Satellite discussions at the Atlanta Boat Show

[JediJD]

Went to the boat show yesterday with the primary goals of getting a deal on a satellite install, finding some Eisenglas treatment for the new camper canvas, and looking for a jetski as a combination kid toy/shuttle. Between the Sham-wow booth and the opportunity to buy a lake log home that was built on mobile home wheels, I found an Eisenglas product (actually spoke with the developer personally...interesting guy and half the price of 303) and will be trying BTS and will report in the future. Mountain Motorsports in Chattanooga seemed to be giving away jetskis (pretty nice Honda drive out under $6k). However the discussion with the satellite install guy was interesting. Kid seemed late 20's and was apparently the company's install and troubleshooting guy (he simply had that air about him...not arrogance, not goofiness, he just knew his stuff). Anyway, their deal on a full install of a KVH M1 with all hook ups, mounts, and receiver was $3k. However, he really tried to steer me away from the KVH to the Intellian. He said it was about the same price, with better options. Given that they had pretty substantial KVH and Sea King displays...I thought that was interesting. They didn't have a boat show deal, so I didn't pull the trigger.

I thought the show was pretty well done. Plenty of boats...biggest I went on was a Regal 47 that was pretty nice for about $700k as I recall. I didn't think there was a lot of traffic, but I was there on a Thursday afternoon. MM had a big display. I think I saw a 350 in there but I didn't get a chance to go through it. My MM guy says that they are stretched thin on inventory and have cleared the decks.

 

[tobnpr]

For the same money, I'd go with KVH (but I'm obviously partial).
They have a proven track record, and excellent customer service/tech support.
If I recall, the Intellian does not include a tuner, either.

 

[carterchapman]

Charles - talk to Hanner when you see him on the dock, or call him. He got his new Sea Doo in NC at a heck of a discount. He'll tell you where...

Also, if you're going to get one and want a jetport for it, sign up with Pam at the marina office asap - they will put you on the list.

 

[royal flush]

FYI, I installed the KVH M3 on my previous boat( 2007 320 da) and it worked fine; It was very expensive.. The only probelms I had ( and they were big problems) were with direct TV.. I heard that if you do buy a KVH system, you really only need the M1.. I also heard too that the Intellian is a better , smaller and cheaper version.. I probably won't go back to Sat TV because of the all the problems I had with Direct TV. I went to our local boat show yesterday in Portland Oregon and it was more than 50 % smaller than last year. No big boats, 310 da was the largest.. Alot of dealers compalining about not being able to get boats from the the manufacturers.. I wonder when prices will go up on used boats??

 

[black pearl]

Charles, There's not alot of options with the M1, just turn on and you got the signal. As said before you can not get HD. My wife said that was a little extreme tho. And like Carter said the jetdocks for the ski's go real quick come March. Best to reserve on now. Jim

 

[JediJD]

Update...whether through my supreme negotiating skills, a languishing market, or serendipity, I'm not sure. However, the marine audiovisual guys came down $1k on the Intellian i1 and at $2600 delivered, installed and warrantied for a year, we figured to give it a shot. (I think I could have gotten it for $2300-2400 on eBay, but I really wanted it professionally installed, with mounts, and all that jazz...and somebody to yell at if it didn't work-other than me. On reflection, the salesman who originally quoted (and stood firm on) $3600 may have been on crack, but who knows.) They plan to install next week, however, metro Atlanta is enduring yet another mini-ice age. Assuming we survive, I will report on progress as it transpires.

 

[tobnpr]

I suggest you check this out thoroughly before proceeding. I have no idea why, but this is from Intellian's website:

"Please inquire about coverage before ordering an i1 for coastal usage in the Southeast US."

http://www.intelliantech.com/Support_5.asp

Let us know what you find out.

 

[carterchapman]

Charles,

Sounds like a great deal. Looking forward to seeing it. We've got to start the "evil plot" to convince Sue that we (I) need one too.

 

[tdschafer]

That does sound like a great price. I purchased a KVH M1 last year and I think I paid about $2000 after shopping around. Add the dual mount for my radar and sat with the light bar and wedge for radar and I was at just under $3000. Then I did the install myself.

 

[Jackie J V]

I've got an older KVH and one thing that amazed me is the clunky, non intuitive interface for reprogramming, which you have to do very so often. I've been told (but haven't seen) that the Intellian units have a far better programming interface.

 

[JediJD]

Thank you very much for the head's up. I did not know about it and will give Intellian a call and inquire about the warning. My guess is that the i2, since it is larger than the i1, gets a geometrically proportional greater signal and the further away you get from optimal, the more the size of the receiving parabola has an impact.

For us, that shouldn't be such a big deal...I don't think. We are currently inland boaters. Although we aspire to some big water time, I doubt we would be very far offshore looking at TV. We want to do the Bahamas trip, and perhaps circumnavigate the coast of Florida, but I'm thinking that the we won't soon appreciate the benefit of hanging out and watching TV while the boat is plying offshore waters.

I will tell you that I tried all the data sources I could find, and settled on the Comcast2Go $50/mo dongle for the laptop to get internet on the boat. It was $10/mo cheaper than ATT, seemed to work as well in testing (possible since it ran off the same systems), and made more sense to me than local wimax or wifi connections as I travel occasionally.