bdolcourt's Full Review: Escort Passport 7500 Radar Detector
Due to life circumstance, I am now making regular trips from New York to Boston. While this is not a long trip, Connecticut is not the most exciting state of the Union. So, with this review, I begin a series of what will, no doubt, become a famous monograph of "On the Road Reviews." I figured I would start out with a review of the device that gets me from NY to MA a little bit faster...my radar detector.
Connecticut is notorious for its speed traps, high fines, and anti-radar detector laws. I figured that if I was going to regularly pass through the state, I needed a detector that was accurate, reliable, and undetectable. I also wanted one that could differentiate between various radar beams. After reading DYQ685's review, I figured I had to get the Escort Passport 7500 (read that review BTW, it has a very different take and provides a good contrast).
I should state that previously I owned an Escort Passport (six years ago) and was very satisfied by it. Previously, Escorts customer service was amazing (not to get into detail, but they re-engineered part of my old radar detector to eliminate interference, gratis). When I saw the added features of the new Passport, I was hooked. Enough with the intro, let us take a look.
Features
Patented Anti Falsing Technology: This has been my single largest disappointment. Maybe I had my hopes up too high, but I get false alarms everywhere. Grocery Store, CVS, random places on the Masspike...everywhere. In fact, these are the exact same places I used to get false alarms with my old passport (maybe they have the same anti-falsing technology). False alarming in the city is much more prevalent than on the highway as would be expected, but it still falses on the highway. Now that I have driven the same route through Connecticut a few times, I can say that it falses in the same places every time. I must admit that I don't get random alerts here and there...maybe that is what it is trying to suppress. Supposedly, the "Auto Sensitivity" technology aids in reducing falsing, by changing the sensitivity of the x-band receiver as you go...I do not see it.
Automute: Who ever designed the automute technology obviously drives in my car. After a few seconds of alert tones, the sound level drops off dramatically. Initially, it can overpower the radio with ease, then the sound level drops just below where I usually keep the volume. I can still easily understand the news while hearing the alert tones just below that. Other radar detector have a similar function, this one seems suited to my driving habits. As far as I can tell, the automute level is a fixed percentage of the total volume level. You can adjust the alert level, but you can't adjust how far the automute reduces the alert level. The Automute can be turned off and on. The radar detector can be totally muted with a single button press on the front panel.
Expert Mode: The radar detector usually displays the stereotypical increasing bars of light while beeping in a Geiger counter like fashion to indicate signal strength. As Doctor Evil would say, "Pretty Standard." This radar detector has the ability to detect and display 4 separate x-band signals, 2 separate k-band, and 2 separate ka-band (radar frequencies). To see the separate signals requires using expert mode. In expert mode, the usual display is replaced. Each separate signal is displayed as a vertical line next to the band frequency. The height of the line indicated signal strength. The display ends up looking like: x|| k| ka|. The detector still beeps according to the signal strength.
The added feature of knowing how many radar beams are out there is very nice. In some areas, police radar in areas near automatic doors since radar detector owners ignore alerts in these areas. By being familiar with the area, a new signal becomes apparent very fast. Expert mode has a serious pitfall. The signal level indicator only has 3 levels low, medium, and high, as opposed to 6 or 7 in the traditional display. The sound of the radar detector is much more useful in trying to evaluate the proximity of the source. In a multi-beam radar trap, trying to differentiate the two signals can be tough...a look at the radar detector really offers no additional help. This could lead to an expensive problem.
The expert screen does not provide directional warning like the Valentine One.
Laser: Escort states that this detector has 4 forward and 1 rear sensor for "Breakthrough Laser Range." I cannot really comment, I have not heard it alert for laser.
The one time I received a ticket, it was with "Laser Radar" (LIDAR). While I did not have a laser detector at the time, it would not have saved me. Lidar has pinpoint accuracy. There is not much beam leakage to detect. If the cop chooses a good area, no detector will catch it in time. Basically, the extra Laser sensitivity is nice to have on board, but I really don't think that it will ever alert me in time.
Safety Radar Signals: Some areas are incorporating data in x-band radar signals. The Passport 7500 is able to receive these signals and alert you as to what is ahead. Some emergency vehicles are also being equipped with transponders that will alert the receiver as well. This is an excellent feature. It just is not getting used yet. As far as I know, there is no where in NY, CT, or MA that uses the safety warning system...yet.
Programming: The detector comes with factory preset options. You can change most of them fairly easily. Most of the options regard the display or the sound of the detector. Most of the factory options are set properly (bright display, standard sensitivity, regular alert tone, etc.) If you want to use expert mode or the safety warnings, you will need to turn those options on. Selected options are retained in the radar detector's memory after it loses power.
VG2 Rejection: The VG2 interceptor is a radar detector detector. It catches people who use radar detectors by listening for characteristic emissions from the radar detector's local oscillator. Shielding the local oscillator may eliminate the emissions. Since it violates CT state law to use a radar detector (it did when I last checked...the state law actually violated federal law, but I don't know what happened with that), I want an undetectable radar detector. While the box mentions VG2 rejection, the feature is not documented in the user manual. This worries me. I want to know how it works. My brother's radar detector (a different brand), listens for VG2 signals (it becomes a radar detector detector detector...say that fast), and turns itself off temporarily. Other companies are doing odd things to stop the VG2. Although I trust them, I would like to know a little more about what Escort did to protect my $229 investment.
Mounting: The 7500 uses the standard suction cup bracket to stick to the window. The unit itself has a slot for the bracket to fit into. The slot has a release button. Someone finally figured out that you can't leave the detector on the dash board (that is how I lost my old one). The quick release slot means that once the bracket is stuck to the window, the detector can be placed and removed very easily. The slot also allows the detector to easily adapt to most windshield angles. This is nice design work.
Overall Impression
I am somewhat disappointed in the Escort Passport 7500. I was just expecting more. It false alarms just as much as my old detector and can't live up to the hype. It does offer the expert mode, which I really like, however the mode doesn't provide as much information about the signal strength as I would like. I am going to keep the detector. Escort is a good brand and I really liked my old one. It isn't a bad detector...I picked up several cops on the Masspike during Labor Day weekend long before they could get me...it just doesn't live up to what I expected after seeing the advertisements. I would still recommend it, just know what you are getting and that you are going to pay a premium price. See if you really want/need the extra features, or if you can use a detector with a few less options.
Postscript: If you want to buy it online, the only Epinions associated merchant that carries it is Electronics.net. Also note, the correct URL for the product page is escortstore.com. Don't try www.escort.com as I first tried.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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