Not quite a Vette....but then some (5-26-01)

The Escort name has been around for over 20 years. They have dominated the detector market with the Original Escort, Escort Passport, and late 80s Solo. After one of the founders had departed from the company (Mike Valentine) the company hasn't produced a top-notch detector. Now with the merger (Bought out of Beltronics) the company is now back on track with a strong detector.

In the Title not quite a Vette: I would call the Valentine a Vette (factory), the Escort a Camaro (factory), and the Bel 980/970 a Firebird (factory). If you follow cars a Camaro and Firebird are similar with the Frame, Motor and Gauges. The difference is outside appearance and packaging, but give strong performance. The Vette "Valentine" give little more all around performance.

As you open:
Escort provides nice packing for the detector. Gives you easy to follow instructions, power cord, windshield mount, and of-course the detector.

The Detector:
The color of the detector is the "today's color" millennium silver. You have 3 control buttons on the detector, the variable volume control switch, plus mount release button.
The Escort unit is 1.26"H x 5.15"L x 2.74" W.
The Bel 970 unit is 1.17"H x 4.61"L x 2.91"W.
The Valentine unit is 1.21"H x 4.37"L x 3.45"W

The display is Red and clear day or night with the dot matrix screen. The display is one of the items that can be customized. From Highway/Auto/City to H/A/C to H with.... scrolling as a scanner and +/=/-.

The power cord that comes with the unit can be good or bad. It has a Green LED for power, an Orange LED for Alert, and a mute button. The good... is when your vehicle has a high mounted cigarette lighter for when you are running at night with the unit in dark mode. The poor is if you have a low mounted lighter plug as in Ford Mustang and Probe. You would have a problem seeing the LEDs.

The unit is full programmable:
.... from Radar band defeat for when a radar frequency is not being used. Especially X band radar coming extinct in a few. This lowers non-police radar becoming a nuisance.

When startup you can have the unit start dim or dark and standard or quick. Plus, The display can show current operating Voltage, Frequency Counter, Expect Meter (Multiple signals), and Standard.

Positives:
The detector is strong in weight and construction. Quite a few User programs. The Visor/Windshield mount solid with quick release. The signal volume is clear and band ID is distinct. Step by instructions. The mute button is straight on the front of detector instead of on top.

Negatives:
The first, negative is if you have a BLACK interior the detector stands out. Second, the programming is not EZ at first. Plus as you are in program mode there is no manual exit. In Expert Mode unit displays only Two K and Two Ka bands. For the price, unit should offer voice (for thoughts who like it.) The windshield (although solid) hard to vary to the angle of your windshield. For the price you have to pay $4 more for a visor mount.

Performance/Falsing
The performance expected out of this unit is to be the same or little better than my Bel 970.
8500 K band- 0.5-.4 mile city
970 K band- 0.5-.4 mile city
8500 Ka band- 1.6+ Straight(35.5GHz)
970 Ka band- 1.5+ Straight (35.5GHz)
Both numbers detected on 4-20-01
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8500 Ka Band- 0.35-.3 mile(front)/.2(rear) (34.7GHz) city
Val1 Ka band- 0.35-.3 mile(front)/.3(rear) (34.7GHZ) city
The 8500 gave 2 out of 3 first by a hair margin on this detection.
Both numbers detected on 4-28-01
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8500 K Band 1.6+ miles (frt)/0.2 rear-pass
Full rear pickup 0.8/1 mile
Val1 K Band 1.6+ miles (frt)/0.65 rear-pass
Full rear pickup 1.6/2.2 mile

8500 Ka (34.7GHz) 0.35/.45 miles (frt)/.20 (r)
Val1 Ka (34.7GHz) 0.50/.65 miles (frt)/.35 (r)
8500 Ka (35.5GHz) 1.0/0.50 miles (frt)/ 0.15 rear-pass
Rear 0.35 miles
Val1 Ka (35.5GHz) 0.8/0.45 miles (frt)/0.25 rear-pass
Rear 0.45 miles

Both detected on 5-26-01
The (/) means two or more different times detected. The (rear-pass is when the radar pickup goes from front then to the rear and leaving the radar facing the opposing direction.

Falsing on this unit has been the similar to the Bel 970 in day-to-day driving. The Escort is has on or two less falses in my travels.
Comparing the falsing to the Valentine, the 8500 gives less falsing if the source is to the side or rear of the unit. But if the 8500 is facing the source it give just the same falsing as the Valentine does. No do not forget that the Gun Diode that are in the Radar Guns are similar to the ones in the automatic doors.

Check out my opinion on the Bel 970.
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-8A0-83CC7F9-39DBFE02-prod1
Also check my own site for more info
Conclusion:
Escort has come a long way since Mike Valentine has left the company. With the merger of Beltronics and their research, Escort is now producing performance units. The 8500 Escort ($300) is a cross between a 970 Bel ($220) and a Valentine One ($400).