RedGTiVR6

it's a BRAND new product!

how can you say the hobby is getting expensive when it's technology related? Technology always works this way. The new technology is always outrageously priced, early adopters purchase, drive the production, drive the demand, the manufacturing costs go down, more people adopt, tada! now it's more affordable!

the M10000 mobo was twice the price it is now when I bought it 3 years ago.

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MP3Car.com

 

R6_

I did but I just cant wait

Was hoping Ziplock would come along and say we are ahead of schedule

lanman1

I can say it's expensive when I still have to pay another $700 and basicly throw away a monitor I pad $350 for just so I can use my nav in the daytime. This is not new technology, Sony and other brands have had this in their laptops for years. Yes their panels are larger and not touch capable but the "transflective" is nothing new to LCDs.

Caelric

Of course, no-one is forcing you to get this new monitor. I mean, your old screen is working, isn't it?

Don't buy it if you think it is too expensive. Thats bqasic economics, law of supply versus demand. It's also a part of good ol' capitalism.

Dave

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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. :-)

RedGTiVR6

it's new technology implemented in this manner. Thus the price premium.

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nameeri

This is true. The pictures that many of you have seen do not fully do this justice. It looks amazing in sunlight. Simply amazing. Everyone at the SoCal meet was impressed with the transflective. Ive said it before, its worth the money. The screen is everything, its what you interect with, its how you see the fruits of your pain and labor. If you cant see it, whats the use?!

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Civiputer: Dont have one anymore, but here is what is used to be!

sebberry

What bugs me about the price is that my screen cost almost $500 after importing it into Canada from the states. I cannot throw it out simply to buy the upgraded one (which would likely cost somewhere around $800 to get it up here...)

Hmmm.. over a grand for my screen and a third of that sits in the trash can... no.

Finally, to add insuly to injury, someone chose to do this with a lilliput, so my Xenarc won't take the upgrade, nor will the lilli fit my $180 bezel I bought for the dash and subsequently spent many hours fitting the xenarc exactly.

MP3Car.com

 

RedGTiVR6

ok

















so don't!

no one is forcing you to do anything.

Sounds to me like you are more upset with yourself that you didn't wait and are just letting it out on whoever comes by....lol

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nameeri

I remember that Zip - Lock once said something about the store being the central collection point for people who wanted to do this enhancement but did not want to purchase a whole new screen, just enhance the ones they already had. I wonder if that could become a possibility. They could collect the minimum 10 units, all of the same size (7" at this point) and then send them off to be upgraded. Im sure they would have to make some sort of agreements to keep themselves from liability but its a possibility. You guys could do this yourselves you know. FPD just has a minimum order requirement, thats all. So there is nothing stopping you from organizing your own pool and sending them off. JUST DO NOT MAKE A THREAD ABOUT IT. If you want it bad enough, find a way to do it.

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Civiputer: Dont have one anymore, but here is what is used to be!

RedGTiVR6

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...

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lanman1

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.

Durzel

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)

RedGTiVR6

doubling the cost is done ALL the time in just about every industry.

Take car audio for instance. Retail prices are usually 2x what the company buys it for. If you go to a distributer, they charge 2x what they get it for when they sell it to the retailer.

it's normal.

The same thing in the home audio/video industry and the commercial industries.

Have you taken any business or marketing classes? Do you have any experience in either of these fields? Have you ever worked retail? I'm guessing not, because this is the NORM in industries all over. ESPECIALLY when it's a new, high demand product. It's part of how our economy works.

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Durzel

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.

MP3Car.com