Need your opinions on first digital scanner

[GKolo]

I am looking at my first digital radio to purchase. my choices are, Uniden 996xt Or GRE 600.
Of the 2 what one is more user friendly for ease of use and programming ?
All my radios now are analog.
Just wanted to pick the brains of someone that has played with one or both of them.
Are the PSR 500 and the Uniden 396xt the same radio as the base models listed above ? Most of what i have now are base radios but havent ruled out a handheld.
I value your opinions, It will be your feedback that makes my decision.

Thanks

 

[RoninJoliet]

I have both bases and H/H, they program entirely different....I at this point would choose Uniden products as GRE/RS models are not made anymore and there seems to be no more repair on the GRE/RS for reason there "out of business"....Both work excellent, its the features that actually differ....

 

[AK9R]

I am looking at my first digital radio to purchase. my choices are, Uniden 996xt Or GRE 600

Ask this question in a Uniden forum and you'll likely get answers biased towards Uniden. Ask the same question in the GRE forum and you'll likely get answers biased towards GRE.

To me, the overriding concern about GRE is that GRE Japan is no longer building scanners and GRE America is out of business.

There are significant differences in the way the two brands approach memory management. It might be worth your while to read the following two articles in the RR Wiki:

GRE/RS Object Oriented Scanners FAQ - The RadioReference Wiki

Uniden DMA FAQ - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[Ronaldski]

+1 on the two previous comments. Your throwing over $400 into this, my opinion is why put it towards a company thats not in the scanner business?

39,000 for memory they spout for the 500. Actuality they count the vscanner - the built in states memory as part of that. Reality you only have a bit over 1800 frequencies, talkgroups to have available in the main memory that the radio only scans.

unidens - 25,000 memory, less than the 500 but ALL of that is available to use!
Sure there are limits far as # of systems (counties), sites (tower frequencies), groups, but mainly its the channels ... 25,000 is your limitation. Most people arent near that, I know some are. My highest setup is 34% 8.697 channels used as reported by freescan - software is free!

No free software for the psr/RS radios.

There are A LOT of threads on this site that people ask essentially your same question, use the search at the top right.

 

[SCPD]

I have a GRE 500 and 2 GRE 600s, but in lew of GRE out of business I'd but the Uniden. Also Uniden has the fire tones ability. GPS ability and most of my friends have Uniden I bought GRE because it had a bigger key pad and the 996XT was not out. I would NOT buy the Radio Shaft model. Just my $00.2

 

[GKolo]

I am leaning toward the Uniden only because GRE's problems, But i have the GRE 400 and love the radio....Thats the main reason i asked. You just cant walk into a store and compare them side by side.

 

[Rt169Radio]

It would probably be best to go with Uniden, because it might be hard and/or costly to get replacement parts for GRE scanners and to get them fixed.

 

[scannersnstuff]

although i prefer the uniden 996xt, i would wait until the next generation of unidens. down the road you may find you need tdma. i had the psr-600,but it overloaded.

 

[GKolo]

although i prefer the uniden 996xt, i would wait until the next generation of unidens. down the road you may find you need tdma. i had the psr-600,but it overloaded.

But i want one now ! LOL

 

[n2pqq]

although i prefer the uniden 996xt, i would wait until the next generation of unidens. down the road you may find you need tdma. i had the psr-600,but it overloaded.

I concur wait a couple of months you will be happier in the long run.

Haste makes waste !

 

[daneg]

I'd really wait. Watch what uniden comes out with. They almost have to come out with a Phase 2 scanner. If someone is already in an area with p-25 phase 1. I would really wait. If they decide to go phase two, then you wasted money.

 

[GKolo]

Maybe i can get a decent price on a used one when everybody starts to upgrade.