Baofeng's are good bang for the buck.. Read a review here:
The UV-5R version is 5W output. Some folks prefer the 3R (regular, not "plus") as the 2W radio's batteries are standard camera batts that can be charged from USB. The 3+ version appears to be something like a UV-3R Mark II (ie, two line display) in 5R case/batt.
I bought a 5R for ~$55 shipped with programming cable. Using the
chirp nightlies to program it (the 3R is supported in the stable version of chirp). It is a shockingly good value for the money. See the various youtube video reviews/tests.
For anyone that wants real world good/bad/ugly on the Baofeng UV-5R see
the yahoo group where you can see us cheering, playing, and sometimes cussing the Little Chinese Radios.
Based on my experience with this HT I would love to see some simple, high-value Chinese 2m/440cm mobile and HF base stations. Wouxun has tried one which is in testers' hands now but it appears to be a failed first effort, nowhere as successful (or inexpensive) as the HTs. Too bad. Everybody screws up sometimes, I guess.