New Garmin Handheld

After I sent that post I realized that having terrain data might not
resonate with you :-).

The attributes of the 296 that appeal to me (and I suspect others) a

Color/ Terrain/Battery Life. It appears from your link that the AvMap has
to be plugged in. No other handheld has terrain to my knowledge.

Automobile functionality.

Marine functionality.

Consider that people are spending $750 for comparable automobile navagation
and the value will appear better. Also many people only use a handheld GPS
as a backup in the airplane and would use it more in their car/boat than in
the airplane.

Mike
MU-2

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:zRq8c.88732$po.683130@attbi_s52...
The 296 has terrain.

That's neat (well, not much use to me around here!), but the AvMap has
every
instrument approach, runway diagram, and radio frequency -- all depicted
on
a superior, giant (relatively speaking) color screen that is viewable in
direct sunlight.

For less money.

I just think Garmin will have to come down in price, or AvMap is will eat
their lunch.

And watch for AvMap to come out with terrain, just to "keep up"...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Paul Tomblin wrote:
Have you seen one of these in person? According to their web site, they
don't have a US distributor. The pictures they show on the web site show
a pretty ugly user interface, but maybe that's just an impression. I'd
want to try it out before I bought it.

Someone posted information that SPORTYs website was diplaying it last week.

Jay Honeck wrote:

The 296 has terrain.


That's neat (well, not much use to me around here!), but the AvMap has every
instrument approach, runway diagram, and radio frequency -- all depicted on
a superior, giant (relatively speaking) color screen that is viewable in
direct sunlight.

I have all that on my PDA without having that god awful giant computer
to wrestle around. The software also paints an extended centerline to
any runway you choose. You can also set the approach end of any runway
as your destination. If you'd like you can have it tell you when to
descend, at whatever rate you'd like, to end up at what ever altitude
you'd like, at whatever distance from the airport you'd like. I also
have terrain but don't find that to be useful, and I fly in the
mountains. I also have obstructions but you have to be careful not to
let the screen get too cluttered. All in full color. All for less than
$500. Plus it can wirelessly access the internet. Also I am reading a
book on it now too with Microsoft Reader.



For less money.

I just think Garmin will have to come down in price, or AvMap is will eat
their lunch.

Avmap has no shot at the Garmin. They aren't competitors. Nobody who
is looking for a handheld looks at the Avmap. It's just way too damn
big. Avmap could sell that thing for $600 and not do any damage to
Garmins market share.

"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
link.net...
After I sent that post I realized that having terrain data might not
resonate with you :-).

The attributes of the 296 that appeal to me (and I suspect others) a

Color/ Terrain/Battery Life. It appears from your link that the AvMap has
to be plugged in. No other handheld has terrain to my knowledge.

Automobile functionality.

Marine functionality.

Consider that people are spending $750 for comparable automobile
navagation
and the value will appear better. Also many people only use a handheld
GPS
as a backup in the airplane and would use it more in their car/boat than
in
the airplane.

$750? It's two GRAND on an Acura TL!!

I attended a Garmin sales pitch, inaccurately advertised as a training
session, and the rep admitted that battery life is a problem with the 296
color display.

How many hours is it good for?

Given that it's rechargable, this may not be such a problem.

(Certainly not in the J-3

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (requires authentication)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Of course, street price for the Garmin will be less -- but it'll have to be
a LOT less to effectively compete.

They've been able to hold up the price on the 196. The only place I've
seen it discounted is Sporty's, where you pay street price but get
five percent off if you use the AOPA credit card.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (requires authentication)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Jay Honeck wrote:
That's neat (well, not much use to me around here!), but the AvMap has every
instrument approach, runway diagram, and radio frequency -- all depicted on
a superior, giant (relatively speaking) color screen that is viewable in
direct sunlight.

My 195 has all the approaches, runway diagrams, frequencies, etc. I think
all Garmin aviation GPSs have had all those things, for many years. Not
everyone wants that oversized AvMap beast in their cockpit. I cut out a
piece of paper to the dimensions of the AvMap, and sat in my plane with
it. It's way to big. But, to each his own.


For less money.
I just think Garmin will have to come down in price, or AvMap is will eat
their lunch.

I doubt it. Garmin name recognition, it's excellent GPS engine, and their
huge selection of different GPSs (aviation and non-aviation) will probably
keep them in front of the competition for many years. Plus, the 296's
price will come down, once the excitement subsides.

--- Jay


--

__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com

But will the 296 finally bring the street price of the 196 down? That's
still my target.

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

Of course, street price for the Garmin will be less -- but it'll have to
be
a LOT less to effectively compete.

They've been able to hold up the price on the 196. The only place I've
seen it discounted is Sporty's, where you pay street price but get
five percent off if you use the AOPA credit card.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (requires authentication)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

"jsmith" wrote in message ...
I wonder how much a spare Li-Ion battery will cost? Is it propietary or
industry standard?

Mike Rapoport wrote:

http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap296/#
Pretty cool!


Don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is proprietary. Their memory
cards are proprietary and obscenely expensive compared to standard types of
flash memory cards.

Have you seen one of these in person? According to their web site, they
don't have a US distributor. The pictures they show on the web site show
a pretty ugly user interface, but maybe that's just an impression. I'd
want to try it out before I bought it.

I have one mounted in between my ram-horn yokes -- so, yep, I see one every
few days, in person!

The AvMap is sold by every major avionics company, including Pacific Coast
Avionics, Gulf Coast avionics, Aircraft Spruce, and dozens of others. They
had a record year last year, understandably so.

The user interface is butt-simple, and bulletproof. I've only referred to
the manual a couple of times since buying it last year at Oshkosh.

The AvMap is the best damned piece of equipment in my plane, bar none, and
has changed the way we fly. Because the screen is so large, you can
actually see your entire route of flight -- even on long-ish trips -- with
more than adequate detail.

When I tried that trick using my old Lowrance Airmap 300, all you could see
was a line.

I can't recommend this thing enough. It is just an amazing GPS.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"