Garmin 596 Ideas

"Jay Honeck" wrote

I now know why they use the dinky little screen on the 496 -- anything
bigger won't fit on the dashboard of most cars. Garmin is trying to
make the unit do double (or, with marine, triple) duty, to the
detriment of the aviation mode.

I wonder if Garmin will come out with a new software, or if someone will
make a hack - to make it work in portrait mode, for aviation.
--
Jim in NC

The car is one thing - very nice. But this Mauledriver definitely
appreciates that small screen and overall footprint in the aircraft. I
really struggled to find a place to mount it where it didn't block
anything and yet fell in my natural scan (and didn't require a major
refocus of these aging eyeballs when going from panel mount to
portable). A tall order in the Maule. I finally used a RAM mount on
the LH horizontal ledge and it works great.

How do you guys use or envision using a larger footprint device? I just
don't get it.

PS - I really love this thing!

Jay Honeck wrote:

I now know why they use the dinky little screen on the 496 -- anything
bigger won't fit on the dashboard of most cars. Garmin is trying to
make the unit do double (or, with marine, triple) duty, to the
detriment of the aviation mode.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Check out the Garmin Streetpilot 7500.
7-inch diagonal display already in their product line with XM capability.

How do you guys use or envision using a larger footprint device? I just
don't get it.

RAM mount off to the side of the windscreen, hung from the top of the
windscreen, over the yolk, strapped to my knee...
There are many different ways and places to attach the device.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
The reality is that--while not perfect--the 396/496 are pretty darn good
already. Screen size would seem to be the most obvious improvement.

I've flown around 5 hours with the unit since OSH, and am extremely
happy with it. Every feature you could want (and a few I hadn't
considered) are there -- except for the screen size and the
landscape-only display.

Today I used it in "automotive" mode for the first time, and found it
to be absolutely the coolest thing I've seen. I selected my airport
(while sitting in the driveway at my home), and it gave me turn-by-turn
VERBAL instructions, complete with warnings 0.1 miles ahead of each
turn, right to the terminal building. Very slick and easy.


Speaking of automotive use, a really neat feature would be live traffic
updates, showing traffic jams and suggesting alternate routes. This could
really help commuters in the larger cities which have active traffic
management systems. Also, it would be a safety feature because it would
alert you to traffic jams before you ran up on them doing 80 on the
interstate...

KB


I now know why they use the dinky little screen on the 496 -- anything
bigger won't fit on the dashboard of most cars. Garmin is trying to
make the unit do double (or, with marine, triple) duty, to the
detriment of the aviation mode.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article ,
"Kyle Boatright" wrote:
Speaking of automotive use, a really neat feature would be live traffic
updates, showing traffic jams and suggesting alternate routes. This could
really help commuters in the larger cities which have active traffic
management systems. Also, it would be a safety feature because it would
alert you to traffic jams before you ran up on them doing 80 on the
interstate...


Garmin supports XM NavTraffic in some of their automotive units. Not
sure why they aren't supporting it on the 396/496, other than the fact
that those units are intended primarily as aviation units.



JKG

In a previous article, john smith said:
Here are a few suggestions for the future Garmin GPS-596...
- flat panel package, one-inch thick (max, including battery)
- replaceable Li-ion battery pack; optional AA battery pack
- a five-inch diagonal screen (as on the 530)
- landscape or portrait viewing select
- XM weather and radio
- higher resolution
- faster processor
- ability to download text (NOTAM's, weather)

- geo-referenced approach plates

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
"It's just a cardboard model. Fake security"
"Jeez, that's a first for Microsoft"
- User Friendly

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, john smith said:
Here are a few suggestions for the future Garmin GPS-596...
- flat panel package, one-inch thick (max, including battery)
- replaceable Li-ion battery pack; optional AA battery pack
- a five-inch diagonal screen (as on the 530)
- landscape or portrait viewing select
- XM weather and radio
- higher resolution
- faster processor
- ability to download text (NOTAM's, weather)

- geo-referenced approach plates


Now this is getting exciting!
Jim

Paul Tomblin wrote:

- geo-referenced approach plates

I think the "electronic ink" technology I saw at Oshkosh will be the
solution for that problem. Much better than an active display, and
likely the be driven down in price by consumer volumes. I'm not sure
the tech is quite there yet, but it's not far off...

http://www.eflybook.com/

In article .com,
"Mike Granby" wrote:

Paul Tomblin wrote:

- geo-referenced approach plates

I think the "electronic ink" technology I saw at Oshkosh will be the
solution for that problem. Much better than an active display, and
likely the be driven down in price by consumer volumes. I'm not sure
the tech is quite there yet, but it's not far off...


I don't know, it's really, really nice to have geo-reference plates with
your aircraft position plotted as you fly the approach. I had this
capability with PocketPlates (an AWM product), unfortunately, the
product wasn't stable enough to be usable... but the concept was
impressive.



JKG