Look for a used IC-756 Pro II. A lot of new Pro III owners are selling off their old rigs. I've seen them offered for $1500 to $1600, a little more than half the cost of a new Pro III. Friend of mine just bought a used Pro II and loves it. If you gotta have new, the best desktop-sized HF bang for the buck I know of is the IC-718, about $550. Now has DSP as a standard feature, but not the bells and whistles of the 756 series. Just a good basic 100-watt HF all-modes rig for much less money than the alternatives. The FT-897 series, intermediate in size between the mobile rigs and the desktop rigs, gives you 2 meters and 430 in addition to HF, but new ones start at about $830.
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