Best of 2005 Nominated Products

[wds21921]

A good idea but the cost? LOL

http://www.ecotechmarine.com/home.htm

http://cgi.ebay.com/EcoTech-Marine-...ryZ46312QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The battery backup idea is nice but again............the price?

 

[logans_daddy]

i think the battery backup and bracketless design alone are worth the price of admission. i think if this powerhead holds up over time and proves to be a quality product like tunze then it will seem cheap by comparison.

shawn:bum:

 

[wds21921]

For the cost of one powerhead I could have another complete setup. I think it is a good idea but the cost is exhorbitant.

 

[logans_daddy]

i think their pricepoint is competitive

http://www.tunze.com/149.html?&L=1&C=US&user_tunzeprod_pi1[predid]=-infoxunter025

but once again there is no ideas as to the durability of this product longterm. but i agree wholeheartedly that these pricepoints are very costly.

 

[cmondo]

I agree with logans_daddy. Good point on the longterm use. That is the problem with all new products, they may be the newest, best item on the market, but who knows whether or not they turn to crap in a month, or in a year or so.

 

[MadTownMax]

I've been following this product since they announce it - the price is a bit exhobitant - also considering that the controller is going to cost extra - a tunze including a controller is around the same price.

And they are having some initial problems with stalling and/or jammed pumps on the wet end, and also the wet-side gasket needed some re-engineering so that it would stick in one place - however Ecotech's support and reception of criticism is very positive and a tribute to them being very interested in their pump succeeding.

As a direct comparison, it is hard to argue that it is worth the money compared to it's competition - but if you take into account the fact that there is no electricity in your tank when using this device (and this also means much less heat) it really makes sense to have it priced the way they do - I just wish they had a smaller model that was cheaper

 

[logans_daddy]

actually the 6100 stream(which i think is the most comparable model) is over $300 without a controller.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=TZ1317

i think the pricepoint is very strategic. if the customer service is as top notch as someone said, and they product proves to be as reliable and efficient as the tunze then i think the VorTec wins hands down. however, i have a sneaking suspicion that we might see a bracketless tunze in the near future.

just to give you an idea about pricing. the tunze package i was looking into was going to cost almost $1000 and it contained only two PHs. you have to step up to the more expensive models if you want one controller to control multiple pumps.

shawn:bum:

 

[wds21921]

Ugh for that kinda money I'll deal with the temps and the cleaning of my PH's.

I agree the design and practicality of it as well as the No electric in the tank is definitely an excellent selling point but I'd prefer to see the pricing more reasonable.

I mean realistically the unit itself is nothing more than a seperated powerhead with a magnet as the driver and a larger impeller.