Smart move man. Eliminating false alarms, to me, is more important than knowing where the false alarm comes from. <-That should be my signature quote!

I think I'll sell my Passport Escort X50 (Blue) on eBay and get the 9500i as well. All this radar detector talk has been inspiring!

Be sure to post your feedback on the 9500i!

Remember if you are getting the 9500 it has alot of custom features. You can use it as a heads up display always showing your speed. And there are a few ways for the signals to get displayed. One is the standard letter and graph from left to righ showing the strength. There is another format that shows the exact mhz its picking up. My favorite is the multiple signal indicator.

The 9500 will always say "multiple signals detected" if it picks up more than one and it will display the strongest. With the multiple signals displayed you can view a few signals I think 5 but I have only seen 3 at a time. It also shows the strength of each signal in its own graph. To me this is the most useful display.

Jeph, you have led a brother astray, away from the almighty arrows.

I refer you to Isaiah 3:11. Nuf' said.

Oh Randall, do we really need to go there? If we're gonna go Old Testament...

It seems Mr. Valentine himself is being quoted in Deuteronomy 32:23.

I had to look up the scripture, but once I did.... LOL!!

I was actually led astray by all the reviews - Jeph just helped me get off the dime :D

If Jeph got you to open your Bible, he's helped you make two excellent decisions now :)

Here's some Bible trivia to brighten your Monday:

Where were motorcycles mentioned in the Bible? In Exodus, the roar of Moses' triumph could be heard throughout the land. (evidently, he wasn't running cats or a muffler)

Where was baseball mentioned in the Bible? In the beginning (big inning)

Where was marijuana use mentioned in the Bible? Stephen was stoned.

Why did the wise men who went to worship baby Jesus smell like smoke? They had come from afar. <-- say it with a Texan drawl and it will make sense.

And now, back to discussions about how to best cheat the city, county, or state out of revenue by using a radar detector... :D

Only on 986forum could we go from talking about radar detectors to quoting the bible :p

Nick

enough with religion! Anyone use the battery powered Solo? I was considering it but then talking to someone who has one said it is not loud enough, especially when the top is down. In looking at the reviews it does not rank as high as the others you guys are talking about.

Any comment?

My Passport 9500 is loud enough to be heard with the top down, but top down and radio on loud is a different story.
Passport makes and auxiliary speaker that makes the detector super loud. I did not go that route I mounted a remote display near my tach and it is bright enough that is always gets my attention.

I would recommend the remote display for any detector you get. Or get one you can set up a second loud speaker.

It would be great if we could wire a detector into the "tel mute" feature on many radios. As soon as the detector picked something up the radio volume would decrease, think about it. The user would have the display the beeping and the car radio decreasing in volume.

(I think this is the first time I've quoted myself.)

A man of my word... I'm selling my X50 for a 9500i!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270213396237
$5 off if you're a 986 member! Bid now already.

Dont worry I think Quoteing yourself is better than talking to yourself.

Research
 

I looked at research done by consumer products and other independent sources and it seems that the 9500i and the Valentine have just about the same performance, however when you actually look at the fine numbers, Valentine edges out the 9500i. Belltronics also did very well but not as well as the escort and valentine.

So you really can do no wrong getting either one. But my money is going to valentine. My brother has one and it has not let him down yet.

Chris

8 Ball,

I have the solo. For a cordless detector, it is awesome ! I will agree that you cannot hear it with the top down. I have to place it in the line of site to see the display with the top down and radio on. Batteries seem to last about 3 months. I do think you sacrifice range, but virtually no false alerts. I have had it for about 3 years now and have been very pleased. It is probably not as good as the Valentine or Passport 8500 / 9500, but if you are looking for a wireless detector I would highly recommend...

Here's a good comparison :

http://www.guysoflidar.com/august-2007/radar-detector-test.html

Nick