I reckon being yamaha they would work quite well Ash. The Toyota of the marine industry. Does what it says on the box. 

 Dont get too excited you may fall over when you see the price.15-20k extra on a f150 if i remember correctly

Yep the upgrade costs about 12-15k. A little over the top even for yammy 

 They may work well in calm waters but as most know over here in the West it doesn't happen that often. Great idea but don t think it's suitable for all 

You need a fly by wire outboard for it to be compatiable. They themeslves are more expensive then standard model. $15k for the helm control system. The product is awsome for the bottom bouncing, there would be no fish left if this was on everyboat. Waiting for a few years so that they can refine it and will become cheaper. Definately putting it on my next boat, or upgrade if i do. 

$5k on a Minn Kota/Motorguide on the bow will outperform both on the water nd in the hip pocket for the time being you'd reckon.

 Firstly, the general limation of using a joystick vs a conventional helm. My last crayboat had a couple of joysticks, one outside lower, one up on the flybridge. The lower one was really useful , saved a lot of winding, as you spend most days going lock to lock as you work your way along the gear. Also for docking, getting onto a crowded  jetty at Kalbarri in a strong southerly could be a kamikaze exercise, you needed full comittment and a lot of fast rudder work. Upstairs, though, for general steaming, it was just hard work. You ended up with hand cramp really quickly making the constant small corrections needed. I know the electric/hydraulic setup I had is not the same as the Yamaha one shown, but I think the general principle would be the same. I ended up fitting a conventional helm up there for that purpose.

As to position holding, they will have one big limitation, and that is that the boat will always be stern into the wind and sea. Fine if it is calm. There is no way you can keep a boat facing into the wind and spot holding at the same time if you are controlling via engine thrust. At least with a spotholder, you are guiding it from the bow, so the boat will stay faced up into the wind. 

As to price, well, 5K will see you fitted out in a small boat, say up to 5.2m, but once you get a it bigger, prices go through the roof. I am keenly aware of the advantages of them, from deep dropping , where they will not only allow you to hold your spot, but also let you turn your motor off and disable sounder pings, to keep the sharks away for a bit longer, to being able to park youself next to that coral lump down in Exmouth gulf and entice the big fat trout out. I looked at it for the Reefrunner, and being realistic, wouldn't be much/any change out of $10k. I base this around an 84" shaft and buying lithium batteries. I would also need a charging setup that enables me to charge on the fly rather than relying on doing it at home, as I do extended trips away. The big ones need 3 x 12v 100a/hr batteries, and there's no way I'm adding 90kg of battery weight to the bow in this. A bloke at Exmouth has one fitted to a new 2400 Caribbean, with twin 150 Mercs ( drool) and they wouldn't be without it. He went lead/acid, but it wouldn't matter so much with the big Caribbean, and he got rid of a heap of anchor chain to make up some of the difference. 

it was a nice thought but the extra over cost out ways the amount of fishing i do therefore it will be a no go. they also dont have a unit to suit my boat at this point.