It's off to a great start with today's arrival.
Let me start off with a couple of things I'm not stoked about with the 9500i when compared to my previous 8500 X50:
- The color, I'm not keen on the black, I liked the dark gray better. Black makes it look older-ish.
- The flat screen instead of the display facing towards the driver. I got used to that on the X50. I guess having it flat makes it universal for vehicles that may be right hand drive. It took all of 4 minutes for me to re-adjust. I'm good now.
I know, I know. Those are some pretty weak complaints. Not bad if those are my only complaints so far.
Now then, I've been dying to go drive around to my typical false alarm hot spots to lock them out, but the thing does such a good job of filtering them out that I hardly get to! I only got to block one location today. It was kinda funny... I came to a red light (facing north) and the 9500i started to chirp at a Walgreens. So I blocked it out. Then seconds later it started going off again. I was impressed when I saw a cop approaching the intersection (from the east). Not only does it block location's coordinates, it associates a frequency with it as well. -Way cool!
Highlights:
- The auto dim feature is quite nice.
- Having it display your speed is more convenient than I would imagine. Plus it's more accurate than the car's speedometer. It's closer to one's line of site so it is easy to read -possibly easier than looking down at the dash.
- Noticeable decrease in false alarms.
Settings:
Voice - Off (that's cheesy to me)
X, Ku - Off
K, Ka, Laser, Pop, SWS - On
Auto Volume (adjusts volume based on car's ambient noise)
Auto Brightness (adjusts brightness level based on car's ambient lighting)
Display - ExpertMeter (shows multiple signals & each of their strength)
I have the default screen (or "Pilot" as Escort calls it) set to display vehicle speed. Get this, you can put it in city, highway, or auto mode. City is less sensitive to screen false alarms. Highway is more sensitive to maximize warning at higher speed. Auto automatically switches between the 2 based on your speed. My question is, WHY would that be an option? Leave it on auto! I don't know, I'm sure there's a legitimate reason for that. It does make me wonder how "auto" worked on my X50. But I am digressing.
To avoid any Gray Market units or possible fakes, I purchased straight from Escort via their website. Cost with shipping was $463.00.
Not to sound like the marketing wizards at Escort have brainwashed me, but it
really is a smart detector. It does so much for the driver. It adjusts, adapts, and informs. I look forward to more drives with this device! I'll be sure to keep the 986 Forum posted.