I think your argument is sound, but what OP is trying to say is, it's a $30 radio- and so long as you don't expect it to perform as well as a $300 radio, then i

I think your argument is sound, but what OP is trying to say is, it's a $30 radio- and so long as you don't expect it to perform as well as a $300 radio, then it's fine. I have three Baofengs and they all work spectacularly well, because I purposely purchased non-knockoff models. For a beginner, who's not sure if it's worth the time and money investing $300 on a radio that might not be used, it's a very good idea to start with a $30 radio first. As an aside, I feel that consistently denigrating people's choice for less expensive hardware is a very big barrier to the hobby's adoption. I've had many people tell me that it's one of the things that turned them away from the hobby. Others that still stick around simply avoid discussing what type of radio they're using (not an easy task, when you're rag-chewing, mind) simply because they don't want to deal with these arguments.