C J Campbell wrote:
Does it really matter? Panel GPS units are becoming extremely common. The
handheld is being relegated to backup status, like a handheld radio.

Nah. There's still A LOT of people who don't want to spend the cash for
a panel mount. Heck... I have an "obsolete" IFR GPS (the GX-60), and
I can't see spending the money anytime soon for a fancy color panel mount.
The handhelds are way more cost effective. I actually look at my GPSMAP
195 the majority of the time.


My guess is that eventually we will see an all-in-one GPS/Nav/Com with
personal ELT, about the size of a cellular phone, with an interface like the
196. Perhaps it will be a cellular phone, too, and even a PDA. Since it
really is intended for emergency use, the com radio only needs a couple of
frequencies such as emergency and weather channels.

Although, I agree that something like this could be designed, I doubt
that it would go over very well. We don't need a *smaller* screen. And,
a lot of people will still be using handhelds for day to day use... not
just emergencies.

In the meantime, I expect to see the 296 introduced sometime this year.

Or, if it follows Garmin's numbering for their boat GPSs, it'll be the
196c. The 176c looks pretty nice. They could have a 196c right now.

--- Jay


--

__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com