Go see one at the nearest dealer. Take your 2000 with you. You may be
surprised at what is accomplished on the smaller screen.

I was lucky enough to borrow a friend's 396 for four hours. Although
I didn't get to fly with it, I *did* get to play extensively, and was
able to watch the weather (VERY cool) develop "live". I was also able
to compare the screen to my current GPSs.

(As you may recall, we've got the awesome AvMap EKP-III on the pilot's
yoke, and the very nice Airmap 2000c on the co-pilot's yoke. This
set-up gives us unparallelled situational awareness -- but no weather.)

The 396 falls between these two units in readability and resolution.
The AvMap simply can't be beat, with its 7-inch screen and extremely
sharp resolution. The Lowrance product is very good, but is not nearly
as sharp as the Garmin or the AvMap.

However, size really DOES matter in GPS. The ability to view your
entire route, clearly, without losing too much detail, only comes with
screen size -- and both the AvMap and the Airmap beat the Garmin hand's
down in this department.

We would have a VERY hard time going back to a screen the size of the
396 (even with my new progressive-lens glasses), but it might be worth
a step backwards in that department to achieve the undeniable safety of
having on-board weather "radar".

AvMap remains a "fringe" player in the market, despite having a
fantastic product -- so I understand their inability to spend the $$$
on acquiring weather capability. However, I am completely puzzled by
Lowrance's inaction with regards to weather depiction. With their
commanding hold on the boating market, you would *think* that they
would have a HUGE potential market for weather depiction?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"