On Sunday, March 10, 2013 3:11:53 AM UTC+1, MNLou wrote:
I am about to make my first foray into the world of soaring software.



I will, most likely, be using a Naviter Oudie Lite hooked up to a Cambridge 302. My focus will be cross country flight (versus contest flying) for the foreseeable future.



I have read reviews and comments about both XCSoar and LK8000. They both appear to be fine products with excellent functionality.



I would be interested in your comments on ease of use (both on the ground and in the air), learning curve / ease of set up, and if one is better suited for cross country flying.



Thanks in advance for your help!

Why not take the Vertika into account as well. In fact: I bought the Oudie light and a friend the Vertika. Both devices are very similar but if I had to make a new purchase the Vertika a a slight edge over the Oudie for the following reasons:
1. Vertika platform is just a Windows platform, making it possible to install several programs. In the Oudie case once you have choosen to install XCSoar it is not possible to return to CU. I now have a way to run CU as default and to run XCSoar from my SDcard but shutting down the device after I have run XCSoar is not straightforward. I now need to reset the device, restart in CU mode and then choose the shutdown option after pressing the power-off button. Currently the software is not designed to accomodate several pilots sharing one device with different types of software.
2. The Vertika is slightly brighter than the Oudie. Both are excellent compared to the old PDAs but the Vertika has a slight edge. It might consume more power as a consequence though. That detail I do not have.

The first reason would for me trigger the choice to Vertika; the second is nice to have but not very important.