GPS Choices

I was wondering if I could get some input from others on a few GPS's?
I have been looking at the Garmin 196 & Street Pilot III as well as
the Lowrance 500 & 1000.

The major advantage that I see with the 196 is that you can use it for
turn by turn directions in a vehicle. I have been looking at getting
a GPS for the vehicle that would do just that. From what I can tell
the price between the 196 and most others are only a couple 100 (for
vehicle).

The main draw back to buying either of the ones I have listed so far
is that it looks like the only way I can get them is to buy online
which also means I don't get to play with it first to see exactly what
features I like or don't like. I have found places that carry Garmin
and Lowrance in the area but none carry any of the aviation models.

Thanks for the help.

I have the 196. I love it. I haven't even begun to crack the surface of what
it can do, but it does everything I need.

I have had it since May, replacing a 6 year old Magellan Sky Star Plus.


www.Rosspilot.com

The 196 is great. Don't bother buying the video tape for $20.00 though,
it doesn't explain much of anything. The unit is great, I never travel
without it, by air, or by car. I have a 176C as well, it looks great but the
features of the 196 make it stay at home.

I bought mine for $869.00 plus tax at Sun-N-Fun. The cheapest place I
have seen t was at the AOPA fly-in in Frederick, MD, it was $869, tax
included. I hightly recommend the unit.

Wayne

"Sully" wrote in message
...
I was wondering if I could get some input from others on a few GPS's?
I have been looking at the Garmin 196 & Street Pilot III as well as
the Lowrance 500 & 1000.

The major advantage that I see with the 196 is that you can use it for
turn by turn directions in a vehicle. I have been looking at getting
a GPS for the vehicle that would do just that. From what I can tell
the price between the 196 and most others are only a couple 100 (for
vehicle).

The main draw back to buying either of the ones I have listed so far
is that it looks like the only way I can get them is to buy online
which also means I don't get to play with it first to see exactly what
features I like or don't like. I have found places that carry Garmin
and Lowrance in the area but none carry any of the aviation models.

Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the help.

Take a look at the AvMap. It's absolutely awesome.

We bought ours at OSH 2003, and it has utterly changed the way we fly.
It's on the high end of price, but you will not regret buying it,
guaranteed.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Take a look at the AvMap. It's absolutely awesome.

We bought ours at OSH 2003, and it has utterly changed the way we fly.
It's on the high end of price, but you will not regret buying it,
guaranteed.

I bought an AvMap upon Jay's recommendation and can say it is an awesome
unit. HUGE color moving map, flight plans - even approaches (VFR GPS).

KR

I bought an AvMap upon Jay's recommendation and can say it is an awesome
unit. HUGE color moving map, flight plans - even approaches (VFR GPS).

Glad to hear it, Ken.

We had an "interesting" experience with our AvMap today, coming in after
dark. We don't often fly at night, and Mary has not flown with the AvMap in
the dark since we bought it last July.

As the ambient light diminished, she needed to turn the brightness down. As
she was adjusting the brightness, the unit suddenly died! Assuming it was
the power cord coming out of the cigar lighter (we've bumped it out before),
I started screwing around with the cord. I even took the fuse out of the
lighter attachment to check it. It was fine, but the screen remained black,
and she ended up navigating visually (gasp!) the last ten miles or so.

Once shut down on the ground, we were able to trouble-shoot. Without the
engine noise we could hear that the AvMap still "beeped" whenever we pushed
a button, so we knew it *was* getting power. Eventually we aimed the
flashlight at the face of the unit, and could just *barely* see the map.
Turns out Mary had turned the brightness all the way OFF -- a setting we did
not know was possible.

So, be aware -- you can actually turn the screen OFF with the brightness
control, leaving you with nothing to see...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I have a 196. It's very easy to use but you need to read the owners
manual. I've used the yoke mount in rentals. In my citabria, I made an
adjustable mount with panavise cell phone bracket. My plane has a king klx
35 gps/com, basically one of the older generation gps/coms. The gps
features on the 196 are much easiers to use. Reception has always been
very good, I've never needed to use the remote antenna.

You can get a pretty good idea of how the unit works at most marine shops.
Look at the garmin gpsmap 176. It's the same case and most of the same
buttons. I bought the 176C, color version, for my boat. It won't show you
any aviation features, but you can tell if the display size and feel of the
unit meet your needs. My satisfaction with the 176C convinced that the 196
was the right aviation gps for me. Since the 196 has marine features, I
gave my 176C to my father in-law and now use the 196 on my boat. I've
tried to use the gps in the car but I find it's too distracting.

Strangely enough, despite all of the features of my 196 and klx35, I find
that a plain old chart is sometimes the best resource.

Jay, I had a similar experience with a friends boat. He has a top of the
line gps that "quit" working on him. He said "It was working fine last
night". He had set the brightness so low the night before that the next
day, it appeared dead. Took me a while to figure that out!

Dave
'68 7ECA

"Sully" wrote in message
...
I was wondering if I could get some input from others on a few GPS's?
I have been looking at the Garmin 196 & Street Pilot III as well as
the Lowrance 500 & 1000.

The major advantage that I see with the 196 is that you can use it for
turn by turn directions in a vehicle. I have been looking at getting
a GPS for the vehicle that would do just that. From what I can tell
the price between the 196 and most others are only a couple 100 (for
vehicle).

The main draw back to buying either of the ones I have listed so far
is that it looks like the only way I can get them is to buy online
which also means I don't get to play with it first to see exactly what
features I like or don't like. I have found places that carry Garmin
and Lowrance in the area but none carry any of the aviation models.

Thanks for the help.

Sully,

if you are at all interested in computers, the PDA/GPS/software combo
might be of interest, too. Have a look at www.controlvision.com

One thing when comparing Garmin and Lowrance: Pay attention to the
accessories that are included. With Lowrance, you'll get everything
from street mapping software (not turn by turn, though) to a yoke
holder included. At Garmin, you'll pay for all that stuff.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

I think the Lowrance AirMap 500 is the best bang for the buck for a
dedicated GPS. It goes for about half of the 196 and does about 90% of
what the 196 does. It doesn't have the "partial panel" screen or
approaches, but it does have extended centerlines. It comes with software
to do enhanced ground mapping and even a SD card reader/writer so you can
load high detail maps for your destination. It won't give you turn by
turn, but it will allow you to search for points of interest (like your
hotel) and enough detail to drive the route. Battery life on 2 AAs is
very good and accuracy with the WAAS enabled is very good, too. It locks
on quickly and the remote active antenna helps on keeping a good lock.
The screen quality is also excellent.

I'm a big one on redundancy, so I actually fly with a back up to the 500,
a GPS program for my Palm that works with a DeLorme Earthmate GPS. So I
have VOR, LORAN, and GPSx2.

Dave Reinhart


Sully wrote:

I was wondering if I could get some input from others on a few GPS's?
I have been looking at the Garmin 196 & Street Pilot III as well as
the Lowrance 500 & 1000.

The major advantage that I see with the 196 is that you can use it for
turn by turn directions in a vehicle. I have been looking at getting
a GPS for the vehicle that would do just that. From what I can tell
the price between the 196 and most others are only a couple 100 (for
vehicle).

The main draw back to buying either of the ones I have listed so far
is that it looks like the only way I can get them is to buy online
which also means I don't get to play with it first to see exactly what
features I like or don't like. I have found places that carry Garmin
and Lowrance in the area but none carry any of the aviation models.

Thanks for the help.

I think the Lowrance AirMap 500 is the best bang for the buck for a
dedicated GPS.

Agreed. Just pray they support it in four years, when something breaks,
however.

Lowrance orphaned my Airmap 300 after just 48 months, and lost me as a
customer forever.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"