Is there an ongoing scam???

[Alan Wheeler]

I was seeing as a standard on most boats that the same 20" LCD tv was for nearly $5,000 as for the same TV in a store was barely $600

You need to be clear here.(not saying you are not, just need ton know the ful facts) So are saying that it is the exact same TV?? or a 20" LCD made for marine use? There is a difference available. And the difference if it is purposly made for marine use is not only in protctive coatings, but also in extra support internally for variouse parts. A boat can give an appliance a hammering that a home does not.
4-5000 dollars is still a little steep for a TV however. So what else is that including? if it is installation and including an Antenna or dish, then the price can get up there. Especially a tracking dish. Those start at around US$3K and go up from there. So please ensure you are offering us apples if you are comparing to apples. If it is indeed the exact same TV and it does not include dish and installation, then yep, I think your being ripped off.

[shadow]

Hi Alan,
Yep, when my wife and I were invited to the boat show in Cannes, we were checking out some really nice Italian made and designed yachts. That alone probably justified the extra surcharge, but I was taking notes on all of the items that I wanted to verify as being the same items in any local AV store. And yep, they were the exact same model type, etc.. Even when they offered up the option for either a Bose or Bang and Olufsen AV package, it was nearly 4 times as much.

As discussed here, I totally understand and agree if they were purchased after the sale and was being done by scratch by an installer. Then they would totally have to do all of the fresh wiring, pull out panels, drill and create holes, etc.. But, these were already offered as factory installed and as a package/option.

I just can't imagine it being that much more when it is far easier to do everything while still in the prebuilt stage or as a predesigned built in option already approved by the designers and builders.

That is where my questioning is coming into play. As I fully do understand that there are "marine" standardized equipment as compared to normal civilian stuff.

Hope this helps..

[DaveyJones]

I had a radar installed one time by a "good ole boy". The labor was minimal and the radar was not an array type but a cheaper one. I believe it was good to around 16 and fair to 24 miles.

The boat was 40 years old. The radar worked fine. Wires were hanging everywhere and there was nothing beautiful about it.


The goal was achieved.. A working radar with minimal to no down time.

The guy didn't do it for free but he did not make a killing on it either.

He got the radar somewhere locally.

I could have saved $1000 by ordering the radar online and installing it.

[Strygaldwir]

For a little bit over a year we had our boat docked at the Sheraton Marina in New Bern North Carolina. This marina happens to be about 5 or so miles from the Hatteras factory, also in New Bern. Since we were a Catamaran we got the privilege of being put on the "F" dock. Well, this happens to be were they put all the "large" boats that come in. A lot of those boats were from Hatteras. These boats were there for lots of different different purposes. Sea trials, repairs and final commissioning.

Well I learn quite a bit about large boat commissioning by talking to workers, captains and other assundery folks. In some of those discussions, many things became apparent. Hatteras uses a LOT of subs to do their commissioning and customer requested work! I'd guess (based on the work I saw at the marina) that this was about 80% of the folks. A lot of work that was done, I thought would have taken place in the factory. Stuff like wiring Radar, wiring Satnavs, antennas, water makers, VHF, SSB was done right in the water, by sub contractors, prior to customer delivery. Now, this does not mean that it is bad work, it just suggests that the work can and is done outside the factory, by non-Hatteras folks (Lots of the were previously with Hatteras and now are on their own!). The issue is that some of these same folks, you can hire, and get less expensively. You just have to take a WHOLE lot of care with who you get, cause it is not necessarily you get what you pay for. Often times you can get Yo-Yo's who don't especially care about the work they do, and don't charge you any less for the work.

It is not necessarily so that it is more cost effective to have the work done by the factory. It REALLY depends on what it is!! Like I said, I was surprised at the stuff they completed when the boat was out of the factory. I do know that Hatteras did have supervisors and QA people checking the work that their subs did and they took some care to see that it was done right. I also know they pass those cost on to the purchaser! But, it is not something that a well read owner couldn't do themselves with a significant cost savings. Indeed, if you're so inclined, a lot of work could be done by the owner with poteintially LARGE savings!

As to equipment, a LOT of consumer electronics can be used in place of "marine" equipment. It depends on where you put it on your boat. I used a Dell "24" monitor connected to a Home theater style PC that I built my self. I connected the PC to car stero amplifier and feed Bose all weather speakers in the cockpit and Bose home theater book shelve speakers inside. I used halogen lights that I got from Ikea as primary light in the cabins an heads. They were about $25 each, vs $60 for lights that were not as attactive (They were also originally 12 volt with a 120 volt transformer I just took off and threw away! the monitor was also 12 volt, with a transformer! I removed the transformer and wired directly into the 12 volt system)

So, most of this setup has been aboard for 3 years now, pretty extensive long range cruising. VERY few issues with any of it. Just make sure you try to get good quality stuff and make sure you evaluate the conditions you will put it in. Out in the cockpit, Only weatherized, marine stuff is used. Inside the boat, you have more flexibility.

Keith