I must admit that I wasn't expecting much for $55.00, but was I ever surprised.
This little UV-5R is one heck of a radio. Both transmit and receive are very strong. I can understand what's being said on the UV-5R while driving at highway speeds in my very noisy car, (convertible) which is more than I can say for my Yaesu 270r.
Most reports say they have a hard time understanding me when I'm on the Yeasu, but all say that they can hear me L&C when I'm on the UV-5R. Go figure right.
I must say that if one does buy a UV-5R, order extra batteries, and a battery eliminator, because the one down side of this radio is its short battery life. Maybe I have a defect, but the battery will only last a day at best.
A dual band radio made who knows where for $55.00? Yeah, I was a little slow on pulling the trigger as well. But there's no doubt about it, this UV-5R is well worth the 55 bucks, and more. I already ordered a second radio, and I'm seriously thinking of ordering a third before they catch on and the price goes up!
I bought the first radio from one of the big on line stores, the second one was bought off of fleabay, and that one is coming from Hong Kong. I'm waiting to see how well the Hong Kong deal turns out before ordering another radio. The down side of ordering from Hong Kong is the wait time, the plus side is the radio cost as little as $50.00 delivered. The extra batteries and the battery eliminator are pretty cheap as well.
One last thing. Buying the USB programing cable and the software is a wise move imo. Programming the radio by hand is a challenge, at least it is if you're like me, and you haven't had much experience programming radios. The included printed manual leaves a lot to be desired. For instance, there are no instructions on how the memory is programmed, or how to use the memory scan function.
Expect to pay an extra ten spot for the cable and the software.
Hope this gives those on the edge of deciding whether or not to try this radio a little insight. I looked at it this way, I can't hardly fill my gas tank for 60 bucks, so what the heck.
73.