Thread: 7" Transflective monitor with T/S kit available now at the Mp3Car Store

Originally Posted by Red GTi VR6

nameeri - I called the company that does this enhancement.

He informed me that they can no longer do individual screens. However, your comment about collecting like screens in lots of 10, MIGHT be possible. I'm sure it would be even more likely if we were to do so through the store. He mentioned to me that they could do it. But I think it would be rather difficult to organize without stepping on the toes of the mp3car.com store...unfortunately.

I'd be all over it for the Xenarc 8", but I don't know that there are that many people with that screen in the first place...

If you re-read my post this is what I asked about. I don't care if it's a trade in credit on a Lilli or a ship and modift, I just want to upgrade what I have and not have to throw out an otherwise fine display panel. Running it through the store would be fine with me.

Originally Posted by mrclean12

If there were a competitor out there selling it for cheaper, then I'm fine with people complaining that it's expensive. However, no one else seems to be selling anything like this, so there really is no comparison.

As a person that uses their carputer during the day 95% of the time, getting this screen was a no-brainer. Once you see one of these in person and compare it to a non-transflective screen, there is NO going back. :-)

That doesn't morally justify price-hiking something like this for no other reason except the fact that there is little/no alternative though. If it costs them $300 to make these things and they're selling them for $649, then that goes beyond the realms of acceptable profiteering imo.

Simply saying "don't buy it then!" or "theres little/no other option" doesn't change this fact and is ultimately counter-productive. You can also argue that "that's just business!" or whatever until you're blue in the face, but it doesn't change the fact that it's pretty dodgy to gouge customers simply because there are no competitors. When I suspect companies of doing this sort of thing I typically end up only buying that one item from them once (because I don't have a choice), and never doing business with them again.

As the old saying goes - you can fleece a sheep any number of times, but you can only skin it once.

(I'm not suggesting they do manufacture these at a cost of $300, for all I know they might only just break even.. Im just arguing the principal of what you've said)

Forget $300, I just picked $300 out of thin air. I didn't realise (or much care) that it fit into some Economics 101 lesson on "supply and demand".

Let's say the cost to them worked out to be $50 per unit, would it still be "fair" then?

Stating that companies arbitrarily mark up the price of products by 100% is a bit of a sweeping statement too. I don't doubt that it happens, but I doubt a blanket 100%+ happens as often as you seem to imply simply because a competitor would do it a bit cheaper, which would lead the first company to lower their prices, rinse and repeat. Obviously since no one is offering a competiting product in this instance there is zero incentive for MP3Car to lower the price on this.

And anyway my point still stands - if I suspect a company inflates the price on something beyond a reasonable expectation of R&D, costs and "acceptable profits" and its a product I can't practically do without, then chances are I'll only ever buy that one product from them, and shop around with other places for other parts of my install.

I guess it boils down to whether the company (any company, not talking specifically about MP3Car) wants $649 of my one-time-only money, or $1500+ of my ongoing loyalty money.

I don't feel like I have a choice though, that's the rub. If I want a vaguely readable screen in sunlight then this is pretty much the only option. They know it, I know it. And maybe I am being a little cynical in thinking that this state of affairs is maybe reflected in the price.

By the same token I might think I have a choice about whether I want to buy and run Microsoft Windows on my home gaming PC, and if we're arguing semantics I do have a choice, but not if I want to actually be able to do anything on my PC (e.g. play games, etc). What's the alternative?

I'm just saying the choice isn't as black and white as you suggest.

I'm gonna be buying it anyway, so nerrr...

I don't think I could deal with the stress of not being able to see the screen properly in my car.