I've been there too, but those were the Mercs of old and I too called them "black anchors," back in the day, but times have changed.
My Yamaha and Honda friends have stated on a number of occasions how well my "Merc" performs and how quiet it is compared to theirs.
Trust me, when I was shopping out my boat, I didn't want the Merc but my dealer said "trust me," so I did and as I have previously stated, no regrets.