vdubpower

what do you guys think about it.
i have an 8500 but its conked out and i was thinking of doing the trade in for te 9500 but im not sure its worth it, over the x50 or even going to a val 1.
i livein South FL where radar is here or there,
what do u all think

aleksandar1099

I can highly recommend the 9500i. After having a 8500i and v1 the 9500 is better without a doubt. I had to custom order the blue one from the website but the extra 50 for it was worth how good it looks. The speed sensativity helps out so much and the gps signal lockout is a lifesaver!!!! Buy it now!! ... LOL

J 2OOI

Expect differing opinions on this one...

I have the V1 and prefer it. A good friend has the 9500, we used them both side by side for a bit... the V1 seems to pick up radar a little earlier. If I remember correctly, the V1 scores significantly better in the off-axis tests (meaning radar not coming directly from the front/back, but at an angle). Also, the arrows and bogey counter are VERY usefull and a must if you want the best IMO. Go with the V1.

Good luck.

Hazy1

I've got both, and haven't noticed a significant difference between the two. I will say that the GPS lockout feature on the 9500 is nice to eliminate repeated false alarms. The other nice feature is the speed display on the 9500, which keeps you from having to attempt to check both the detector and the speedo whilst trying to decide how hard to decelerate, all in a fraction of a second.

I've gotten 2 tickets while using the 9500 in the past 15 +/- months, both of which were from instant-on when coming over a hill and I was 20+ over the limit each time. No detector whould have performed any better in either situation.


Out of curiosity, did your 8500 appear to be working fine, even though it was no longer detecting. I was using my wife's on a road trip at night and came up on a state trooper doing 85 in a 70. When he claimed that he clocked me at 85, I questioned him because my detector never went off. He laughed and told me it might be time to get a new one. Sure enough, the next morning, the display said something to the effect of "Unit malfunction, send to factory for repair" I was pissed, as my perfectly good 9500 was at home in my car and would have taken 30 seconds to grab before we left.

tucsonbroker

I too have been thinking about replacing my 8500 with the new GPS unit. Sometimes the unit flashes 'service required', but when I unplug it and plug it back in it works. Until it becomes toast, I'll delay the decision.

I had read on another forum that the 9500 had some problems. Anyone else experience that?

aleksandar1099

I think he has it right on the dot... personal preference. When you step up to pay over 400 for a radar its going to be almost the same.....its a question of arrows or gps....some people prefer one over the other...not saying that one is better than the other....Its all individual taste...

MKZ313

I have the 9500i and I have no types of problems with it. I love mines.

red60R

I actually use the Bel STi driver.....I had an x50 and took them both on a drive from VA to GA and the sti consistently warned me WAYYYYYY ahead of the x50. Plus, if you look online at some of the research, the sti is totally impervious to any of the detector detectors (good for va drivers). Matter of fact it is the ONLY one that is totally immune, at least according to some of the testing----

http://www.speedtraphunter.net/radar...detectors.html


here is the sti destroying the V1, scroll down to the composite tests:

http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleid=100542


I am not a salesman for Bel, matter of fact my previous 3 detectors were escorts but this Bel is just soooo superior in my own testing that I sold my
x50 a few months ago. That being said, I like the idea of the 9500 with the gps to weed out the known false signals. That's great for those that drive consistently to the same places all the time but won't do much for a one off road trip. My 2 cents...

vdubpower

my 8500 continued to start saying that it need to calibrate it self adn now just says service rquered.

passoport says its 80 bucks to repair it or trade it in and get 80 credit toa new one
just not sure if the price of the 9500 is worth it

what exactly does the gps do

Hazy1

The GPS is used primarily to weed out known false signals. On my commute to the office, there are about 3-4 places where the unit would always get a false reading from grocery stores, etc. If I hit the mute button twice, it asks if I want to lock out the signal, then the next time I go by it won't give a false alarm for that particular frequency. The other nice thing about the GPS is that it displays your speed whenever it gets a reading, saving you from having to look down to check your speed.