New digital scanner help

[doabbs]

I purchased a 296d when it first came out to replace my old radioshack pro-91. I thought it was a great scanner and was thrilled to be able to listen to digital. I had it for close to a year and things got tight money right after getting out of college and having a $500 scanner I had to sell it. I actually got more for it on eBay then I paid for it, go figure.

That was almost 4 years ago, and I'm trying to decide on a new digital scanner to buy. I haven't heard the best things about the 396t and was wondering if people have any suggestions on a new digital scanner. I live in New Hampshire in a somewhat rural part of the state and travel 40 miles each day down to the seacoast. I'd like to listen to primarily police and fire and I don't believe that they are using any trunking. Any opinions that would help me research a particular model would be appreciated.

 

[Dubbin]

You can research each one of them not only in the forums here but also in the wiki.

 

[doabbs]

I took a look at the technical details in the wiki and on a couple other sites. I guess my question really for people that have had the 296d and 396t and which model they prefer. It looks like a major form factor difference between the two but what about performance? I've seen a lot of posts about signal strength with these models, and some are attributing it to a poor stock antenna. I've also seen some people recommending the GRE scanner and was just hoping for some advice.