Pay no attention to what the critics say. No statue has ever been put up to a critic.
-Jean Sibelius-
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Aliisa's 24 000 mile product review
I can't resist myself. All consumers deal with todays manufacturing and advertising every day. We all want things cheap and no wonder many of todays products are made cheap. My father taught me early on in my life: A poor man can not afford to buy cheap. Yet, we all fall for the empty promises and the glossy brochures of companies that spend as much money on sales and marketing than they do in production. Sometimes we get impressed too. Technical magazines around the globe devote thousands of pages in product reviews.
I am listing only items that I have sufficient experience of. The comments are based on reasonable normal use, not abuse. I will not bad mouth my last four Nokia phones which all suffered from salt-water drowning. In fact, Nokia is still the best. Being a Finn, I might be biased but the rest of the comments are just honest opinions. Here we go:
THE GOOD
Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600
Over Five years old, about 4000 start-ups, once around the world on a plane, four wet seasons in Cairns, in intense humidity, a thousand dinghy trips to town in its carry case in all weather, 30 000 miles out at sea in everyday use, one red wine spill on keyboard, numerous knocks and bumps to the screen and recently continuous run-overs by the playful fat cat, and still going strong. Only a few hundred miles from Helsinki Charlie the cat got a soaking by a fallen juice container. She sat on the Toshiba to dry herself. After drying the keyboard the laptop slid off the table and landed one meter later on a hard plywood seat. It's still working perfectly. I'm impressed!
PS. July 2008, it still works perfectly. Go Toshiba!
Toshiba, a winner.
Sony portable CD player
No less than eight years of spinning the disks. Number of violent landings on the floor and against the walls. Tough environment - hot and humid in the tropics - but it just keeps playing. And it was the cheapest entry-level model. Hope they still make them the same.
Sony, a winner.
Garmin GPS - My 10-year-old Garmin was never broken when I traded it to a new one in Durban. The fault turned out to be a broken antenna cable under the tool locker. Great customer care, I've had repairs done well outside the warranty period to a Garmin hand held VHF. I will stay loyal to Garmin because they understand the true meaning of "customer service". (But... when does Garmin learn from the mobile phone industry and put some extra features in - such as a night watch alarm for single handers, multiple clock alarms, predictive data entry and more character space for waypoints? If there was enough imagination in the product developement team, there'd be a little animated guy waving the checkered flag when you cross the line to your waypoint too.)
Kenwood SSB and Garmin, both winners.
Audiologic car stereo
A cheap "non-brand" car stereo from a auto-shop in Cairns. Still going after 6 years. I suppose you never know with the tens of different cheap ones available. The cockpit speakers, two plastic boxes without a brand name, have also survided six years outdoors. Amazing.
Jabsco pumps and the toilet
This is a good example of A poor man can not afford to buy cheap. Jabsco parts don't come cheap compared to some competitors but the quality of workmanship and the robust simple no-bullshit design is still there. A winner.
Kenwood SSB TS430S
22 years and still going. I've only had this radio for one year, the previous owner had it for 21 years. It's a good example of how looking after your toys pays off. Constantly behind a splash guard and operated only when wearing cotton gloves, the unit still looks like it just came out of the box. But credit must go to the manufacturer too. This radio works as well as it did the day it rolled out of the production line. Well done! A winner.
UK40 dive torches
Robust and bright, perfect for the ocean as they should be. Having a long history in diving, I can appreciate a good dive torch. They're not cheap to buy but they're cheap to have. You can knock them around as much as you like and because they are built to take the preassure of 100m of water, they don't mind being wet for any amount of time. Halogen, of course. (The modern led-jobs are great but I'm talking about real tough sunshine here, not battery life.)
Nevermind the so-called waterproof flashlights on sale in chandleries and camping shops. A dive shop is the only place to get your passage-proof outdoor lights from. A winner.
THE BAD
Smev Marine Stove/oven/grill
Stainless screws rusting and poking through the oven space, burners turning to dust, ignition and oven light broken in a few months, poorly insulated oven heats up the whole thing inside out. Very poor workmanship. It is the best of the cheap ones or perhaps the worst of the expensive ones. The oven tray bends into an s-shape in the heat of the oven. In a few words: It's a piece of shit. Proudly made in Italy.
Shit Metal Eagerly Vanishes (SMEV). Looser.
Raymarine Autohelm 3000
Company Salesmen and retailers claim it's good for a 10 meter yacht, authorised service technicians say it's not. Cheap Chinese motor, no friction in the belt/wheel connection, erratic compass and steering behaviour in rolly seas, noisy and fits perfectly up the ass of anyone who want's to take responsibility of the product design. Workmanship is reasonably good and it's quite resistant to water, it's just doesn' do the job. Why does a small 12v electric motor connected to a tiny fluxgate compass cost $1000? Why doesn't Raymarine make blenders or household fans instead?
Update 15 Feb 2008. I must add, that since learning about fluxgate compasses and rate compasses, the erratic behaviour of the abovementioned autopilot was caused by Aliisa's large amount of steel. The poor thing was just not made for steel yachts. There are rate gyro* compasses available to avoid this problem. *They are not acturally gyro compasses, but they do eliminate the problems caused by a steel hull.
Good for calm-water motoring only. Looser.
Tasco binoculars
Don't pay any attention to the "waterproof" lable. The same goes with most other brands that have a price tag of less than $300. This is one item that you will keep buying until one day you have the courage (or the money) to buy a proper pair. I'll let you know when I have a proper pair. Looser, together with all low cost binoculars.
THE UGLY
(The first two headings were just crying for the third one...)
Car tyres - make great fenders for free. Ugly.
Aliisa's 60mm / 2inch stainless pipes as boom gallows
Makes a real akward looking frame over the cockpit but provides a great solid grip, a fastening point to harness tethers and are strong enough to fend off a boom should it ever decide to swing past overhead. Ugly though.
Solid 850mm high handrails
Makes it look like I'm living in a cage but boy, do I feel safe going on the deck in any weather! Wire rails are good for only one thing; hanging up your washing. Ugly?
Nudity onboard
Hey, I'm pushing 40 and it's not looking as pretty as it did twenty years ago, but it's still the best way to be in the tropics. My mom and dad made me well, but not to last forever. Apologies for the possible offence, online and on anchor. The ugliness is in the eye of the beholder.
You know ladies, what gravity does to your boobs, it does to my balls. I had to grow them bigger to face my own fears and do what I want to do. Life's ugly, sometimes. This one's for the C.E.O. of Smev stoves in Italy. Vaffanculo?
PS. There are of course many products that are just ok. Not particularly good, bad or ugly. There's also many items that haven't proven themselves yet. I'll update this page in the future but I don't want to make it a catalogue of toys for boys. Particularly not my ass. If in doubt, buy the best. Particularly if you're on a small budget.
