radioroo
Member
When compared to a modern phone, a modern hand held scanner is a huge brick. So what's inside that makes these things so large?
An iPhone for example, is tiny by comparison. It too has a radio receiver and even a radio transmitter. It has a powerful computer, a high resolution full colour touch screen display, a lithium battery, 32/64 GB of storage memory and the materials are high quality and don't creak or rattle.
My Uniden BCD436HP (which I really like for what it does) is by comparison absolutely massive, is a receiver only, has a monochrome slow display (text leaves a shadow when changing to new text rather than being instant), the screen gets dust inside easily, it uses NIMH batteries, is made from creaky plastic and the control knob (the most important control) is the cheapest feeling part and is loose, clicks really loudly and rattles.
In Canada the 436 is $620 plus another 13% tax where I am. This is about the same price as an iPhone off contract.
This is not a criticism as I understand that Uniden have probably produced they very best scanner they could within the confines and limits of the market they are in.
But my question is, what is the reason for the bulk and the cheaper materials in the 436 when compared to a modern phone? Is it because of sales volume? If Uniden sold as many scanners as Apple sold phones would they have the money to build smaller, more compact and dense scanners with higher quality materials, more modern screen and battery technology and more solid design choices?
As for the size specifically, is there something about the internals of a multiband receiver that keeps them relatively large?
An iPhone for example, is tiny by comparison. It too has a radio receiver and even a radio transmitter. It has a powerful computer, a high resolution full colour touch screen display, a lithium battery, 32/64 GB of storage memory and the materials are high quality and don't creak or rattle.
My Uniden BCD436HP (which I really like for what it does) is by comparison absolutely massive, is a receiver only, has a monochrome slow display (text leaves a shadow when changing to new text rather than being instant), the screen gets dust inside easily, it uses NIMH batteries, is made from creaky plastic and the control knob (the most important control) is the cheapest feeling part and is loose, clicks really loudly and rattles.
In Canada the 436 is $620 plus another 13% tax where I am. This is about the same price as an iPhone off contract.
This is not a criticism as I understand that Uniden have probably produced they very best scanner they could within the confines and limits of the market they are in.
But my question is, what is the reason for the bulk and the cheaper materials in the 436 when compared to a modern phone? Is it because of sales volume? If Uniden sold as many scanners as Apple sold phones would they have the money to build smaller, more compact and dense scanners with higher quality materials, more modern screen and battery technology and more solid design choices?
As for the size specifically, is there something about the internals of a multiband receiver that keeps them relatively large?
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