Escort, aka Cincinnati Microwave, has been producing a wireless Detector for sometime. The first wireless too was a called the Solo. The unit used a 9 Volt battery and a Security Key to operate. The Original Solo Detected only X and K band, and was good at it.
After Escort took over Cincinnati Microwave, they produced the Solo 4 and followed Solo 5. These units featured X, K, and Ka detection. X and K were respectable, but Ka was highly limited.
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Filed under: Radar Detectors Reviews
ESCORT markets this unit for having the following key features that set it apart from other detectors: (1) It has the ESCORT name [Big deal if it’s a poorly made device]; (2) it’s cordless [This is a good AND a bad feature about the Escort Solo. It’s good because it’s a snap to pull this bugger down when I get out of the car, but because it has such a great power consumption, I found the estimated battery life in the owner’s manual to be totally fallacious]. (3) The ESCORT SOLO has programmable features where you can set things like the DIM level, or VOLUME level, etc. and have them remain set regardless of power-on or power-off. [This feature is highly overrated. First, the method of programming features on the SOLO is counter-intuitive such that I ALWAYS had to go back to the manual to program something. Secondly, the unit allows you to set the volume by using the dual function POWER/VOLUME bottom. Well, I found this way to set the VOLUME rather awkward since many times when I was trying to set the VOLUME the unit thought I was trying to turn it off and instead of accomplishing what I wanted, the unit did what it wanted].
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This unit is hardly worth the estimated price of $330 (or the $210 retail price I paid for it). It performs much more
like a $50 detector . In highway mode the range is fair. A state trooper running high power X-band radar is picked up for a good distance, but locally the detector’s sensitivity to instant-on that hits traffic up ahead is fair to
poor. I’ve never gotten a radared speeding ticket with this unit (I was paced and ticketed once), but I find that the unit is not very durable at all. Technically, if it was durable, it would be a great detector, but it just does not last so I can’t justify recommending it to new detector buyers !
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I’ve had it for 1 year and 9 months, and it failed to operate at about 1 year and 7 months. The manufacturer agreed to fix the unit for $50.00 (which is about 25 percent of the original purchase price), and they did fix it; but just 2 months after being repaired it suffered another electronic failure. This unit was never dropped and fresh batteries were always used with it so undue carelessness can’t be blamed. If I were to spend $50 every two months to repair this unit, I would soon deplete any funds budgeted for gadgets like this. The unit also, though touted for its cordlessness, puts a heavy load on batteries, even if it’s used in full DIM mode. The gain achieved by having a
cordless unit is negligible when the workmanship of the unit is so poor. It’s more of a conversation piece that it’s cordless. I hear that other models made by ESCORT are good, but because this unit failed to be reliable for the long-term I would NEVER buy an Escort detector again. Since this one is now broken, I purchased a cheaper Radio Shack 22-1693 [which features the full radar band coverage, Laser detection and VG2 protection]; after a while I will probably review its performance as well. I hope it works better.
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There seems to be a lot of debate as to whether or not the cordless Escort Solo S2 delivers the same degree of protection as the Escort 8500 or Valentine One.
(The debate between the Valentine One and 8500 rages on so I won’t address that issue other than to say that currently the edge in reviews ,for good or bad reasons, seems to be going toward the 8500.)
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The Escort Radar (formerly Cincinnati Microwave) Passport 9500i is the most advanced, best performing and most expensive radar detector to date. It is also the best I have ever used.
Background and Subjective Criteria for this Evaluation
I am not a speed demon by any means. I like a clean driving record and low insurance rates. I also like getting to my destination in one piece, yet I like some warnings when it comes to speed surveillance just because I don’t trust it. I was once ticketed by an apologetic Oregon State Police Officer who was being forced to use an old X-band radar unit which he “tested with a tuning fork” at the beginning of his shift. The unit had worn out a dozen patrol cars over the years, had never been in for calibration and added 22mph to everything it saw, including trees and buildings. Fighting what should have been an automatic toss from the bench of justice taught me the value of slowing down below the posted speed limit when radar is present just to compensate for sloppy maintenance of the radar units. That’s my strategy employed in evaluating a radar detector. I’m not trying to see how much I can get away with out there.
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The Solo 5110 cordless radar detector has been in both my cars for about 6 months now. You can program this thing to suit your tastes in the areas of volume, automute, 4 brightness settings, 5 radar sensitivity settings, start-up mode, different sounds, safety pilot warnings. It’s audio warnings are very clear as to what band is being detected and determining how close you are to smokey. You don’t need to look at your detector to figure out what’s going on. With it’s Automute feature the unit quiets down after 4 seconds so your warnings aren’t annoying. It’s easy to take down and hide from prying eyes. It has a front mounted on-off volume control which is rare to find these days and very easy to use. Great windshield mount, easy to use. If you so choose you can run it using an optional power cord. This unit all but never falses. Well written owners manual. I had to send the unit in once for a problem and not only did they fix the problem but they included an extra set of batteries, an extra windshield mount and they replaced a cosmetic item all at no charge. One week turnaround also. The only downside to this detector is it’s Ka band detection, which for me is acceptable in an urban environment, might not be on a rural/interstate scenario. When driving on the highway where Ka can find you with little warning I would use the cord option because the unit’s overall sensitivity is increased somewhat with it. Decent battery life. Reasonable construction. Once you get used to the cordless convenience you’ll never go back.
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The Escort name has been around for over 20 years. They have dominated the detector market with the Original Escort, Escort Passport, and late 80s Solo. After one of the founders had departed from the company (Mike Valentine) the company hasn’t produced a top-notch detector. Now with the merger (Bought out of Beltronics) the company is now back on track with a strong detector.
In the Title not quite a Vette: I would call the Valentine a Vette (factory), the Escort a Camaro (factory), and the Bel 980/970 a Firebird (factory). If you follow cars a Camaro and Firebird are similar with the Frame, Motor and Gauges. The difference is outside appearance and packaging, but give strong performance. The Vette “Valentine” give little more all around performance.
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I’ll admit it…I’m often guilty of coveting thy electronic store’s new things. Even if I already have a fairly new gadget I like and use, I’m green with envy about a new product I wasn’t warned about that’s much cooler and much better than the thing I was stuck with. I know that’s a ridiculous, materialistic vice but hey…I suppose it could be worse. I just wish it was cheaper.
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I have previously written a review on the Escort Solo S2 and it got moved to a different category, plus I was less experienced then so found my review to be very unsatisfactory. Times have changed, and I’ve decided to try this incredibly popular and expensive radar detector again. The Escort Solo S2 is the most recent newcomer in the cordless market from Escort. They claim that it’s much better than the Escort Solo. Well, here’s what I found.
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Beltronics,
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PNI,
Rocky Mountain,
Sensoro,
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Valentine One
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So, having used a V1 for some time and acknowledging it is an excellent detector, I felt the need to go cordless mostly for use on my motorcycle. I had a Beltronics 945 once (not a good radar detector at all!!)and for bike use it was handy. I had used the V1, but having to hook up a separate headphone jack and hardwire a power source both of which you must be concerned with, as well as getting everything under cover at the slightest hint of rain…I thought I’d try the Escort. Well, figuring a bit of real world testing was in order I simply went old school to see which one gave the most practical warning; after all…that is really what these things are purchased for, right?? Where is the nice officer with the radar and how soon will I get told it’s time to hit the brakes before I’m in his sights??
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Beltronics,
Escort,
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I purchased a radar detector from Radio Shack about 6 months ago for about 100 dollars. I thought that it was a decent radar detector at that time. But after using it for a couple of week i began see that the detection range was horrible. When i would approach a radar source(cop) heading to me in the opposing direction it would just start to activate when the source was about 400 feet infront of me. 400 feet is NOT enough time to slow down.
Discouraged with my purchase i asked people i know who had detectors and found out other then the Valentine 1 the Solo S2 is the best detector. I went and purchased the detector and soon found out that it is a very good detector other the V1. The range on it is truly amazing, if your on the highway the detector activates a long time before you get to the source.
The features that I like the best are the programmable function for different driving styles and the easy release in case you get pulled over. Also the back light is a good feature for night driving, note: the back light turns it self off when the detector sences enough ambient light in the car(nice feature).
The only features that i don’t like about it are the controls, there too small to use. The buttons are too small and to lower the volume a bit you have to push the volume button about 10-15 times to get it to halfway.
To sum this review up the Solo S2 is a very good radar detector other then the Valentine 1. It has a good detection range.
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Escort,
solo
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