I'll follow up with a review when it arrives, but just ordered an Escort 9500i this morning. Finally convinced the fiancee to let me buy one... which included giving her my current 8500 x50 so she could speed

 

Lol! Let us know how it goes. I'm keeping my 8500 and looking at a Blinder 20 system.

 

convince her? you had to ask her to spend your own money?

 

Someone is neither engaged nor married.

 

I received the 9500i today. So far my initial impressions are excellent. I've only had about 45 minutes of driving time with it so far, but here is what I have confirmed:

• The 9500i uses the same windshield mount as the 8500, so those of us with the custom G35/Z rearview mirror mount that Dave makes are golden.
• The website and manual heavily stress the point that the GPS needs a "clear line of sight to an unobstructed sky". This concerned me slightly because Dave's mount puts the detector "under" the rearview mirror and I was concerned the reception would be poor (or completely lacking). Who knows what sort of quality GPS receiver/antenna they use?!? Well, that's not a problem. The 9500i quickly picked up the GPS signal and stayed locked to it during my entire driving time.
• The 9500i uses the same RJ-11 phone cord power jack as the 8500, so those of us with Invisicords or other hardwired setups do not have to worry about re-running wires.
• The dimensions of the 9500i are roughly the same as the 8500. The 9500i is a bit "longer", but this can most likely be compensated for (if it bothers you) by adjusting your mounting setup.
• The auto-sensitivity functionality has already DRASTICALLY reduced false alarms. The path I drove today would have usually false alarmed approx. 6 times, and instead it false alarmed twice. I used the GPS lockout feature on both spots and when passing those areas again I did NOT false alarm again.

More info as I drive with it more. I'm going to be driving a lot this weekend (two 1 hour trips plus a LOT of city/town driving), so I'll post more after that experience.

Needless to say, I'm pleasantly optomistic

 

^sounds good. Thanks.

 

Sounds fabulous, but then there's that price....

 

Cool

 

anything else to report?????????

 

I just got my 9500i last night. I was having a few issues with the laser detector on my 8500 going off all the time. Thankfully Best Buy has the awesome 2 year exchange deal. Its worth every penny. I payed the difference and upgraded to the 9500i. So far I love it. It does not have near the false alerts that the 8500 had. Not to mention the ones it still picks up can be blocked out. I love it...

 

my report: it's one of the sexiest purchases I've ever made, honestly. My wife *loves* it because it never goes off unless it's a cop. She hated how often the 8500 and/or the V1 falsed all the time.

 

+1 so far I have had next to no false alerts

 

sweet deal! i was thinking of getting the BEL STi but at the last minute decided to get the 9500i. I read a couple of threads bashing the 9500i and i was hopeing i hadn't made a mistake. but if fellow g drivers approve then my nerves are a bit at ease