HomePatrol-1 Extreme Upgrade

[KD8HE]

I see this discount as a way for Uniden to say thanks to the many who had the faith in the brand to spend $500 on a new product. This unit is really a new concept and Uniden has gained a lot from the comments and exchanges in this forum. They have seen fit to answer the call to improve their product and broaden the market to the more experienced user. Smart move Uniden...sign me up!

 

[KD8HE]

For DB Administrators, a question...

I am new to location controlled scanners. I assume there will have to be data updates to accomodate the new rectangular format mentioned by Uniden in their HP-1 Update? This update will "tighten up" the scanning ranges of scanners like the HP-1 especially with statewide systems in irregularly shaped states. Wonder how this will work considering we are configured for range circles, not rectangles? Are we relying on volunteers to provide data updates for the "geotags" to fit the new format?

 

[DaveIN]

I am new to location controlled scanners. I assume there will have to be data updates to accomodate the new rectangular format mentioned by Uniden in their HP-1 Update? This update will "tighten up" the scanning ranges of scanners like the HP-1 especially with statewide systems in irregularly shaped states. Wonder how this will work considering we are configured for range circles, not rectangles? Are we relying on volunteers to provide data updates for the "geotags" to fit the new format?

B52 already questioned it, but no response so far: http://forums.radioreference.com/da...6666-database-update-rectangular-geotags.html

 

[KC9NEG]

Awesome! Thanks, UPMan. I'll be pre-purchasing the upgrade for sure

 

[KWs]

Sign me up too ... $49.99 for basically an HP-2 ! .. I'm thinking Uniden has a smart marketing person in charge. Take care of those who first bought the next generation of scanners ... while others were saying it's a "dummied-down" scanner. Not so dumb now, is it ?

 

[Highpockets]

I see this discount as a way for Uniden to say thanks to the many who had the faith in the brand to spend $500 on a new product. This unit is really a new concept and Uniden has gained a lot from the comments and exchanges in this forum. They have seen fit to answer the call to improve their product and broaden the market to the more experienced user. Smart move Uniden...sign me up!

Broaden the market? If they wanted to do that they should charge one price for the Upgrade, not make someone who wants to buy the Unit maybe near Christmas to pay a different price (for the upgrade) then everyone else, to me is poor marketing. As far as I concerned that's a terrible way of doing business. My opinion is they should re-think that decision!

If someone is going to sell the unit will they post it has the $100.00 upgrade or the $50.00 upgrade. To me they are opening a can of worms!!!

 

[petrol88]

So you are saying they should just make it $99 and not reward the early adopters? I hope they don't listen to you.

 

[KD8HE]

This will be a big deal if done right...first thing I noticed was statewide systems far from my area being selected to scan. the culprit is trying to "geotag" with a big circular range...lots more data to trim it down I suppose. Volunteer labor = long time to implement. (my hat is off to the volunteers)

 

[Highpockets]

So you are saying they should just make it $99 and not reward the early adopters? I hope they don't listen to you.

NO! Set one price for all, $50.00. When the people who pay the $100 for the upgrade every want to sell the unit their asking price will be higher then the person who paid $50 making it harder to sell, and come on think about it, that person may sit on that unit for a long time if his price is higher. How will that effect those in Canada with their already high prices.

 

[b52hbuff]

Just added to the blog article the following paragraph:

UPDATE: The HomePatrol-1 Extreme Upgrade will be available for only $99.99 from Uniden.com. But, we want to take care of those of you who have already bought the HomePatrol-1. We will soon add a link to prepurchase the upgrade for only $49.99. In order to prepurchase, you will need to provide us with the electronic serial number of your HomePatrol-1 so that we can provide you with a registration key that is specific to your HomePatrol-1. Having that in hand, you’ll be ready to activate the Extreme features as soon as we release the update. Once we release the update, the price will go to the normal $99.99 price.

Let me preface my question with the tagline of, clarity before agreement... So I'm not complaining about pricing, but I want to understand the costs and pricing.

$49.99 -> price for pre-order of HP1E upgrade
$99.00 -> price for HP1E upgrade after the software is released.
~$500 -> approximate retail price of HP-1

So if I buy an HP-1 sometime in the fall, will I be paying $500 for a unit with the HP1E functionality built in? Or will I have to buy the HP-1 and then spend another $100 for the HP1E?

If I understand correctly, then buying an HP-1 post HP1E release, but before old stock is purged will incur a $100 penalty.

Anyway, trying to get all of the questions out at once. Please clarify how all of these product play together...

 

[UPMan]

In around September or so, we will start receiving units from the factory that already have the update installed, but the upgrade will not be activated, and will cost $99.99. No penalty for buying existing inventory that does not have the update installed (except for the 10 minutes of your time it will take to apply the update).

 

[Jay911]

How will that effect those in Canada with their already high prices.

I hate to break it to you, but the Canadian dollar is currently worth more than the American dollar. So the $49.95 upgrade will cost me $47.35 (twice, since I have two scanners).

If you mean the places like Radioworld and NTF which are selling the radios for something like $625, people who buy from those places must have screws loose. I buy from Scanner Master or other US retailers for well over $100 less than that, shipped to my door.

You guys who are griping about all this really make me shake my head. It was, if not outright confirmed, at least heavily hinted when the HP1 came out, that an "advanced" version would come out eventually. Now it has (or very soon will). Now you're whining and moaning about how much it's going to cost. The people who wrote the code deserve to be paid for their work. Uniden deserves to get payment for its software. This is not the App Store, and Uniden is not going to sell 10 billion copies of this upgrade, so it sure as hell isn't going to cost something like $1.49.

 

[N5AMS]

looks like i need to get the wish list sent off fast lol thanks again Uniden and UPman for your hard wiork to keep up with the tech changes these days

 

[Jay911]

Curious Jay. What manufacturer of 32MB microSD are you using?

They're not exactly big-name products - I get MaxFlash cards from PointofViewCameras.ca - first started using them in my ContourGPS camera daily, and they work quite well there. So I figure they will work as well in the HP1.

Memory Cards for Contour HD, Contour GPS and other Contour Cameras. - PointofViewCameras Vancouver Canada

 

[b52hbuff]

In around September or so, we will start receiving units from the factory that already have the update installed, but the upgrade will not be activated, and will cost $99.99. No penalty for buying existing inventory that does not have the update installed (except for the 10 minutes of your time it will take to apply the update).

Thanks. I think I understand so far... Sounds like the HP-1 will always be the 'beginner' version, and the advanced 'Extreme' edition will always be a premium priced add on.

Will Sentinel always remain free? And I remember back in the BC-246T days when the UASD came out before the radio. Will the new Sentinel come out before the HP-1 software?

 

[K8TEK]

Uniden needs to rename their company Greediden.

 

[brandon]

50 bucks is a decent price IMHO. The logging capability is going to be extremely useful!
For those griping nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to buy it.

 

[jimboyle]

Lets not be ungreatful, it's the American way to build a better mousetrap. Someone has to pay the health ins. and keep the lights on at home for the Uniden employees. If you want to play you have to pay. Ham radio/scanning is not a cheap hobby, we love our toys that go beep ! So I think Uniden is on track, I'm happy to pre purchase the upgrade. I can't wait for the new features. Lets put a friendly spin on this. Uniden's job is to make a profit or at least survive this economy. Keep up the good work UPman.

Jim

 

[UPMan]

Will Sentinel always remain free? And I remember back in the BC-246T days when the UASD came out before the radio. Will the new Sentinel come out before the HP-1 software?

I really can't speak to "always." Maybe we'll come up for an idea that would take another thousands of man-hours to do which would necessitate a upgrade fee. But we've certainly not done so, yet.

Sentinel and HP-1 v2.0 (Extreme) will be released at the same time.

 

[KC9NEG]

This isn't going to make me popular with some of this community, however...

Those of us who bought the HP-1 weighed its current feature set against its price and made a decision. Very soon, it will be capable of FAR more, at an approximately 10% increase in purchase price. That development wasn't free. Consider an alternate scenario, where all this came in an "HP-2" model--all the new goodies aren't backward-compatible to us early adopters' radios. What tune would you all be singing in that case?

Future buyers will have all the info they need to make an informed decision whether to spend the extra ~20% on upgrading their radios. Remember, we're not the "typical target customer" for the HP-1. It was designed to get "Betty Bearcat" back in the game in the digital age.

All this is a bonus--keep up the good work, Uniden!