What Is More Important To You In A Hand-Held?

[OffRoaderX]

When shopping for an HT radio, what feature is most important to you?

[marcspaz]

Great Poll.  Hard to pick just one, as you really hit all of the major factors.

[Sshannon]

I said other. I look for an easy to use interface and clear audio on both transmit and receive. I also like a small size and high quality construction. 

[TOM47]

I NEED EASY TO READ SCREEN THE LARGER THE BETTER DUE BAD EYE SIGHT.

[BoxCar]

I have several HHs and each was purchased to fit a specific requirement,

[tweiss3]

Why compromise and select 1. Sure, getting everything costs more, but in my experience, its worth it. You also forgot selectivity/sensitivity, which is hugely important. Don't forgot availability of support locally. That's not even starting a discussion about uses beyond GMRS, which may or may not be important to others. 

[Craws907]

I want them all but I had yo choose waterproof'ness because of living in alaska

[Lscott]

Has to be rugged and reliable. If it dies from dropping on a cement floor it’s useless.

[aa7jc]

"MOST"
Sorry I somehow missed the CAPS in your question.. "most" is the top item in my long list.

 

Field proven (lots of happy owners), Reputable manufacturer and consumer friendly retail outlet. 

Battery capacity..  (More bigger is more better)

Rugged and professional appearance.

I like fast scanning radios.. 
When I scan I want to get from beginning to end and do it again at warp speed.

I like radios that easily and quickly *decode* CTCSS and DCS. 
This whole business of slowly "scanning" for tones seems crazy.  

I don't care all that much about color displays. 
Visibility in all lighting conditions is more important to me than color.

Sensible non cryptic screen layout.
I want a reasonable number of characters for my descriptive channel names.
I hate memorizing acronyms.
I want to personalize my screen in every way possible

Bluetooth is very sexy to me. 
BT would weigh heavily on my decision to decide between competing models.
Connecting speaker and mic to my motorcycle helmet BT system...  A BT PTT remote.. Programming the radio from my cell phone..  Yeah that would make a radio hard to pass up for me (although my pockets are not very deep).

I personally don't care at all about extra frequencies (except for NOAA). 
FM broadcast radio, civil service and air band don't interest me.  (Not sure if I am normal.)

Flash light function will never get used on my radios..  I disable if possible.

I might think of some more later..