[aprssig] Kenwood Status - Thinking about TH-D7AG purchase

[K7FTP]

Howdy all,

I'm looking to get a pair of HT's now that my wife is getting her ticket. 
She likes the APRS features of the D700A in the Project Jeep, and I am 
leaning towards a pair of TH-D7AG radios.  My old HT is so worn I don't 
really want to replace the case and keyboard.

I was in our local ham radio store (not AES or HRO) and the owner said that 
Kenwood is essentially out of the game.  He didn't have any Kenwood radios, 
and he told me that the general perception is that they are getting out of 
amateur radio.

I'm just curious to see what others think.  I checked with AES in Las Vegas 
and they said that some Kenwood stuff has been a bit harder to get but that 
they didn't know anything as I had been told.  I noted that Digikey didn't 
have any HT's from Kenwood, and I have seen others that list them as 
backordered.

Any word?

Anyone know of a really good mail order deal?  So far, $369 with free 
shipping seems to be the best from HRO.