I got my well-used FT-77 at a ham radio flea market for a good price when I first got my license. It was a used rig but it got me on HF after I went from technician to general. I’m very impressed with how well it works. I had to add a tuner to help it along a bit and it does drift a bit but besides that it works well.
The receiver seems pretty good, but it is affected by adjacent channel QRM (not the narrowest filters in USB mode). The noise blanker actually works, knocking down power line buzz by about 2 S-units. Reports say that my audio is good. The nominal 100 watts seems to be sufficient to compete in the pile-ups.
It has a user friendly uncluttered face which makes it a breeze to operate. I also have the optional CW filter and the FM boards installed. It has very good transmit and receive sides on all bands. An excellent radio, and a good choice for those with a limited budget or for the beginner!