Well, I have been using an IC-718 for about six months.  I like it very
much, once I got used to the menus.

I agree that it is very accessable, when you have the manual and
quick-reference, which are available on
icanworkthisthing.com.
I don't have the mic gain problem.  According to all reports, the audio is
best with the gain at full, and the compressor on.  That sounds strange, but
I have bugged various friends numerous times, and the conclusions are always
the same.  Of course, it might be due to an ideosyncracy of my particular
718.

I work a lot of CW, and I have decided to use an external keyer or
straightkey at home.  I don't like having to go into the menus to change
keyer speeds.  I have used the built-in keyer, and it works fine, although I
would prefer a little more flexibility in the weighting adjustments.

Again, this might be an idiosyncrracy of my particular unit, or something to
do with the two different manual tuners I have tried, but I find tuning the
antenna at the low end of 160 meters, and 40 meters is quite critical.  The
power output will suddenly drop to almost zero if one of the tuning
capacitors is just slightly off of the 1:1 point.

Sorry, I can't figure out how to explain that better.

Overall, I do like the IC-718, and find it comfortable to use.

Good luck.

73,
Gale
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