Guys...easy...

  I've used neither, seen neither.  I have worked in the boat business as a
shipwright in a full service yacht yard and I am familiar with the Marinco
brand.  They make quality.  Suited to put into boats, which are a really
tough place for stuff to last, especially anything with electrons.
  Marine parts are usually much more expensive than normal dry land stuff
made for the same purpose.  If your widget fails in a car, an RV, or a
trailer, you simply pull over and call AAA or walk home.  Not so on a boat,
so things are built to an engineering level to not fail, because failure
when at sea can be life threatening...So rather than maybe plastic and
stamped steel or tin with brass contacts..switches and plugs, etc etc. might
be made of cast bronze with a chrome coating or some kind of UV and Salt
resistant plastics or stainless....Has to be..especially for topside use
like in a cockpit control panel..  I would bet the Marinco socket with the
'waterproof' cover is not really totally water proof...nothing is
really...but it's probably worth a little more money than an RV specific
one...
  Anyhow, mellow out...and thank you for the recommendations...didn't want
to cause a ruckus..
  Don Hanson

On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 5:47 PM, Mike S <mikes@flatsurface.com> wrote:

> At 08:16 PM 10/18/2009, Michael Sullivan wrote...
>
>> Sounds like Dylan is trying to be diplomatic.
>>
>
> As in "avoiding the question?"
>
> He won't answer a clear question - "What's the difference?" He's said
> "I have tried the others...I prefer the Marinco," but won't say why. I
> suspect that he _hasn't_ seen or used the identical-looking, and
> significantly less expensive, one from MPD (via Digikey). As I've said,
> I think they're the same (except for the name and the price). I have no
> affiliation with Digikey (other than as a customer), perhaps he works
> for Marinco or one of their resellers?
>