I made the jump last year from a 16' outboard to my Salt. Put a lot of sweat into it and got it solid again. Enjoyed it all year with minimal learning curve in manuvering it and turning a low speeds.
I have read a lot of places that people who own full inboards will never go back to I/O's or outboards again. I have now joined that rank. Today, I helped a buddy Test Drive an 19' I/O. It has a SB V8 in it so it should be similar to work on as my BB. After that, the similarities go away.
For only being a 19' boat with that power plant, it seemed to take a while to get on plane. It was very smooth once it got on plane.
It is a 1995 so I am assuming it is a composite boat as it is a Baja?? but it seems to be ass end heavy.
Turning it is where I saw the biggest difference. Compared to the Salt, it felt sluggish and fat. I felt like it might turn in a tight radius, but at a banked angle the whole way. I did not care for it compared to the Salt. It just felt sloppy...
The only thing I was envious of was when we were putting it back on the lift and were mis-aligned, it was nice to have a choice of direction in reverse. That being said, I love how when I go to the sand bar (noone beaches, but moors in 2-3 feet of water) I can front in till it is about 4' deep and then do the Forward/Reverse dance and watch it spin on a dime. It took me while, but I am sure I can spin the boat within its total length +2 feet.
Over all, the runabout is a nice boat, but there is no way I will ever go back to either an I/O or ourboard after having the DD. Just a better feel for me.