*THE HULL TRUTH is the world's largest FREE network for the discussion of Boating & Fishing. Whether you're researching a new boat, or are a seasoned Captain, you'll find The Hull Truth Boating & Fishing Message Forum contains a wealth of information from Boaters and Sportfishermen around the world.
Welcome to the updated THT!
If you are having trouble signing in, please email [email protected] with your username and we will help you. We thank you for your patience as we help you access the new site!
Random Quote: It ain't long, but it sure is skinny
good news !!! Best Buy is up and running in the marine electronics bussiness. Geek Squad is now NMEA certified, and heard the install rate is @ $50 per hour. Or they will do flat rate installs, like $150 for a gps plotter, or $800 for an autopilot. They are direct dealer for Garmin, and can get pretty much anything else you need through distribution, including Raymarine and KVH. They offer a free on board consultation.................... heard that the installation work is great.
The web site says they on the west coast of florida, but i know that they are operating marine electronic services in dade, broward and palm beach counties on the florida east coast.
good news !!! Best Buy is up and running in the marine electronics bussiness. Geek Squad is now NMEA certified, and heard the install rate is @ $50 per hour. Or they will do flat rate installs, like $150 for a gps plotter, or $800 for an autopilot. They are direct dealer for Garmin, and can get pretty much anything else you need through distribution, including Raymarine and KVH. They offer a free on board consultation.................... heard that the installation work is great.
The web site says they on the west coast of florida, but i know that they are operating marine electronic services in dade, broward and palm beach counties on the florida east coast.
Whats the great news? Other than the pricing what is best buy gonna offer that your local electronics installer cant? I know everyone loves a low price but remember YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!
No offense to any Geeks out there but the is no way I'd let one of the kids at BB touch anything on my boat! $50 an hour will buy you quality time with an experienced marine electronics installer.
bestbuy seems to be one of those generic search sites that put over a persona of actually being something whereas in reality it seems more like http://www.discount-fishing-reels.com/
anyone that truly believes a computer geek can install marine electronics properly deserves what they get. cant imagine an auto pilot installed by geek squad.
stores like that are great for a cheap price on items you carry home, and throw away when they break. You get what you pay for
who knows? there are about a million marine installers out of work - they may pick a few of those guys up...it all comes down to who they send and his experience. If they offer some kind of warranty on the work, they may be ahead of some of the trunk slammers that are out there now...
__________________ Veradoclub/4S site here
The quality of answers you get goes up exponentially with pics...Learn how.
who knows? there are about a million marine installers out of work - they may pick a few of those guys up...it all comes down to who they send and his experience. If they offer some kind of warranty on the work, they may be ahead of some of the trunk slammers that are out there now...
You could be right,
But were not going to find out on anything i own,
I would love to believe that Geek Squad is made up of a bunch of computer geeks that are all about electronics and computers. The fact of the matter is Best Buy just took the name and ran with it, I know a few people that work there on the Geek Squad they are about as computer savy as my dog.
The installers are normally a bunch of kids that are into car stereos and "The Fast and Furious", there abilities are about as good as there ambitions in life....
I do not see any great pricing on their website. Our local marine electronics installer's prices are lower plus I do not get the "run around" when I need help with getting something repaired nor getting questions answered that is associated with big box stores.
My daughter had a problem with her i-phone which she purchased one of those "service plans" that BB offers and she did not get her phone back for over a month. Had it been damaged, she would have received a replacement on the spot. The lesson is we should have thrown the phone against the wall.
best buy installed a xm radio in an old girlfriends camaro. they didnt latch the ttop back and it flew off going down the road on the way home. (just so happened to be the ttop on the same side of the roof as the new xm antenna)
guess who's fault it was? mine!
best buy said they didnt even touch the ttop, but it was in the middle of winter and we hadnt opened it since summer.
that was my last experence with best buy installs. i wouldnt let those tards go anywhere near my golf cart, much less my boat.
__________________ .
Grady White 283 Release Yamaha F250's
Cape Horn 24 - yamaha 150's Sold Allison xb2004 w/ merc 225 Sold Sailfish 216/yammi Sold Angler 204fx/merc Sold
I feel the same way as everyone has written above, but the feedback i have received says that the installs are first class, the service is great, and the price is unbeatable. the hardware numbers are comparable to a local shop, but labor, @ $50 per hour, by a NMEA certified installer is going to be 40% to 50% cheaper than your local electronics dealer.
The feedback i got was not related to small boats and tiny projects.........we are talking boats 50ft and over.......... just passing along what i have heard....sounds like a great deal...........
I feel the same way as everyone has written above, but the feedback i have received says that the installs are first class, the service is great, and the price is unbeatable. the hardware numbers are comparable to a local shop, but labor, @ $50 per hour, by a NMEA certified installer is going to be 40% to 50% cheaper than your local electronics dealer.
The feedback i got was not related to small boats and tiny projects.........we are talking boats 50ft and over.......... just passing along what i have heard....sounds like a great deal...........
I checked their prices last night and honestly they arent any cheaper. Atleast not any cheaper than us. I dont know where the $50 an hour thing came from but I couldnt find it. I found a price list on the link above that gave set rates for things like radio and speaker installs. I compared it to our last few jobs and it would have actually been cheaper to use us on an hourly basis than their set rates. Think about this if they had to install a radio 4 speakers an amp and 1 sub in a boat that didnt have anything in it or needed the holes cut or modified or wires rerun it would cost $799.95. The last job we did that was identical to this was only $600 in labor. Like I said their pricing isnt that great, and if they are basing their fixed price on an hourly rate of $50 they must be really slow!
You can do better almost anywhere. Even accounting for a difference in installation costs, you would still come out cheaper and with a better job by going to a reputable installer.
__________________
Terry Jason 35, Yanmar 370 hp, Lots of fun at a leisurely pace
Best Buy Marine is not a low price seller. In fact, the units I wanted, Garmin and ICOM were at list price. Where you get a slight discount is on the transducer, antenna etc. But then beside the $199.99 and $149.99 installation charges (transducer install is $99.99) there was the $39.99 for misc parts, connectors and wire.
Apparently, Best Buy Marine is helping out dealers who refer customers. That's the inference I got from one of the salespeople anyway.
I feel the same way as everyone has written above, but the feedback i have received says that the installs are first class, the service is great, and the price is unbeatable. the hardware numbers are comparable to a local shop, but labor, @ $50 per hour, by a NMEA certified installer is going to be 40% to 50% cheaper than your local electronics dealer.
The feedback i got was not related to small boats and tiny projects.........we are talking boats 50ft and over.......... just passing along what i have heard....sounds like a great deal...........
Unless they were working on your boat and you have first hand knowledge I would find those statements difficult to believe. I happen to work in the professional audio/video and lighting industry and have done so for over 25 years. The Geek Squad decided that they wanted to explore our industry several years ago and in the short time they were there I actually got calls to no less that four businesses that hired them to do a job and then hired me to tear it out and do it right. The problem is that Walmart, Sams, and Cosco are cutting in to their home audio profits and car audio is just about dead thanks to the fact that most cars these days come with all the bells and whistles from the factory. In their continued effort to try and make a profit they are branching out in to new areas such as the boating electronics world, not to mention the professional audio visual market except their employees have next to little or no experience in these fields. The result is.... well we all know what the result will be!
I don't mean to bash Best Buy in saying this but it is better to become an expert in one field and be good at what you do than it is to try to have a hand in a dozen different fields and be good at none of them just to make a dollar!
Best Buy is now in the marine electronics biz !!! 
Cape Horn 24 - yamaha 150's Sold
Angler 204fx/merc Sold 
