Rating: 
Summary: Great for skiing and more
Review: I mainly use these on the ski slope, where they have been a blessing. No longer do you have to coordinate times and meeting locations with other people. The reception is pretty good, though it varies widely depending on the terrain and weather. At large ski resorts I have been able to clearly talk to other people on completely different peaks. Not surprisingly, when someone goes behind a ridge reception drops to almost nothing. Also, the small size of the radios allows them to fit comfortably in a jacket pocket.Personally, I don't think rechargeable batteries are necessary. I usually get almost an entire ski season out of one sec of batteries per radio so I don't think recharegeables are worth the extra money/hassle. The only problem I've come across is the usability of some of the buttons. When you are wearning large ski gloves, the "Talk" button is the only one you can easily operate. All of the other buttons usually require the removal of a gloval. Luckily, you rarely need to touch the other buttons once the radio is on and everything is set.
Rating: 
Summary: So many uses!, it's worth every penny
Review: I originally bought a pair of these to keep in touch with buddies at concerts, when snowboarding/hiking/camping, and to keep in touch while in separate vehicles on road trips. They've worked wonderfully and have lived up to every expectation I've had. They're great for car/boat shows and outdoor events like art or craft fairs. They come in very handy if you're doing any kind of wiring in your house or office. I've used them countless times to run wires through the attic at home and across the roof at work, it's very helpful to be able to talk to the person that's feeding the wires, and especially when one person is working at each end of the wire (no more yelling at the top of your lungs). This 289 model is worth the extra price, it's significantly smaller and has more features. If you're on a budget though, go with the 250 model (or even cheaper the FR50 or 60), it's still a wonderful radio, and they all work with eachother. Motorola is soon coming out with a new line of radios, the 6300 series which have a new design, a stopwatch and alarm built in, and also an FM radio tuner on some models. On a sidenote, if you're the extravagant gift giving type, give your adolescent son/daughter/nephew/neice a pair of these as walkie-talkies, they'll love you forever.
Rating:
Summary: So many uses!, it's worth every penny
Review: I originally bought a pair of these to keep in touch with buddies at concerts, when snowboarding/hiking/camping, and to keep in touch while in separate vehicles on road trips. They've worked wonderfully and have lived up to every expectation I've had. They're great for car/boat shows and outdoor events like art or craft fairs. They come in very handy if you're doing any kind of wiring in your house or office. I've used them countless times to run wires through the attic at home and across the roof at work, it's very helpful to be able to talk to the person that's feeding the wires, and especially when one person is working at each end of the wire (no more yelling at the top of your lungs). This 289 model is worth the extra price, it's significantly smaller and has more features. If you're on a budget though, go with the 250 model (or even cheaper the FR50 or 60), it's still a wonderful radio, and they all work with eachother. Motorola is soon coming out with a new line of radios, the 6300 series which have a new design, a stopwatch and alarm built in, and also an FM radio tuner on some models. On a sidenote, if you're the extravagant gift giving type, give your adolescent son/daughter/nephew/neice a pair of these as walkie-talkies, they'll love you forever.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Awesome
Review: I use these radios in an all weather field environment and they have proven to be extremely reliable. I have maintained clear communications with others at almost 1 mile in broken hilly terrain and over 2 mile in open flat terrain. The only drawbacks I see for military operations is the constant blinking red light, which can be reduced with duct tape, and the constant exposure to rain which could damage the radio. Otherwise they have been provided nothing but Convenience and reliability. I strongely recommend this radio.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great product, a NUMBER ONE BUY!
Review: I would really recomend buying this product. I allready have two and they work perfectly. The AA battery option is great and offers up to 30 hours of work. Privacy Codes make it very hard for you to be on the same frequency as someone else! I would recomend this product for sking or a trip to the mall or theme park. I would recomend buying the BOOM MIC accessory, offers to keep the conversation private (right in your ear) and you can talk without even touching the walkie talkie (With VOX option) THIS IS A GREAT PRODUCT I WOULD RECOMEND YOU BUYING IT!
Rating:
Summary: Great little radios
Review: I've just bought two of these radios and find them just great. I use them in the badlands area of Alberta, hiking and rafting. They are very clear under the 2 miles. I really like the battery pack, it lasts the whole day on standbye, can get about a dozen or so calls out of it. The only thing I don't like is they don't seem very sturdy. I think if one was dropped it would break easily so I deducted a star for this.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly useful, versatile devices
Review: It is great to have a good, reliable two-way communications tool. Compared to the walkie-talkies of my youth, these work! Our family bought a set of three so that we could stay in touch with each other while hiking, skiing, or heading out on sight-seeing trips while travelling. They have been indispensable in allowing us to keep track of each other. The reception is remarkably clear and you do get remarkable range - probably close to the 2-mile specs - although we found that large mountains in between users may reduce that distance. We shopped similar devices before buying these. The Motorola units are nice because they are very durable, about as small as anything, and have the extensability (earbuds, etc) to be flexible as personal communications devices. Plus, it is easy to change your channel/subcode frequency if someone else suddenly hops onto your frequency. All of this generation of walkie-talkies share a common set of frequencies so these Motorola units can work with other manufacturers. This is a positive if you lose one and have to replace it with another unit while travelling; if you don't have a choice of manufacturers, it's nice to know that any of them will work.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Little Radio!
Review: Our T289s arrived from Amazon the day before we were to use them at a weekend trade show at the Santa Clara Convention Center. It ony took me part of one afternoon to learn all of the basics, and the rest of the weekend was 'learn-by-doing', with the help of the incredibly simple instruction manual. We caravaned down in two vehicles with a radio in each, and were able to find parking near one another, which expedited our move-in. Once we got into the event center, we saw -dozens- of this make and model of radio being used by the other conventioneers. During sales lulls, I occasionally played with the scan feature and in fact, during one of those passes, happened to hear a couple of friends of mine that I'd been hoping were there! (The one small drawback over the weekend was that it was the last weekend in March of 2001, and if you remember, there was a tremendous solar storm -- this made the range of the radio somewhat limited, but did not hamper the sound quality nor the ease of use. However, since then, we have had no problems with establishing a long range between radios or finding a quiet frequency, even with the tremendous subspace chatter that is always present in the SF Bay Area. ) The T289 has already become a very neccesary part of our shopping expiditions, as it has streamlined the process of being able to keep up with one another without having to adjust to each other's walking speed and / or shopping habits! And yes, they are the COOLEST-looking gadgets around. If you're going to invest in two-way FRS, go ahead and get the Talkabout 289. It's got all the features you will ever need, and it's a very reliable little contraption. Heartily recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: The range over water is astounding! I have used this radio to talk to friends at a marina over 3 miles distant.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, and compact
Review: This is a great item. I did all the research before I bought my second set of hand helds. Yes this is my second attempt because I didn't read reviews My first attempt was a failure since I bought the motorola fr 50's don't get me wrong great product also if you want them your kids. I love the T289 it is small and light weight. The big selling point for me was that you could have the 38 privacy codes so you could feel more private no interuptions.If your wife is like mine she won't use them if someone is cutting in on your conversations. Another feature was the buttons were a little more organized than the T250 which is still a nice hand held but it is larger and my wife didn't want something big to carry I to also agreed. My advice if you want a great hand held you can't go wrong with Motorola T289 get yourself a set and you will see. Nice and clear coversations. Yes you might find a cheaper brand out there but you can't beat Motorola's quality.
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