I will say I have had my 2 for about 6 months now and love them both. They sure work better than a 257, have one in my truck and the other for my base. You really have to use one for awhile to see how much better it is than the 257. Is it worth 100 dollars more? That's up to you, the last 257HP I bought didn't work when it got here, had to have 2 trips to the factory repair center before it worked correct. Both of my Optimas have worked flawless from the beginning. I did also buy 2 HM-36 mics for them. All the locals said it sounds great with the Icom mic. Yes I do have a few other radios that I play with, when I am on something else the locals ask me to use the Optima just because it sounds so much better.