A Commuter's Buddy

Background
My commute to and from work puts me in my car about 2 hours a day. I have owned escort and passport radar detectors for about 15 years and have never been disappointed.

Important and Useful Features
The Passport 8500 Radar Detector can detect X, K, Ka, and Laser. All of these radar types are in use within my commuting area, so I put the 8500 to good use.

The detector has a SmartCord which allows you to use the detector in "full dark mode" and gives you an easy, quick, and inconspicuous way to mute any alerts by using the mute button on the cigarette lighter plug.

There are many ways to customize the 8500 to suit your driving and detection preferences. One of my favorites is the option to display the exact frequency of each alert. This will tell me at a quick glance if the alert I get is a specific area every day is truly a false alert or something to be concerned about. For example about a mile from my house, on the township boarder, I get a X band alert at frequency 10.525 everyday. Since I know that X Band is really in use by law enforcement in that area, if a speed trap is setup in that area chances are that the alert will come back as a different frequency (say at 10.750) and I will know that it is for real.

There are selectable alert tones for the different bands, five different display brightness levels, and the ability to turn off bands that are not in use in your area.

There is also a extra-loud volume setting that I use which allows me to clearly hear over my stereo when I have it cranked up!!!

Escort is well known for quality, and the 8500 is no exception. Even the packaging will blow you away. It comes in a very sturdy and attractive case and a very well written users manual.

Performance
This radar detector is high-performance, and after driving with it for over a year now (about 17,000 miles) I have really come to trust it. No radar detector is a sure thing, but using good driving judgment and knowing the limitations of detectors in general, you can feel pretty confident about not getting busted.

Some people will say that detectors are useless in today's driving environment. I could not disagree more. My Passport 8500 has saved my butt on more than one occasion. But I will say that I pay close attention to every warning and listen closely for alert patterns. I also do not do stupid things like do 90 MPH when there are no other cars around. That is just asking for a ticket.

The Bottom Line
I love this radar detector. It is my commuting buddy. It set me back almost $300, but when you consider the cost of just one speeding ticket, not to mention the beating you will get from your insurance company, it is CHEAP in comparison !!!

I highly recommend the Passport 8500 Radar Detector. I would not commute without it.