Which handheld transceiver?

Hi all,

My local radio shop only sells Icom for about AU$550.

So, a few questions:

What of the other brands? Vertex Standard? Sportys SP-200?
I imagine they're all pretty decent brands for them to have been around
as long as they have. Is any one brand easier to use? Better made?

Does anyone actually use the vor/cdi function or is this just a gimmick?
The price doesn't seem to be too much different so I might go for a nav
model anyway, but just wondering...

That price doesn't seem to be very competitive given that these sell for
around half that amount in the US and, since the AU$ and US$ are almost
at parity, I would only expect them to be marginally more expensive due
to shipping costs.

Thanks,

Michael