I bought this scanner to get back into my scanning hobby. With service searches, Spectrum Sweeper and a number of other functions the radio the PSR-800 is a trend-setter. The top-mounted control is for squelch only while volume is handled on the rocker panel on the radio's front face. With its backlighting on the PSR-800 display is very bright and easy to read and the unique multi-colored LED which can be matched to specific groups or channels, has been expandedl. The audio on the PSR-800 is very good and as usual with GRE the APCO-25 digital audio decoding is excellent. Each group of channels is then assigned to a Scanlist and you select which Scanlists you want to scan. You can select at one level, such as county, and the radio will program everything within the county or, you can drill down to the public works in a particular town and just select that department for scanning. To program the radio you press a Menu key, select Browse Library and you then follow a hierarchical tree structure for selecting state, county, municipality and agency. The PSR-800 is pre-programmed with the RadioReference national database for the U.S. It will conveniently fit in your pocket which its direct competitor, the Uniden HomePatrol, is far bulkier. It's very convenient size is perfect for scanning on-the-go. The radio is about the exact size of a deck of playing cards although an inch taller. For scanner novices or even experienced users who will be traveling and don't wish to program the scanner for every city they're visiting, the PSR-800 is a great option.
There's no keypad, but rather a set of buttons reminiscent of an MP3 music player. For experienced scanner users the PSR-800 is certainly radical. The GRECOM GRE PSR-800 pre-programmed digital scanner represents another step forward in this new era of scanner design.