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Passport 8500 X50, Escort Radar, Blue Display

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Escort 8500 Radar Detector with Red Display Passport 8500 Radar Detector with Blue Display Optional ZR4 Laser Shifter can be ordered with the Escort Passport Radar Detector to prevent laser guns from getting your speed. The Blinder M47 laser jammer is superb protection against all police laser guns. The M47 has 4 laser modules, while the Blinder M27 has two laser modules. The Blinder m25 was superseded by the Blinder M27 in 2009.

Performance

The Passport 8500 X50 is one of the best radar detectors in the top 10 radar detectors, mounted in the windshield. The Escort 8500 product line has a long history of radar detection performance. The Passport 8500 X50 is a more reliable product.

• Escort Radar designed the Passport 8500 X50 to detect the Ka radar band, the most used radar band today, at 8 miles. The sensitivity is excellent to detect weak signals from hidden "over the hill" radar traps and hidden "around the curve" radar traps. Many radar detectors do not provide this level of sensitivity. The Escort 8500 radar detector is also good at filtering out false noise alerts.
• Radar - During our road testing of the Passport 8500 X50 radar detector, we logged a typical 8 mile distance detection of Ka radar in 2009. This is quite good, radar detection sensitivity. False alerts were minimized by turning off X band radar detection, but we also discovered that some police are resorting back to X band radar, knowing that many drivers turn X band off. We suggest that you drive with X band on, just in case. The SWS detector alerts (special K band safety alerts) when turned on and selected, will alert you to road hazards and construction; if the SWS transmitter technology is used by road crews and ambulances. We found that we would often encounter road hazard situations, and the 8500 X50 would alert, if the SWS technology was turned on by the road crews and ambulances. We noted some POP3 alerts, but the X50 is very good at alerting you to a real POP3 signal, which is a very fast, (67millisecond) burst radar pulse. Many radar detectors today can detect fast radar pulses, but can not tell if the fast signal is simply a false alert or a real POP3 radar burst. The Passport 8500 can detect POP3 better than nearly all other radar detectors with very few false alerts.
• Laser - During our test, we encountered a few laser alerts from police. Since the Escort 8500 X50 radar laser detector detects laser from the windshield, and laser is aimed at the license plate and headlights, no radar detector in the windshield is effective at detecting laser aimed at the grille. But detecting laser by itself is not sufficient, since detecting laser only tells you that the police aimed the very narrow light beam at your vehicle, you detected it and they have your speed. Detecting laser is not sufficient, as you must detect laser and jam it in order to protect yourself from police laser guns. We also found false laser alerts with no police anywhere nearby. The false laser alerts are caused by bright, repetitive reflections off the white painted road stripes at the center of the highway. It is also caused by bright reflections off the metal side rails along side the highway. This false noise does not occur very often and is caused by bright light reflections at a particular frequency. In our opinion, it is a waste of time to detect laser from the windshield, and we suggest laser to be turned off of the 8500X50. If you want laser protection, but the M27 Laser Jammer or M47 laser jammer and install the products into the grille, where the police aim laser guns.

The Escort 8500 X50 was tested by Speed Measurement Labs and found to be one of the two best radar detectors in 2006. It excels past the average radar detectors, because it is capable of detecting weak radar signals coming from a blind radar trap on the other side of a hill and around blind curves. It provides superb radar alerts before you get to those blind traps. It is offered with a very nice blue display, which is easy on your eyes at night and quite easy to see during the day. An Passport 8500 was updated to the Passport 8500 X50 with a traditional red display.