Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased the Midland LXT600VP3 radios for hunting and hiking. When I made this purchase I did not have any unrealistic expectations regarding the alleged 30 mile range as advertised, however if the radios would work at 1 ½ to 2 miles I would have been satisfied. The radios were shipped very quickly and arrived within 2 to 3 working days. After I allowed them to charge for 24 hours as the instructions directed I selected my preferences such as the channel, privacy code, eliminating beep tones, etc. One of the two radios would not remember my programming preferences and would retain its factory settings each time I powered it off and back on. This alone was disappointing but it simply meant I would have to go through the programming ritual each time I decided to use them. It would be inconvenient but not really a deal breaker. We live on a rural gravel road which is only ½ mile long and this was used as our test area. With one radio at the house I walked down our road using the other radio. It was clear and worked perfectly............when I was standing in front of our home. Once I traveled approx ¼ mile the radios started to break up and it was difficult to hear the other party. When I reached the end of this half mile stretch of rural road all communication was lost with the other radio. Approx. 10 years ago I owned a much earlier version the GMRS radios (Motorola Talkabout's) with an advertised range of 5 miles.......and they worked great up to 1 mile. These were the most disappointing purchase I have made in many years and I will be returning them tomorrow. Other reviews are much more glowing than mine and maybe I just got a lemon, but for my purposes (communication at 1 to 2 miles) the Midland LXT600VP3 radios were useless and I would not recommend them. NOTE: The radios came packaged in such a way that you practically have to destroy the packaging to remove the contents so I hope this does not cause my any issues when returning the equipment. (It should also be noted that the radios were on the same channel, same privacy code, both on high power and on a GMRS channel)