If I were to give you a free BCD396T or a BC796D

[samorlando]

What one would you pick? I live in metro Detroit. A lot of you have answered some of my questions before on scanner selection. And I thank you. Other than one being a hand held and the other a base, I'm still not sure. Now, if I were to bite the bullet and tell the wife this is our birthday, Christmas and anniversary present. What one would you pick?

 

[hiegtx]

The BCD396T. Ignoring the handheld vs desktop issue. The feature set of the 396 is more extensive than that of the 796. Close Call & Fire Tone out, for those that want it. Once you get used to the dynamic memory as opposed to traditional banks, you'll wonder why this wasn't done long ago.
I've had mine a week, and have been well pleased. I've read all of the comments, positive & negative, & have not had any problems. The only unknown is the silk screen issue, which Uniden is aware of & I have confidence that they will come up with an equitable solution. They can't afford to do otherwise, as it would destroy years of goodwill in the scanning community. I see no signs of degradation in my unit; some initial reports were from units in service only a few days (less than a week).
Sensitivity is better than the average of my other scanners, which include a half dozen ranging from a Regency HX-1500 to a BC250D & a BC246T.

If you can sell your wife that this equals a birthday, anniversary, or Christmas present, I have a feeling you missed your calling in either politics or selling used cars.

 

[n1das]

I'll take the 396!

~ n1das

 

[MacombMonitor]

They are both excellent scanners. If the portability of a hand-held is not a requirement, I would choose the BC796D. It's display is much larger, with better illumination. The audio is stronger, and has a larger speaker. It is much more rugged, and will likely hold up better over time. The only drawback is during a power failure caused by storms, or blackouts, when you might want it most, it will be inoperable. For this I have a 12V GelCel, on a charge maintainer, which will run my radios for several days.

Some of the new features found in the BCD396T are impressive. But in real day-to-day use, I'm not sure if it makes that much difference. It depends on the individual. I do not require 6,000 frequencies, nor do I need, or even want the new "Tone Out" feature, but I understand why this would be great if I were a fire fighter. The dynamic memory is interesting, and may even make programming just a little easier, but up until now, I've lived just fine without it.

But hey, what do I know? I've gone from GRE's to Unidens, and back to GRE's in less than two months! I've had base/moble units, and I've had hand-helds, and now I have both! So buy one, or the other now, then buy the wife the other one later! :shock:

 

[BoxAlarm187]

My PERSONAL opinion would be a 796D for many of the same reasons that Macomb Monitor mentioned. Of course, my opinion is a little skewed, as I have little use for a handheld scanner (in fact, I sold my last one two weeks ago).

The 796D doesn't have some of the things like dynamic memory, but I don't really need that, so I'm not losing sleep over it.

I guess like so many things, it depends on what your listening habits are.

 

[seamusg]

Send me a BC796D. I'll take it.

 

[Voyager]

What one would you pick? I live in metro Detroit. A lot of you have answered some of my questions before on scanner selection. And I thank you. Other than one being a hand held and the other a base, I'm still not sure. Now, if I were to bite the bullet and tell the wife this is our birthday, Christmas and anniversary present. What one would you pick?

396 - it's much easier to put in your pocket , and it is much more packed with features.

Joe M.

 

[seamusg]

If I were to give you a free BCD396T or a BC796D

I'll stick with my first choice.

 

[PanJurekMrJerry]

Please gimme the hand held BCD396T. Is this for real?
Is this a contest or something?

 

[Joseph11]

I'd say the BCD396T.

 

[RESCUE4NFD]

Scanner Choice

Bearcat 796D All The Way!!!!

 

[hiegtx]

Samorlando, as you can see, there is a great variance of opinion. As Bill noted, the larger display and speaker, with better illumination, are definite points in favor of the 796.
As for the extra features, I doubt I will have much use for fire tone out in the near future, unless I moved to a different, probably more rural, area. Dallas Fire uses a digital-based tone out. Close Call I have not tried yet; I did not consider that a key reason to purchase this scanner.
The dynamic memory is another matter. Even in the D/FW metro area, I’ll never fill 6,000 channels on one scanner. But trunk tracking on the Uniden scanners is limited to one system per bank. It locks in on the first control channel it finds. With a ten bank scanner, you have a practical limit of ten trunked systems, regardless of the total channel capacity claimed.
Using dynamic memory on the 396 (and it’s non-digital sibling the BC246T), that restriction no longer applies. I have 17 trunked systems programmed at this time, along with numerous conventional systems. Flexibility is the biggest advantage, not just a larger channel capacity
If you do not have that many trunked systems in your area of interest, and if the issue of hand-held versus desktop is not a deciding factor, I suspect that you may be able to find or negotiate for a better price on a 796, especially if you look into used equipment.

 

[K2KOH]

The 396..I'm partial to portables because I try and carry a scanner at work so I know what's going on around me...

 

[loumaag]

samorlando:

I guess I will chime in here. I see that you have been asking for advice on this matter for a bit now and it seems as if you have narrowed it down to the BCD396T or BC796D as choices. Both are fine radios and I like they way they both work. I have them both (along with too many other ones to mention.)

But restricting my view to those and considering where you are located, I would go with the BCD396T.

The area you are located in is an area dense with possible scanning opportunities. The bottom line is although the base configuration of the 796D has lots of advantages such as display and audio (but not digital AGC), the 396T with the dynamic memory will serve you much better. The 796D is restricted to 10 banks which translates to, at most, 10 trunking systems. You have 30 plus TRS in the Wayne Co. area alone (not that you would or could listen to all of them). There are also 200+ conventional Pub. Safety frequencies listed on the Wayne Co. page, and although I realize that you probably don't want to listen to all of them, with the 796D you will be more constrained than with the 396T.

Of course, you must make the decision and others cannot know exactly what you want to do, but based on past experience, I think that you would be better off with the BCD396T.

 

[wesct]

the 396 would win with me

wesct

 

[1268]

Has to be the 396T :lol: