By way of being contrary, I must rebut:


>> Just returned from a local ham fest.  Never saw such a pile of  
>> semiworthless
>> trash in my life.  I think the most current radio for sale was a  
>> ts830.


Umm. Well, one man's trash and all that. I think you'd be hard  
pressed to find a radio with better slop bucket audio than the  
TS-830. OK, maybe the TS-520. Does "not current" automagically equal  
"trash"? I'd put some older rigs up against many modern ones any day  
of the week. For instance, sentimental fondness aside, The Drake R4B/ 
T4XB twins, especially the receiver, could fare well against many  
modern radios most of us use, and it's even older than the above- 
mentioneD Kenwood.

As for the laptops, find yOU one that works except the screen and  
you'd have a good deal :-)
--
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