Last Call for the FT-818nd

After producing these for over 22 years, Yaesu has discontinued their classic field radio's final version, the FT-818nd.  However, they're not quite gone, and there seems to be one final batch out the door and just now coming onto the market.  Article over at QRPer about where to get one.

My thoughts on the matter... this series of radio needs to be continued, but also needs a complete refresh  (lighter, improved UI, built-in speech compressor, etc).  It seems that none of this will happen now, as Yaesu doesn't seem to have any replacement in the pipeline.

Here are my thoughts from five years ago about this little jewel.  I'm almost tempted to pick one up as a backup, but no, let someone else enjoy it.  If I buy another radio, I need to move on to other, newer radios anyway.