In article ,
Ryan Ferguson wrote:
That is always possible. But, all of Garmin's recent (last five years?)
products to date have been hits. The 430/530 - everyone loves 'em. The
195 - a trailblazer. 295 - I still have mine and it works great. 196
- first GPS with a small "partial panel" display (and it works.)
Everyone loved it. 296 - terrain + weather, lithium ion batteries,
great unit size/display ratio. Another hit. Now the 396. Honestly,
who'd bet against Garmin? Give it a couple of months and I think you'll
see the unit lives up to the hype (which is user, not company generated.)

I think that you're being disingenuous here. I know plenty of folks who
aren't happy with the position they're now in with their 430s, for
example. I can give you plenty of example from years ago when I wasn't
completely satisfied with my Garmin products, because it was obvious
that Garmin did not intend to provide feature upgrades at a reasonable
price (in the portable market, this equated to a forklift upgrade for
Garmin products--how convenient.)

I continue to be amazed at the perception that Garmin's units don't run
software or run on some kind of operating system. Garmin's units do run
software, and that software has bugs. I really don't hear that many
folks complaining about their AWM system "crapping out" anymore, but I'm
only a fairly recent user. And I have found modern Bluetooth systems to
be very reliable, without having to "mess with" or "manage" anything. I
really don't understand where all of the alarming hype is coming from
surrounding these systems. I will admit that they aren't "one-touch"
systems and it does help to have an understanding of how they work, but
that's true for operating an aircraft as well.

There is still the perception that Honda and Toyota make the best cars,
but that isn't necessarily true anymore. Nevertheless, millions buy
them based on that perception, and will sing their praises despite the
fact that they have sometimes serious mechanical problems (I once had a
Honda owner tell me that a failed brake master cylinder that cost $800
to replace was "just a minor maintenance issue.") I would rather deal
with actual facts of user experience, rather than the marketing hype.
Right now, I can find user experience both positive and negative for all
products, including Garmin's.


JKG