What happened with the pro18 ? Was it that bad? You can get them cheap now. I've seen them going for around 250.00. Thinking of getting one. What do you think?
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I really love my Pro-18. Yes, they are hard on batteries...but consider what the unit is doing when you are listening to digital trunked systems. Lots of processing power being expended. Also, the backlights really sap the batteries; best to turn them off completely whenever possible. This alone increases battery life by 1/3 to 1/2. Even if I didn't have mine plugged into external power most of the time, I wouldn't consider it a deal-breaker...you will see posts over in the Uniden area about similar issues with many of their hand-held scanners. You just need a second set of good NiMH batteries and an external charger if you are going to be portable with it a lot.
As for being "cheap," they were built for RatShack by GRE, and when GRE went out of business, they started drying up. RatShack made a decision to purge them from inventory, reducing the price (from $500-ish) first to $200 and then to $158, IIRC. They are
not bad scanners or subpar in any way, and with Whistler having picked up the GRE line and promising to have scanners retailing in a couple of months, the Pro-18 really can't be considered a complete orphan. I'd love to find another one, but hereabouts they're pretty much snapped up.
I would not hesitate to get one if I were you.