so ive been licensed for about 3 weeks now (Tech) and everyone keeps telling me to just get a baofeng to start out and thats fine i guess but then other people are like no get a yaesu ft-60 or a wouxun and im just completely overwhelmed. my budget is probably around $60-80 maybe a little more if it makes a real difference. mostly going to be hitting local repeaters and maybe some simplex stuff with a friend whos been a ham for years. dont really need anything crazy. does the audio quality actually matter that much between the cheap ones and the mid range stuff? and whats the deal with chirp, is that something i have to use or can i just program it manually without wanting to throw it out a window

honestly for where you're starting the baofeng UV-5R gets way more hate than it deserves. ive handed them to brand new hams at our club and they work fine for exactly what you're describing — hitting repeaters, talking to a buddy on simplex. the audio isnt going to win any awards but its perfectly usable. CHIRP is pretty much essential once you have more than like 5 repeaters to program, doing it manually is technically possible but you'll age 10 years doing it. just grab the cable when you order the radio, saves a headache later. if you want to spend a bit more the BF-F8HP has better tx power options which can matter if you're in a hilly area. but honestly start cheap, see if you actually like HT operating, and upgrade later when you know what you actually want.

the ft-60 is bombproof thats all i'll say. had mine since like 2009 and dropped it more times than i care to admit. but its also like 3x your budget so maybe not the right answer right now. yaesu makes solid stuff though if you ever want to step up. welcome to the hobby btw