9500i First Impressions...

[ryansandlin]

My 9500i arrived earlier today. I mounted it what looks to me to be directly center on my windshield- side to side, up and down. I found it very easy to program and initially turned X off, put the scanning dot on, set it in expert mode, and have since turned the speed alert off as I found it distracting and not something I personally needed (though it was accurate). Unfortunately, despite being on the interstate for 5 hours, I was unable to have any confirmed threats; however I was alerted to several LEOs going the opposite direction running K and Ka well in advance before making visual contact, in some cases over hills and around curves. About an hour out of Dallas, I was startled by a Ka blast at full strength all of a sudden, quickly dying down, only to ramp up again, etc. "Instant on," I thought as I quickly braked to PSL, but no LEO was ever spotted, despite this ramp up/quiet down scenario playing itself again for the next few minutes. In this particular instance, I can see where the arrows of the V1 would have been useful, but not necessarily needed. Again, since I never got an alert followed by the presence of a LEO monitoring traffic on my side of the road or median, I can't say I had any saves, but plenty demonstrations of the 9500i's range. I didn't touch the True Lock at all, as this isn't a route I normally drive and therefore don't have the need to lock out any falses; however, I can say that even without that feature, this detector was unbelievably quiet. City mode worked very well driving through Houston and Dallas, and Highway mode equally well while on the interstate. I was also extremely pleased to find that it does not rattle against my windshield like the previous x50's I've owned have done. My first impression: Escort has built a superior detector in the 9500i, a combination of incredible filtering and range, even without the use of the TrueLock feature (which I plan on using as I get more accustomed to any falses during my usual drive). I look forward to getting better acquainted with it during the next 30 days, and hopefully will have no need to send it back.

[Esoterica]

No need really to turn any bands off for you anymore, you no longer have one of those under developed other detectors, you have a 9500i now! Just lock them out and enjoy full time protection from anything at all you may encounter.

I hate the speed alert as well, its always popping up right when your looking at your detector to see more detailed information about the alert, was happy they made the option to turn that off and on.

Forget about the stupid "arrows", its not like they 100% show you accurate information anyhow. SpecDisplay is far handier to have and is 100% accurate, ExpertMode gives you a far superior bogey counter as well.

The only major down side of going with a 9500i is you've now taken the road of life down a one way street, there's no turning back for you now. You'll never look at another detector the same again and you'll never be able to go back to using anything else as soon as they get you hooked like a crack addict on that false alert lockout feature.

There isn't even a rehab program out there to help you make the transition back to another detector, they have you right by the balls now, just a little taste of what a detector should be like and now your an addict, the bastard's.

[CJR238]

Sounds like a good first day with your 9500I. It only gets better, especially as you become more proficient with its settings.