Jay Honeck wrote:



Palm/pocket/tablet-PC versions abound. I almost bought one of the
tablet PC versions at OSH, but the absurd price tag (and fear of a hard
drive crash at altitude) scared me off.

We pilots are apparently just too small a niche market for the other
main players in the market (Lowrance, AvMap) to jump aboard. It's
frustrating, but understandable.

But don't get me wrong -- weather is a wonderful tool to have on board,
and the 496 is a fine piece of equipment. What I hate is that it could
easily be made perfect, with just a few minor tweaks, but (I'm guessing
here) Garmin apparently wants to keep the box small enough to use as a
dashboard automotive GPS -- which precludes making the changes
necessary to turn it into a truly useful aviation GPS. (It really IS a
fantastic automotive GPS. I am truly, 100% satisfied with it in that
mode. Unfortunately, that represents about 5% of my usage, to date.)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Jay, I'm still trying to figure out where you'd put a bigger screen in
Atlas? I find there isn't enough clearance between my lap and the yoke
on my Six to put it on my lap. Anywhere else obstructs instruments or
windows. That's why I like my Garmin III pilot. It's nice and small,
and I have it mounted on top of the glarshield in the horizontal
position so that it is in my scan, yet not obstructing anything on the
panel, and where it is the only view it blocks is that of the long nose
of the Six. The 396/496 when I get around to getting one will have to
find a spot on my panel...I think I can fit it under the center stack
above the throttle and prop controls...maybe. Nothing bigger is going
to fit anywhere.

Before I bought the III-pilot (I bought it the week it was announced), I
bought a Garmin 195. I tried it out for a couple flights, but just
couldn't find a spot where it could live where I could still see crucial
stuff on my panel (yoke was out, couldn't see the DG or TC with it
there, too big to put on the panel between the Loran and the engine
controls, no room on my lap, blocked half the sky on the glareshield,
etc. So the next day Garmin announces the III-pilot, so I returned the
195 and got that instead. Small has it's virtues.