will starting up the RD while starting the car (as any hardwired RD would start) mess up the X50? Do I have to use the side wheel to turn it on and off as to not start it with the car? (some dude on amazon had his X50 self cal right away and supposedly Escort told him not to power up the X50 while the car was turning on and to use the wheel to turn it on after the car started).

    I think that's all the ?'s I have for now, sorry about all the text, I just want to do my homework before dropping hard earned $ on new fun things I don't really need. The offer amazon is giving is only good till Saturday, so i need to decide soon.

    -Thanks!
    Last edited by Cruisin'Spartan; 07-19-2010 at 08:28 PM.

  3. #3
    Experienced
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    Default Re: Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    I have an x50 and id put it in the good enough category. I've had 4 different cars since I bought it 5yrs ago. so dont think it has to stay with the car. For me X is off, k works great but falses alot, ka works good with almost no falses but off axis detection sucks and laser sucks too.
    Its still the same price I payed for it 5 yrs ago. Only now its an obsolete model!
    Id pay an extra $100 and get the v1

  4. #4
    Speed Demon
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    Default Re: Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    You really shouldn't let your vehicle determine what detector you get. You definitely pay to play with this hobby. Considering that you mostly drive in the city, I would highly suggest that you look into the Escort 9500ix, it pretty quiet around town and the GPS functionality is great. Especially as more cities add the speed traps and red light cameras.

  5. #5
    Good Citizen
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    Default Re: Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    Quote Originally Posted by KOMO View Post
    You really shouldn't let your vehicle determine what detector you get. You definitely pay to play with this hobby. Considering that you mostly drive in the city, I would highly suggest that you look into the Escort 9500ix, it pretty quiet around town and the GPS functionality is great. Especially as more cities add the speed traps and red light cameras.
    I'm still not going to spend over $300 on an RD at this time. Also, no redlight or speed cams in Michigan, they were found to be unconstitutional I believe.

  6. #6
    Experienced
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    Default Re: Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    a used 9500i could do the trick. Remember red light cameras are illegal in Michigan and paying for that feature on a 9500ix is a waste if your staying in the state.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    Quote Originally Posted by superbolt View Post
    a used 9500i could do the trick. Remember red light cameras are illegal in Michigan and paying for that feature on a 9500ix is a waste if your staying in the state.
    eh, I don't want to buy anything that expensive used unless it was from someone I trusted. I know the 9500's may be good, but I want to know more about the 8500 X50, ala my list o' ?'s

  8. #8
    Speed Demon
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    Default Re: Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Cruisin'Spartan View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by KOMO View Post
    You really shouldn't let your vehicle determine what detector you get. You definitely pay to play with this hobby. Considering that you mostly drive in the city, I would highly suggest that you look into the Escort 9500ix, it pretty quiet around town and the GPS functionality is great. Especially as more cities add the speed traps and red light cameras.
    I'm still not going to spend over $300 on an RD at this time. Also, no redlight or speed cams in Michigan, they were found to be unconstitutional I believe.
    My only point is that you're more than halfway to getting one of the top detectors out, hell for $100 more you could get a V1 which is a crowd favorite.

    Obviously it's your decision but if this is an investment which you really want to save you some money (e.g. decrease your likelihood of getting a ticket), I'd advise buying the best, which may require saving more (coming from another college student).

    Anyways to answer a few of your questions...I use to have an X50 and I was pleased with the performance. I would imagine that you would notice a pretty substantive improvement over the Whistler detector. I couldn't see why Escort wouldn't preserve your warranty just be sure to register the device when you get it. I had the blue X50, I really like the display at night but it can be a bit difficult to see during the day. If you keep it mounted high enough that should be a non-issue. If you're going to hardwire your detector, I would actually suggest looking into the safe-n-sound cable. You can setup a remote mute button, as well as a power and alert led.
    Last edited by KOMO; 07-15-2010 at 05:50 PM.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    x50 is a good detector on the freeway. Falses are rare, I take 275 to 96 when I go to Milford and its quiet even driving by metro airport. surface streets are a different story. every drugstore is a k band false. The lack of auto muting for weak k-band is a problem in the city

  10. #10
    snoopyc4
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    Default Re: Passport 8500 X50, do I get it?

    I would get the refurb Escort 8500 (S7 platform) over the 8500 X50 (M4 platform).

 

 

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