I upgraded from manuals to electrics this spring. After quite a bit of research, I couldn't find anything wrong with the Scotty electric w/30" boom. Unless you have a large boat, I don't see the benefit of an extra long arm (30"+). The electric amp draw is very low on the Scotty and they claim that their retrieval rate is the fastest with the heaviest weights (10+lbs). After shopping around, most Scotty dealers sell with a msrp of about $335.00 for the 30" fixed boom electric (model 1100 ?), but in Canada the msrp is the same, and you get a benefit of a great exchange rate. I bought 7 of these units from Berry's bait & tackle in Richmond B.C. (just S. of Vancouver) and with shipping (UPS) and customs they were $256.00/each at my door. The people were great and they sell Scottys to "Yanks" everyday because of the exchange rate. Hope this helps, snit

[This message has been edited by snit (edited 11-10-1999).]