Motorola T6400 AA 2-Way Radio

Rating:
Summary: ... This is a good product.
Review: ...Motorola clearly defines these as 1/2 watt family radios and 1 watt GMRS. Read the manual on-line before buying. Do you vote for people by hairstyle? Most family radio's give you about 1/2 mile in dense woods and so do these. (2 miles line of sight like a boat). The GMRS was closer to 2.5, still very good, I have not tried it line of sight yet. As far as the FCC license, dah people, pay the $... (for 5 years) and be done with it, not everything is free you know.

Rating:
Summary: Nice, when it works!
Review: After getting in my car with a pair of the 6400's as well as a pair of the older talkabout 200's, I drove 1.2 miles and tested both of them individually. To my astonishment, using the GMRS frequency at 1 watt added no improvement over my older family frequency radios. In fact, I believe my older radios with the ALLEGED 2 mile range using FF, out performed the new ones using the 5 mile frequency (GMRS). The clarity seemed better. Aside from the bells and whistles on the 6400 series, the range and clarity improvements are unremarkable and frankly, I think Motorola should be sued for false advertising. Neither the 2 mile FF or the 5 mile GMRS even remotely live up to Motorola's claims even in good conditions. Finally, I have to say, I am disappointed with Motorola because they have changed the ports to which the audio accessories (I. E. microphones.) connect. This is a nasty move that forces consumers to buy different $40.00 microphones just because we chose to get a new model radio. Pretty unethical if you ask me. I am considering different brands due to my disappointment in Motorola's ethics. The only perk to the new 6400 series is that they have some convenient features although, I am not sure the newer FF models didn't have these features as well. If it's distance you want or bang for your buck, save your FCC licencing $$ and stick with FF or take the leap and get the Distance series radios. At the least, dont pay full price for this radio. The current rebates definitely make the Motorola's more reasonable. Also, consider the option of other manufacturers that don't charge the premiums that Motorola does. Bottom line,,, can I get the features and performance I enjoy from a different manufacturer for much less money? That remains to be seen but, I have a feeling the answer is yes.

Rating:
Summary: Not pleased
Review: After getting in my car with a pair of the 6400's as well as a pair of the older talkabout 200's, I drove 1.2 miles and tested both of them individually. To my astonishment, using the GMRS frequency at 1 watt added no improvement over my older family frequency radios. In fact, I believe my older radios with the ALLEGED 2 mile range using FF, out performed the new ones using the 5 mile frequency (GMRS). The clarity seemed better. Aside from the bells and whistles on the 6400 series, the range and clarity improvements are unremarkable and frankly, I think Motorola should be sued for false advertising. Neither the 2 mile FF or the 5 mile GMRS even remotely live up to Motorola's claims even in good conditions. Finally, I have to say, I am disappointed with Motorola because they have changed the ports to which the audio accessories (I. E. microphones.) connect. This is a nasty move that forces consumers to buy different $40.00 microphones just because we chose to get a new model radio. Pretty unethical if you ask me. I am considering different brands due to my disappointment in Motorola's ethics. The only perk to the new 6400 series is that they have some convenient features although, I am not sure the newer FF models didn't have these features as well. If it's distance you want or bang for your buck, save your FCC licencing $$ and stick with FF or take the leap and get the Distance series radios. At the least, dont pay full price for this radio. The current rebates definitely make the Motorola's more reasonable. Also, consider the option of other manufacturers that don't charge the premiums that Motorola does. Bottom line,,, can I get the features and performance I enjoy from a different manufacturer for much less money? That remains to be seen but, I have a feeling the answer is yes.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed with Range
Review: After reading the reviews on this product, I purchased a pair even though I already had a pair of Audiovox 1535's and Motorola FRS radios. The T6400 has some great features (voice scrambler and 22 channels), but increased range is not one of them. A side-by-side comparison to my original Motorola FRS radios showed no range advantage to the T6400. The Audiovox 1535 had the best range and sound quality.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Radio, Worth the extra money
Review: As a ham radio operator, I've seen enough radio's to know whether it's performance is good or not. These Motorola's perform very well, the extra power w/the 5 watts really helps; esp. in the moutains hunting etc. Small, stylish, but I think they should have made these weather proofed.

Rating:
Summary: ... This is a good product.
Review: I bought a pair of these T6400's because of the hope that one watt of power would yield range at least approaching the range advertised for the 1/2 watt family radios (2 miles). What I found is that the whole radio range concept has been turned into one of the biggest marketing scams around. I can't believe it is legal for them to print "up to 5 mile range" on the box, even with all the fine print. I live in a flat section of Austin, Texas, which is not especially dense but does have some foliage and a reasonable number of houses. I tested the radios using a GPS so that I would know the exact distance to the other radio. I could not believe the result. The radios had very clear voice quality to .25 miles. Voices were 80% intelligible at .35 miles. After that, the radios were useless. There are some nice features on these radios, but give me a break. I'm returning them.

Rating:
Summary: A Scam
Review: I bought a pair of these T6400's because of the hope that one watt of power would yield range at least approaching the range advertised for the 1/2 watt family radios (2 miles). What I found is that the whole radio range concept has been turned into one of the biggest marketing scams around. I can't believe it is legal for them to print "up to 5 mile range" on the box, even with all the fine print. I live in a flat section of Austin, Texas, which is not especially dense but does have some foliage and a reasonable number of houses. I tested the radios using a GPS so that I would know the exact distance to the other radio. I could not believe the result. The radios had very clear voice quality to .25 miles. Voices were 80% intelligible at .35 miles. After that, the radios were useless. There are some nice features on these radios, but give me a break. I'm returning them.

Rating:
Summary: Not better than Midland G11C2
Review: I bought one pair from BestBuy last month and tested them while taking a trip in Maine. FRS chanels works OK (good sound quality) but only gave me 1.5 mile in seashore area! GMRS channels disappointed me by merely 2.5 miles on open highway and 2.0 mile in the woods. But my friends were quite impressed by the looks and features. I accdently drop one to the rock from 6 feet height and you know what?-- not even a den--I considered myself lucky. In short, it looks better than it 'souds'...
They were returned to BestBuy for refund!
With license fee paid, I bought a pair of Midland G11C2. they are lightweighted/easyhandled, less fansy features but at least gave me 3 to 4 miles distance in a driving car and almost five miles at Jersey shores, though consuming battery fast. I think I will stay with them for a while before better models come out.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad over all.
Review: I bought two T6400 and tested them against my older motorola radios. I did find that in the two-mile range mode you didn't get two miles. More like a mile and half. My older two mile radios got at least two miles. However in the 5 mile channels I did get close to 5 miles. Sometimes I got over that depending on the terran. I took mine to the mountains to see what they could do and they actually worked better then in the city.
I wish they would have kept the weather channels but you can't have everything. Over all they aren't all that bad.

Rating:
Summary: TERRIBLE Range
Review: I can't get more than 1/4 mile range out of these things on a consistent basis. Line of site is not better than 1/2 mile. I plant to return them at my earliest convenience.