Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General So I am looking at making a purchase...

Of a radar detector. I know there are many posts about this..blah, blah. Anywho, I have been looking at the Escort Passport 8500 X50. Seems like one of the best ones on the market. Is it just me or is this one designed to go in the middle of the windshield? It seems like the screen is tilted towards the driver. I just ask because I have my [censored] Cobra in the top right corner of my car.

As I searched I saw many posts about the Valentine 1 radar detector but they all seemed to be from a few years ago. Is this still one of the best on the market? Thanks for any help you kind folks can give me!

Best review on the net: http://www.laserveil.com/en/ultimate-radar-detector-review-05/introduction/

But it will make your decision hard

I ended up getting my 8500 X50 off ebay, $250 shipped, love it The Passport and Beltronics were a toss up, and I didn't wanna pay $400 just to have a RD with arrows, even though the Valentine 1 is very nice/

All radar detectors should be mounted in the center, as high as possible without obstructing the detector, and level.

There have been problems with a good many x50s with going in to self cal too often and eventually needing service. Mine hasn't done it, but a friend's has.

I tend to disagree, Krem..

Link
link2 (this is more like a debate on a forum, shows both sides of the opinion..)


I mount mine low, and to the front. headlights, and license plate area for me, man. sure.. higher is more range, but, anyone speeding THAT highly that they need THAT much range should probably slow down any way. When I want to know, I want to know ACCURATELY, and remove as many false alerts as possible. I can CHOOSE when I speed and by how much.. I can't choose where they will be. So, I want to know for sure... not "a little while longer" and less accurately.

Mounting high is bad for laser, so if that is a concern for you, then yeah, I wouldn't put it high. Though if laser was a concern for me, I'd have a jammer.

And everything they said about mounting it in the center had nothing to do with making sure the detector is getting the best range as possible and just stuff about laws, not attracting attention. These aren't of concern to me, though of course, if that stuff matters to you, then don't put it in the center.

I use my detector in three cars, so I don't have mine mounted very high because of wiring, but it's higher than many people have their's and it is in the center.

You want it high enough that it has a decent rear view. You don't want to block the rear facing part of the detector with the car's seats or whatnot.

And a good radar detector isn't going to false very much anyways, so that's not really a big factor when it comes to mounting position for me.


And I don't appreciate being told I need to slow down.

Bah... so don't slow down, then. Just do it safely!

So the X50 is a good choice then huh? I just gotta make sure that I get a warranty from wherever I choose to buy it. Now I just have to search for the best price. I really want the blue but the $40 extra makes it seem that it might not be worth it. Also, what is this self cal? As in self calibration? I've never heard of it so if someone can shed some light on it for me that would be fantastic. Thanks for the links and the advice.

Yeah that's self cal. You shouldn't ever see it, though it's ok if you see it once every few months (after owning it for a few months). If it starts doing it every day, then there is a problem.

The blue is really nice, but if I was gonna spend the extra money, I'd probably get a v1. Actually I might would get a v1 over the x50 if I had to do it over again, just because of the problems my buddy's has had and the v1 has better laser detection.

Which will work great, mounted up high like you have it, right? J/K, man.