Quote:
Still can't get my head around why FW installed such an old style deck in a 2014 model boat.
For a 2014 boat that could have been built as early as maybe 8/2013, that head was not so old style, as marine heads go. There were just a couple units available with blue tooth and only a couple external blue tooth units on the market. I suspect some of the boats had molded helm panels that were intended to fit the 910ui. I also think it was leading into the 2014 year, that Sony announced the retiring of the 910UI. At that point, F/W was well into production and stock was on hand. This meant tossing inventory as well as re-tooling some helms. Sony did release the DSX310BTX around the end of 2013, but it had a wider and shorter face then the 910ui, so it may not have fit all the boats that 910ui did. I also cant remember if the 310BTX supported the LCD remote, but it was getting retired anyway, so none of the new sony heads would power the large LCD displays anyway.
The clarion M502 was, IIRC, their first with integrated BT, and it was a total POS, in terms of user navigation. We've actually had a few owners toss them in favor of a new model thats more user friendly.
Fusion had integrated BT in their high end systems, but they were 3X the cost of the sony. For a head in the price-point of the sony, one would have had to go with fusion's external universal BT receiver. Lets just say, it suxs. Either way. both the Clarion and Fusion setups would have cost more. Not saying F/W is cheap, but note that well before boats go into production, parts costs are likely worked out. Even adding $50 per boat production costs, after initial analysis, is huge.