This low cost and effective transceiver has good ratings on:
https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/9529
It is on sale today for less than $700, maybe a group buy can lower the price further.
Here is the ARRL walkthrough::
ARRL product review November 2011:
http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/139652
Hams Eating Chicken 