OK ! So here is my review of the PASSPORT 9500 IX , Traveled a total of around 650 miles in and out of southern California.
I kept the speed in a safe manner in order to avoid any tickets as this was only a test of the radars ability.
Overall I had about 15 occurrences with police , ( 10 highway and 5 local).
Every X band and K Band were always false alerts, had to disable X band alerts.
As said in other posts, did you notice when you were driving past other cars what make/model they were? Could you notice if they had the little collision avoidance radar spots on the bumpers? If so, they were setting off your detector... So to the detector, they're a weak signal. It picked them up, it worked.
All police encounters that set off the detector were KA band or no reading at all.
Did you look up what the local cops and/or HP use for their radars to know which band you'd be up against? Most agencies now only use Ka band, so that's not a fault in the detector.
Surprisingly for me the I did get 2 long range readings of readings of KA Band set ups, range about 1 mile.
So the detector worked... le problem??
I also picked up 2 KA signals that locked up the radar unit, where it displayed a constant KA signals for 3-5 miles , I pulled to the side while it was still making a lot of noise, unplugged it and restarted it and the signal was gone.
Again as said before, were you driving along side a minivan or other euro vehicle for a long period of time? Or hit MUTE, that will clear it on false alerts. It helps to read the manual... 
So on the thruway, I had about 8 occurrences of KA band , 2 alerts could have been considered long range 1 1/4 mile and 3/4 miles and 2more about a 1/2 mile.
So it worked 8 times? That's a pretty good track record based on variable terrain.
The rest of the highway KA band were short range indications of only about a 10th mile, basically you seen the cop and the radar unit displayed KA band , no time to slow down.
Did you See the cops before the detector went off? It won't save you every time, thats why You the driver still need to be alert regardless..
I also got one constant KA short range signal from a school warning.
Which most would consider a good thing... Cops love to use those for high $$ tickets.
2 KA short range signals from moving local PD.
Those are the ones that will drive you crazy cause you don't see a "parked" car, so you have to eyeball every car in opposing traffic. 
But even still, it worked 2 more times..
3 none signals from one CHP off thruway and 2 other local PD.
Were they moving, or parked? If they were moving, they probably didn't have them ON while driving, or just as easily were not transmitting while parked either... Sometimes they way to see someone before they transmit. So that doesn't mean the detector didn't work...
One red light camera alert on intersection above the thruway.
GPS database ftw. 
Not one laser alerts at all.
Did anyone you went up against Use Laser? If not, why would you expect to get a laser alert?
So in conclusion I would say the 9500 IX did give some long distance alerts , but it also gave a lot of short range results , that would have resulted in a lot of tickets, if I was speeding over the limit and targeted.
If you speed don't be mindful of your location and potential hiding spots, then you set yourself up for failure... You can't expect to put the magic box on your windshield and drive like a bat outta hell... You've gotta be a mindful driver, which is where I think your issue is. You think people with detectors stop watching the road... you should Never stop watching the road.
Then it also got 2 KA alerts that locked it up and it had to be powered down and powered up to clear it self ????
Read above about Muting alerts to clear/lockout.
In comparison the cheap Cobra $110 radar/ laser detector , there are a lot of similar short range results, it would have been nice to have the 2 detectors working side by side for a review.
If you put them side by side, you would have a lot of false alerts from the detectors setting each other off... Read up on the principles of radar detectors, and you'll understand why. That is one of the reasons the Escort 9500ci and Beltronics STi are worth their cost. They don't have the same problems associated due to their manufacture. Also, these are not able to be picked up on radar detector detectors. (Partly why I got mine.)
So is there a benefit to the escort VS the cheap $110 Cobra unit , the answer is yes, possibly better in long range detection and it gives you speed and red light camera alerts.
Is it worth $500 for the 9500 IX , probably not.
I feel that it question whether your detector warns you or not or if you get nailed for speeding, really depends on the equipment the police are using and the tactics they use for deploying it.
Which is standard across the country... No one disagrees with you there??
If the police set up parallel to the road , you may pick up a long range signal, but it seems most of the police set up the KA radar so it only emits a short range signal (perpendicular or at an angle to on coming traffic).
So you need to be scanning the sides of the road for them since your detector won't see them as far... standard procedure.
So is a radar laser detector of any real benefit, yes they are , but minor even with 50/50 chance on the KA band alerts. You still face the almost unbeatable detection from Laser and Lidar and Speed Cameras using buried road sensors.
If you drive by a speed camera at 90 mph, or 60 in a 45 then it's your own dumb fault. If you see those nice pretty boxes on the side of the road and slow down, it's not the detectors fault you got popped.
It all boils down to a crap shoot 50/ 50 chance with a $200-$500 ticket and your insurance going thu the roof for about 4 yrs.
Look at it this way, say you get 1 ticket every 6 months at the rate of $100.
In 4 years that's $800. Not even including the insurance increase from the points. So roughly $100~200 there.
$500 for a detector which might prevent them altogether, or $1000 in potential fines/price increases. 
For me I will stick with the Garmin GPS with red light camera alerts and just lay back with the CRUISE CONTROL SET AT THE SPEED LIMIT and not worry.