A lot of people knock the Baofeng, but for the price it works.
They're easy to unlock, but it's not legal in the US to use them to transmit on the other frequencies. Whether or not the FCC comes after is another story as I use the HAM version UV5R on the GMRS spectrum.
Get the proper antenna for what you're using it for. It'll make a world of difference. Especially for transmitting.
I mostly use mine to avoid using works Motorola CLS 1410's as they're absolute garbage. The dual channel monitoring allows me to listen in to both Security's channel and communicate with my partner without non security co workers chiming in, while also being able to listen to general channel everyone has access to.
That and my workplace has a lot of loud music and usually no earpiece. When working a door with a loud PA speaker above my head blasting music I can't hear if a Code Adam is issued. I figured If I was gonna buy an earpiece it would be for my own radio.
