Right now, I'm using the Radtel RT-860, RT-880, and RT-950 Pro, and they're all very capable as receivers for HF through 900. Right now, the 880 and the 950 are within a couple of bucks of each other, so I'd recommend the 950, as it does well with all my antennas on HF, while the 880 and 860 seem to prefer an active or amplified signal.
One thing to consider between the 950 and the 880 & 860 is the antenna jacks. There's pros and cons to both setups. The 950's single SMA is convenient (and you don't have to worry about losing the cover knob), but for monitoring at the desk, the dual-SMA split between the transceiver and the HF/FM receiver is easier for me to change antennas as needed.
I use mine mostly for military and civil aviation listening; being able to monitor HF and three V/U frequencies simultaneously is pretty cool. SSB reception is much better than you'd expect from an HT. While all three models have SSB in the HF section, only the 860 has SSB receive in the transceiver section, if you're interested in 6m and 2m sideband activity. The 860 only has two VFOs compared to three on the 880 and 950.
Regarding the VFOs on the 950 and 880, you assign a working band to the VFOs (18-64 MHz, 64-620 MHz, etc.) The 880 has 3 working bands that can be assigned independently to each VFO. The 950 has two working bands; whichever one is selected is applied to all 3 VFOs. This can be defeated in both by booting into wideband receive mode/test mode on the 880 and 950 respectively, with the loss of transmit and some monitoring functions.
Battery life is good on the 880 and 860, and even better on the 950. Listening to shortwave broadcasts, I got tired of having the 950 on after close to 14 hours and the battery indicator showed about ¼ to ⅓ charge left.
As transceivers, they're nice and clean on transmit in 2m and 70 and 33cm, with appropriate power outputs. I haven't checked mine on 10-15 meters or 6 & 1.25m, but I've seen reports all over the place.
Medium Wave is OK on all of them, but not what I'd call a DX machine. Audio is crisp with a nice contour. The 860 comes out on top, as it's speaker doesn't share space with the keypad. All three have a good, solid feel in the hand with metal chassis, nothing like the plastic toy feel of the Baofeng UV-5R. They get progressively larger with the 860 a similar size to a Baofeng 5RM and the 950 similar to a Uniden SDS100.
A quick search shows the 860 from $35-45, the 880 for $50-70, and the 950 for around $75. I enjoy all three of mine; they're an amazing amount of spectrum in the palm of your hand without breaking the bank.
For all-around use, the 950 wins; a telescopic whip gives you HF through UHF with good reception and easy portability. In the shack, you might prefer the dual-antenna setup of the 880 or 860, especially if you already have a good selection available.
Good luck in your hunt!
