XTS Vs. APX & Buy Vs. Lease

[Jim1348]

I am looking for some thoughts here to help me make a recommendations at work. We currently have some Motorola XTS2500s on a statewide P25, simulcast 800 MHz trunked radio system. Out primary system is actually UHF 400 mHz MOTO TRBO and I am aware that there is currently NO single radio that will handle both P25 AND MOTO TRBO in one unit. Anyway, we are seeking to get additional portable transceivers for the 800 mHz system. It looks like I will be making a recommendation soon. Some of the considerations are:

Leasing: If we lease, the nearby city has the option to get additional portables from them. I guess the obvious pros and cons are they pretty much take care of everything and the cons are cost related and we get little to no choice over what transceivers are used. For example, we have Type II XTS2500s, but under the lease it would be Type I.

Buying: Certainly there are more decisions to be made if we buy. One the one hand, I might be inclined to get additional XTS2500s because that is what we are already using. The accessories, like Impress chargers and speaker microphones, are interchangeable.

I also like the XTS5000s and having the option to get some XTVA units for vehicles would be very attractive. I also realize that both the XTS2500 and XTS5000 and reaching end of life soon. They also are not capable of Phase II P25.

I like the idea of the APX4000. They would give us a unit that is capable of Phase II P25. I suspect the cost is significantly more than either XTS2500 or 5000s. I also understand that there is no XTVA available and none is likely to be available in the future. I have also been told that some people have an issue with the "one button" concentric volume/channel selector switch.

Finally, it looks like the APX6000 would also be a good choice. It, too, is ready for Phase II P25, but is likely the most expensive of the units mentioned. Again, the lack of an XTVA device is disappointing. It looks like the APX6000 has separate volume and channel selectors.

Anyway, what are some other things that I should consider? Obviously, cost is always a factor. What would my fellow BatLabbers here be inclined to do? Would you buy or lease? If you decided to purchase, would you go XTS2500, XTS5000, APX4000 or APX6000? Also, encryption is not something we are ever likely to want or need. Scanning, however, is a desired feature. I am sure that our users would prefer to have a display like the Type II or Type III units have. Also, it looks like the Type 1 of either the XTS2500 or 5000 might not have enough channels for us.

[Tom in D.C.]

Jim,

On the leasing idea, if your agency is a private one and not governmental, then every single cent you spend on the radio
system is tax deductible as an ordinary business expense. If you're government then that advantage does not exist for
you. In either case the people leasing the equipment to you will collect about the same amount under a lease over time as you would
pay to buy the equipment, but at the end of the lease they might replace all of your used radios with new(er?) ones for a bit
more than you've been paying and you avoid a big capital outlay that you'd be facing if you were not leasing. It's obviously a
complicated question with no easy answer but on the radios my vote would go to an APX 7000 despite the first cost or
higher leasing cost.

[Jim1348]

Thank you for the reply. While we really don't need an additional band, what are the best features that the APX7000 has that the others don't have?

[loband]

The APX 7000 & the APX 7500 are single band - you pay more for the dual band option as with any other options.