PASSPORT 8500: Now, You Too Can Drive Like a Bat Outta Hell With Confidence!

There I was! White-knuckled and sweating, pedal to the metal... flying down the interstate at 100 mph. I suppose there were a lot of things on my mind as I flew towards Dallas, TX in a borrowed 1997 Jaguar XK8 (review to come, I promise), but being caught by the "heat" wasn't one of them.

See, as a little gift to myself for graduating from medical school, I bought what any lead foot would ever want: a quality radar detector. When comparing the top-of-the-line radar detectors over $200, you'll hear probably only a few options... okay, really there are only two: the Valentine One and the Escort Passport 8500. I realize there's probably some other promising detectors out there (like from Bel, which incidentally merged with Escort a while back) at this price, but you just don't hear about 'em. The vast majority of the remaining radar detectors are less than $200, like those from Cobra, Whistler, and Uniden.

In every discussion, you'll hear about why someone chose the Passport 8500 over the Valentine One or vice-versa, and which radar detector won which comparison test, etc., etc. Bottom line for me was price. The Passport 8500 retails for $100 less than the Valentine One. That was enough for me. All the comparison tests it had won and positive press were just icing on the cake. So in closing, you can't go wrong with either the Valentine One and Passport 8500. If the literature is any indication (which I'm sure it is), both radar detectors are excellent. They're both really similar too, in that they're the only ones I know of that can track more than one signal at a time. Only the Valentine One tells you which direction it's coming from, however.

OPENING THE PACKAGE:
I couldn't wait to get home to try out the Passport 8500. I ripped open the package in the car and pulled out the nifty black case which housed my new weapon against "The Man". As with any other electrical device I purchase, I tossed the instruction manual aside and decided to study the detector without any assistance. Ahh. Silver. Same color as my new TV, computer monitor, pretty much any of my electronic appliances, my bedroom furniture, and toilet seat. Despite the nice trendy color, the Passport 8500 is a simple-looking detector. It's not wide at all (unlike the Valentine One), but it's a little on the long side. It's also got some heft to it, and feels downright solid. Ah, and the Smart Cord power adapter- a nice feature that has LEDs on the power adapter itself so you can turn off the main unit's display at night for increased "private" radar detecting. Hmm... and only three buttons. More on that later.

EASE OF USE:
Well, for its basic purpose, you'd have to be a real moron not to figure it out. Just plug it in and away you go. Plus, switching from "Highway" mode to "City" or "Auto" mode can be done at the push of a button. The other two buttons either mute the sound or change the dimming. That's it.

THROWING IN THE TOWEL........ THE MANUAL:
Heh-heh. About that manual: you'll need it in order to figure out how to tailor the Passport to your liking. I look at it as a blessing more than a problem, because if Escort had not given us so many ways we could customize our Passports (details later), it wouldn't be so complicated. In defense of my manhood, I only needed to read the manual once. The manual is written in very simple language, and is very helpful, full of all kinds of hints and explanations on the different types of radar. Plus, I quickly realized that the Passport 8500 is a very simple unit to use from the get-go, and I just needed a point in the right direction, so to speak. On top of that, once I set my custom settings, I have tweaked them only rarely, which means all that's left are the basic functions, which are a snap. This radar detector is very, very easy to use.

CUSTOMIZE, CUSTOMIZE AWAY:
The Passport truly comes with a plethora of customizable options. You can change seemingly insignificant stuff like what kind of sounds the unit makes when you turn it on, to more important stuff like activating the ExpertMeter display, or changing to "LOUD" mode for you loud music listeners. I won't go into all of the little customizable options because there are just so many... and it would disturb my creative flow at the moment. If you want to read about 'em, I highly recommend you check out this review by A-RDR-GUY: "Not quite a Vette....but then some (5-26-01)"
I hope the author won't mind a little added publicity. ;)


SO, DOES IT WORK, MR. SPEEDRACER?
In a word, absolutely... let's break performance down into some sub-categories:

Detection:
I have had the detector for six months now and can safely say I have been saved from three very expensive tickets. Sure, I could bore you with the specifics, like the one from the introduction above (a highway patrolman was waiting on the other side of an entrance ramp and would surely have caught me but I got warning almost an entire mile away), but I won't. It picks up Ka band (becoming the mainstay radar band for cops) exquisitely well, as well as K band in the city. If the detector picks up laser, believe me you'll know about it! It's only happened twice, but each shrill moment is branded into my memory (fellow Passport owners know what I'm talking about). The other sounds aren't so bad... they're loud, but tolerable, and a nifty AutoMute feature automatically lowers the volume of an alert after its been active for a few seconds. AutoMute can of course be turned off if you like.

I've actually learned a great lesson owning a radar detector. Very few cops ever have their radar turned on! Ever wonder why, when you're going 10-15 mph over the speed limit and you pass the brass, nothing happens? Why they don't screech to a halt and high-tail it after you? Now you know. Cool, eh?

False alerts:
I've seen my share of radar detectors, and man are they annoying! Even in City Mode, they go off at every which opportunity. Not so with the Passport. While it has its fair share of false alerts (it's really fond of Eckerds and Walgreens motion sensors... don't ask me why), when in City Mode, X-band alerts are nicely muted (you can even customize it to where X-band sensitivity is further decreased or absent altogether in City Mode). I'd say that Ka, K, and X bands are all equally represented as far as false alerts go, which is a testament to how well the unit does at squelching X-band, the #1 suspect that makes other radar detectors more of a nuisance than anything else. Plus, using the ExpertMeter helps you learn your usual commute so you know what's real and what's not.

In short, I'd say the Passport 8500 does a fine job at squelching out unnecessary noise, and that every time my detector goes off, my ears still perk up.

ExpertMeter:
You were about to ask, weren't you? Yes, this precious gem of a feature was the reason why I bought the Passport 8500 over its cheaper breathren. The ExpertMeter is particularly nifty because it allows the unit to track up to eight radar signals at once: two Ka, two K, and up to four X-bands. A little line next to each detected signal also shows you the signal strength... a little hard to see but I'm glad it's there. This is a really nice system to get you to learn your surroundings... if your radar detector traditionally goes off next to a shopping center, you pay less attention to it after a while. You say to yourself "this is a false alert" and move on. But if the cop's there, and he/she has the radar on, you're screwed. That's where the ExpertMeter comes in... this feature saved me from one of my tickets! I saw two Ka signals instead of the usual one. I slowed down, and viola!, there the cop was rounding the bend on the highway. This is an indispensable feature, and it's plainly stupid to buy a radar detector without it. On the downside, I wish the detector detected fewer X-bands and more Ka/K bands.


GEEZ, YOU SOUND OVERLY POSITIVE. WHAT DON'T YOU LIKE?
1) Price. Even with my $50 gift card to Best Buy, I still felt the sting at the cash register. $300 - $50 = $250? Ouch. But hey - it's $100 less than the Valentine One, and none of the other radar detectors offer even close to the same feature and quality content. Trust me on this one and spend a little more if you want better peace of mind out there.

2) Some of the other detectors offer a "voice" feature, where some guy/gal says "Caution... Ka band ahead" instead of a beep. The Passport does not offer this feature. Some might object to that. Personally, while I find the "voice" feature kind of cool, the novelty would wear off for me. I just have a much quicker reaction time with the characteristic beep/sounds now that I've learned 'em, instead of waiting for the unit to finish the sentence. Still, some might have wanted this.


VERDICT: ABSOLUTELY NO BUYER'S REMORSE ON THIS ONE!
I'm no expert when it comes to exact range of detection or all the gee-whiz gadgetry that's built-in to this unit, but I do know that it works. I'm close to having this unit pay for itself already in half a year. Plus, it's programmable in case other new radar technologies develop. I heartily recommend you take a look at this detector... just try and drive safely, will ya please? ... Just do as I say, not as I do!


** DISCLAIMER: Okay, okay, I usually drive responsibly... well okay maybe sometimes... oh, never mind! Happy driving. **