That’s the one, 857D. Thanks! The 897 is capable too. I guess with the 891 you lose out on VHF/UHF which is a biggie for some users.
Throw the ICOM 7100 in the mix for bang for buck and /P-ability?
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I think that’s what’s sad… a lot of potential if the software was more complete/debugged. I’ve not come across any overt bugs in my 705 but my KX2 does do freaky things when it’s been used for FT8 on 10m, buttons not working, no tuning. You have to faff about and then, pfft, everything is kosher again. It’s not just radios… my new to me car has stupid touch screens and has had a software update over the air in the 1 month I’ve had it and the trip computer display is still futzy 
You have to flip display content or driving mode to get it back to correct. Grrrr!
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Our cars are analogue. Some are almost digital, like the 1966 Landie that has heater on or heater off. Wiper on/wiper off etc.
We chose a Polo over a Golf this time because it had real heater controls.
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The controls on my Passat GTE are hybrid (like the car I suppose). I got lucky in that I have real controls for heating/cooling and almost everything else has a button.
The touchscreen menus are basic enough and responsive. Same with the OLED dash. I think it was probably the last gen before VW went all-out on capacitive touch on the ID range.
Apparently the changes were so poorly received VW are reverting back to proper buttons. Or the hybrid system they had before at least.
From a motoring POV I hope VW don’t kill off the Passat estate like they did the saloon. In 2026 the choice for a new estate is woeful. I think all you can get is an MG EV estate, the Passat EV or an Audi? So pennies or billions. The Passat isn’t exactly cheap either, but used is a cracking buy.
I hope car makers wake up and realise not everyone wants an SUV or crossover. More estate choices please! 
Hm .. not so sure about the radio side either …. admittedly I had an early version, but I needed a radio that worked out of the box.
The complaints I had were
Overloading with anything over an S9 signal
Noise reduction on RX doesn't work properly, with odd noises produced
Voice memories don't work at all
CW and RTTY decode don't work
Battery charging takes a very long time
The radio reaches an unacceptable temperature and sometimes shuts down
Modulation in FM mode is very low
ALC feedback from a PA doesn't work
Rick
No, I have to suffer touch “climate controls”. However, in fully auto mode set the temp and it does work, no need to play with things. At least the vents are manual. But there was no real choice, I either bought an older one with a mix of touch and real controls or a facelift one with touch everything.
Hi Rick,
This is probably not the place to further discuss the X6200, the groups.io X6200 group would be better, but suffice it to say some of those issues you listed were fixed in later firmware versions, however, most of the issues on the Linux side are still open. I’m hoping the new radio is more of a “working fully” out-of-the-box experience, with later firmware updates will only add new features. But, seriously, I have my doubts.
73 Ed.
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