If they would have carried V1 or Redline, I would have bought one of them over the Max 2.I like the GPS functionality that the Max 2 has, which makes it easier to use in in-town driving, but the range simply isn't there

The Max, like every other detector on the market, still struggles with the dynamic (moving) radar noise (such as the ever increasing blind spot monitors and collision avoidance systems on today's vehicles)

If you can afford it, the Max 2 is a good radar detector if you are interested in good radar protection without having to mess with/program a unit, you want reasonable false alert suppression (especially if you live in a city/urban environment) and you like the features the Max has to offer

However, while the Max is good at locking out static/non stationary signals and is getting better a locking out moving signals, it still struggles with dynamic/moving radar emissions such as blind spot monitors from vehicles

Although I liked and preferred the Max 360, it was just too bulky

While expensive (and possibly over priced), the Max is a good all in one detector

Others have mentioned that they too have had multiple issues regarding the original Max: http://www.rdforum.org/showthread.php?t=30040.The Max 2 looks exactly like the original Max (short of the Blue tooth icon)

Unit is not Motorcycle friendly...my older Passport supported an LED warning light device using the audio port, the Max 2 will not support such devices.

the Max 2 last weekThe 9500ix has worked great, it does lock out false alerts, but it might take a little more than what Escort claims (3 times) to lock out those false alerts

The Max may very well be your best choice if you want an "all in one detector" (without having to buy additional hardware and download additional software to get your detector to behave and perform well).The Bad:1

The original Max was quite buggy

When working, the Max seems to be a very good detector

Think of the Max 2 as a faster, longer range, more feature rich version of the 9500ix (another older Escort radar detector), just like the original Max is

While Escort has touted this unit as highly upgradable and they did do multiple updates to fix bugs and add a small amount of requests to the Max, the Max still has a long way to go regarding updating its firmware/software to continue to quiet the unit down from false alerts and to get features added multiple people have been asking for (more on this later).Conclusion

The price - people polled thought the original Max was overpriced/not reasonable at $550 and would be more reasonably priced at (or around $400

I more than recommend the Escort Max II with a year and 9 months of use!

The Max performs well overall and still has a lot of potential.a

Here is where the Max shines/excels

While expensive (and possibly over priced), the Max is a good all in one detector

Others have mentioned that they too have had multiple issues regarding the original Max: http://www.rdforum.org/showthread.php?t=30040.The Max 2 looks exactly like the original Max (short of the Blue tooth icon)

In my experience from reading through this and other forums over the years and with my own unit, the original Max had more issues then I have seen with a radar detector from Escort

The Max 2 is ready to use and provide you great protection right outside the box

This is an area where the Max and Max 2 are good at

The Max, like every other detector on the market, still struggles with the dynamic (moving) radar noise (such as the ever increasing blind spot monitors and collision avoidance systems on today's vehicles)

Max 2 has not improved upon the original Max design/features/abilities/build etc like the name implies