Passport 9500ix vs 8500 x50

[tkong]

I'm looking for a radar for my car. I'm having a a difficult time deciding between the two. Is the 9500ix worth the extra money? I've done research and it seems that performance wise the 8500 x50 black is comparable to the 9500ix.

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by tkong

I'm looking for a radar detector for my car. I'm having a a difficult time deciding between the two. Is the 9500ix worth the extra money? I've done research and it seems that performance wise the 8500 x50 black is comparable to the 9500ix.

fixed that.

It depends where you do most of your driving. Some people are willing to give up a little sensitivity for a quiet detector (GPS). Is most of your driving in an urban area with lots of falses? Automatic door openers are probably the biggest source of RD false alarms. If you don't encounter many falses you would do better to go with a Valentine 1, Redline or X50 "Black Edition". They're all non-GPS RD's.

[Arben72]

8500ix<9500ix<maxx. It depends on your uses, I use both a 9500ix and a valentine one in my cars, planning to upgrade the 9500ix though. Check craigslist for a lightly used one if you want to save some money though.

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by Arben72

8500ix<9500ix<maxx.

Not totally correct. The latest ECCTG RD test had the 8500 X50 black beating the 9500ix and V1 on KA 34.7 which is the most common radar band. The Maxx is too new and has been shown to Ka false and miss it altogether:

http://www.radardetectorforum.org/sh...ad.php?t=30040

[carve]

I've been using a 9500ix for years and it's awesome. I can't compare it directly to the others, but the GPS is a huge advantage. When the detector goes off in a location where you regularly drive, you PAY ATTENTION. When I see a particularly sneaky speedtrap I can also push a couple buttons and have the detector remind me next time I'm in that area, even if it isn't detecting a signal. You can also configure the display to have a bogey counter like the V1, but I prefer to set it to show my GPS speed so I know exactly how fast I'm going. Even if it is slightly less sensitive than the others, it is more than adequately sensitive. Super sensitive with no way to filter falses is going to be a big noise maker, as was the case with my buddies V1. Still, if you're a serious high-speed road tripper and constantly going to new areas, the GPS isn't going to help you much and sensitivity would be preferred.

Escort live is another great idea to network you with other detector users, but you can't connect to your car via bluetooth.