I have the Alinco DJ-MD5T and like it very much. However, there are two things I don't like about it.
1. For DMR, if you are in digi moni mode (promiscuous mode) there is an annoying pop sound from the speaker at the end of every transmission when listening to a time slot or talk group not programmed for that channel. The work around is to program it for any time slots or talk groups you want to hear and turn off digi moni. In other words, instead of just programming a single channel for a DMR repeater frequency with one time slot and one talk group and then using the digi moni mode to listen to the other time slot and any other talk groups, you would have to program multiple channels for that DMR repeater frequency with the time slot (1 or 2) and the talk groups you want to hear.
2. Even at the lowest volume setting it can be too loud depending how loud someone is speaking. To make things worse, the range of volume using the volume knob is not wide enough. You run into the problem of one guy talking so loud that even at the lowest volume setting he is too loud, and then the guy he is talking to is so quite that even at the max volume setting he is too quite to hear. Doesn't happen often but it is a possibility. The radio allows you to listen to FM radios statiosn but because of the volume level they are way too loud. NOAA weather broadcasts are too loud as well but not as bad as FM radio stations.
As for intermod and distortion, even though it is a direct conversion receiver, it works very well. I have a $700 Uniden SDS200 scanner that is completely useless to listen to analog FRS and GMRS frequencies due to all the intermod. The DJ-MD5T blows it out of the water and is a pleasure to listen to.
The channel scan rate on the DJ-MD5T is slow, 3 or 4 channels per second so if you want to use it as a dedicated scanner it wouldn't be a good choice. It is perfectly fine for me as I only use the scan function to find something to listen due without having to flip through the channels manually with the channel selection knob.
As for GPS, I believe you are correct and I did not get the GPS version for the same reason. The radio doesn't do analog APRS but does do digital APRS. If you have GPS it will broadcast and update your location as you move, which people can see on the map at
aprs.fi . On the non GPS version you have to set your coordinates and option for "fixed location" so if you enable digital APRS your location will always show the same location on the aprs.fi map no matter where you move. The advantage to GPS would be if you wanted someone to be able to see where you are (track you). Some people say for only another $20 it is worth getting GPS but for me it was worth saving $20 not to get GPS.
I got the Alinco DJ-MD5T because, just like you, it doesn't cost much more than a decent analog radio. The key word being "decent". I saw a video on You Tube where they compared a Baofeng UV-5 against the DJ-MD5T on a spectrum analyzer. The Baofeng UV5 had all sorts of spikes on frequencies above and below the frequency it was transmitting on but the DJ-MD5T was completely clean with no spikes on adjacent frequencies. I feel good knowing when I transmit I am not possibly causing interference on a bunch of adjacent frequencies.
Ham Radio Outlet has the Alinco DJ-MD5T for $129.95 and the DJ-MD5TGP for $148.95 which is the cheapest I have seen and why I bought mine from them a couple months ago. It says they are on sale but that sale has been running for months (despite it saying it is over at the end of the month they just restart it at on the 1st of the next month). Usually they are $149 and $169 and have seen them as high as $169 and $189 at other sellers.
The Anytone AT-D878UV is very popular and is similar to the Alinco DJ-MD5T but it costs around $220 (has GPS) which was more than I wanted to spend and I liked the smaller more compact size of the Alinco.
