Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post

Chteelers · 06-22-2012, 09:06 AM

Best advice I've read: A radar detector is only as good as you know how to use it. You'd be fine with either V1 or Passport. The differences are merely convenience features.

That said, here's what I found in comparing the two.
V1: Directional arrows, advertises longer X-range.
9500ix: GPS caching.

I recently got a 9500ix after several years with a 8500, and absolutely love it. The 8500 was great, the 9500ix is just even better.
I've been in cars with V1, and can't say the arrows are all that useful. Only Front & Back warnings are important, since no cop will be right beside you. And after some experience with my Passports, I can tell by the way the warnings chime whether radar is in front or behind. Radar Detectors are just like metal detectors, so the speed of the chirps and how they change over time are quickly learned. Also, the longer X band of the V1 isn't useful cause no cops use X anymore, just shopping mall doors, so more X just means more false alarms.

The killer feature of the 9500ix is the GPS caching. This feature dramatically cuts down on false alerts, which means you pay more attention to the real alerts and the detector isn't going off all the time. You can manually cache a false alert (say, a shopping mall you pass every day) or the 9500ix caches a false automatically if you pass the same false 3 times. The result is that after a few weeks, the detector is silent about 95% of the time. Where my 8500 used to go off several times in a commute, requiring manual muting, the 9500ix is silent. In fact, I hardwired my mute button to the console, making it easier to mute the 8500. But with the 9500ix it's almost not necessary. In addition to reduced false alerts, the 9500ix auto-dims the volume after 3 seconds. So it grabs your attention, then dims to a less-intrusive volume, allowing you to audibly monitor the potential threat without yelling at you the whole time, or muting it altogether.

In summary though, any good detector will pay for itself if you learn to use it. It's only a tool, not some magic cop-detector shield, so it's really only as good as the person using it. The features are more for convenience than performance.

06-22-2012, 09:06 AM	#25 (permalink)
Chteelers Base Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Charlotte Posts: 63 Drives: '11 Nissan 370Z M6 Rep Power: 14	Best advice I've read: A radar detector is only as good as you know how to use it. You'd be fine with either V1 or Passport. The differences are merely convenience features. That said, here's what I found in comparing the two. V1: Directional arrows, advertises longer X-range. 9500ix: GPS caching. I recently got a 9500ix after several years with a 8500, and absolutely love it. The 8500 was great, the 9500ix is just even better. I've been in cars with V1, and can't say the arrows are all that useful. Only Front & Back warnings are important, since no cop will be right beside you. And after some experience with my Passports, I can tell by the way the warnings chime whether radar is in front or behind. Radar Detectors are just like metal detectors, so the speed of the chirps and how they change over time are quickly learned. Also, the longer X band of the V1 isn't useful cause no cops use X anymore, just shopping mall doors, so more X just means more false alarms. The killer feature of the 9500ix is the GPS caching. This feature dramatically cuts down on false alerts, which means you pay more attention to the real alerts and the detector isn't going off all the time. You can manually cache a false alert (say, a shopping mall you pass every day) or the 9500ix caches a false automatically if you pass the same false 3 times. The result is that after a few weeks, the detector is silent about 95% of the time. Where my 8500 used to go off several times in a commute, requiring manual muting, the 9500ix is silent. In fact, I hardwired my mute button to the console, making it easier to mute the 8500. But with the 9500ix it's almost not necessary. In addition to reduced false alerts, the 9500ix auto-dims the volume after 3 seconds. So it grabs your attention, then dims to a less-intrusive volume, allowing you to audibly monitor the potential threat without yelling at you the whole time, or muting it altogether. In summary though, any good detector will pay for itself if you learn to use it. It's only a tool, not some magic cop-detector shield, so it's really only as good as the person using it. The features are more for convenience than performance.