since I had problems with my baofeng uv5r, I gave it to a friend as incentive to get his license and am going to buy another one at some point. so I am  down to the decision… which one do i get. there are other models that are similar, but not identical. a new baofeng has a normal keyboard and has neat features like the com pander., which is interesting and might find use with my frien who has that on his radio.  I only wonder if i is as accessible. His version has different menus and such. one thing he has on his that i like is you can step through the menus and hear them as you go through them, rather than having to memorize the menu numbers, you have the other option..  any ideas on what models are really out there that do what? it is starting to get incredibly confusing to decide which baofeng to get. 
On Jan 6, 2014, at 7:34 PM, Butch Bussen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Thanks, Mike.  Interesting comparison.  I have several of the baofung uv5 
> radios.  I enjoy playing with them and once you follow buddy's great 
> instructions programming isn't hard.  I did bbuy the rt systems software 
> as some of my friends and I have different versions that won't clone 
> direct with each other, but do fine with the software.  If I got real 
> worried on what stuff costs, I'd have quit this hobby long ago.  It seems 
> odd to spend more on the software than the radio, but it is a one time 
> purchase and I've used on mine as well as friends and don't regret it.  As 
> has been statee before, n v d a is the only screen reader that will work. 
> I think you have to hit a specific key combo insert something, but I don't 
> remember as I haven't done it in a while.  This open up the strange edit 
> boxes used in rt systems.  They have been approached as I understand, and 
> they say it works with a screen reader, so they have no intention of 
> fixing the problem.  I still like and use my Kenwood thf6 for some things, 
> b8ut for not much more than i spend buying a friend a meal out, you can 
> have a lot of fun with these little radios.  I have 3 adi 600s that need 
> batteries, but not sure if I'll bother at this time.
> 73
> Butch
> WA0VJR
> Node 3148
> Wallace, ks.