New Garmin 396

"Peter R." wrote:

Information is scanty, though. How many of the WxWorx features will be
displayed on the 396? I know it will do NEXRAD, but what about, METARs,
TAFs, lightning, etc?

Here is a relevant quote to Sportys product page (and a marketing email
from them I received today):

Thanks.

Now I'd like to see Garmin post some close-up screen shots on their site.

Dan Luke wrote:

Now I'd like to see Garmin post some close-up screen shots on their site.

That link I posted has a tab that takes you to additional pictures, and all
of those pictures are close-up screen shots.

--
Peter
























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Richard Kaplan wrote:
What PDA solution can you buy with this capability for $2,500 including the
PDA?


Actually it seems to me that this is about what most of the PDA rigs
cost. In theory, you get the added benefit of being able to gain new
capabilities by purchasing a $300 software upgrade rather than a new
$1500 all-in-one gizmo. In practice, someone who bought a Controlvision
system two years ago would likely buy a new PDA if he were to upgrade
to today's latest. Still, you're looking at a little less money.

OTOH, even though I *like* gadgetry, I've heard just enough grumbling
about freezing issues and the like on the CV forums to give me pause
about whether I want to mess with such things while flying. Here, the
Garmin approach wins, and solidly.

-cwk.

wrote about freezing issues and the like on the CV
forums to give me pause
about whether I want to mess with such things while flying. Here, the
Garmin approach wins, and solidly.

That is absolutely true... not to mention no dealing with power cables,
bluetooth, configuring windows, etc. etc.


--------------------
Richard Kaplan

www.flyimc.com

"Richard Kaplan" wrote:

Here, the
Garmin approach wins, and solidly.

That is absolutely true... not to mention no dealing with power cables,
bluetooth, configuring windows, etc. etc.

Anybody want to buy my complete bluetooth WxWorx setup including a damn nice
Sony VAIO notebook pc?

--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

In a previous article, "Dan Luke" said:
Anybody want to buy my complete bluetooth WxWorx setup including a damn nice
Sony VAIO notebook pc?

Sure, if it's less than $1000. :-)


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the situation.

"Richard Kaplan" wrote in message
news:1120746983.96c8ea236aee82fdb45a0f6f90deb804@t eranews...


wrote about freezing issues and the like on the
CV
forums to give me pause
about whether I want to mess with such things while flying. Here, the
Garmin approach wins, and solidly.

That is absolutely true... not to mention no dealing with power cables,
bluetooth, configuring windows, etc. etc.

Only thing that gives me pause, is the size. That is a slew of info, for
the same size display as earlier models. Seems like it should be at least
25%, if not 50% larger, for that much money and features.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in message

Only thing that gives me pause, is the size. That is a slew of info, for
the same size display as earlier models. Seems like it should be at least
25%, if not 50% larger, for that much money and features.

That is a good point but then again there are some cockpits where it is
already hard to fit a 296; anything bigger and the GPS would simply not work
in some cockpits. So there is a tradeoff to be made.


--------------------
Richard Kaplan

www.flyimc.com

The size is fine. I dont think I would want my 296 any bigger.
"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Richard Kaplan" wrote in message
news:1120746983.96c8ea236aee82fdb45a0f6f90deb804@t eranews...


wrote about freezing issues and the like on the
CV
forums to give me pause
about whether I want to mess with such things while flying. Here, the
Garmin approach wins, and solidly.

That is absolutely true... not to mention no dealing with power cables,
bluetooth, configuring windows, etc. etc.

Only thing that gives me pause, is the size. That is a slew of info, for
the same size display as earlier models. Seems like it should be at least
25%, if not 50% larger, for that much money and features.
--
Jim in NC

In article 1120746983.96c8ea236aee82fdb45a0f6f90deb804@teran ews,
"Richard Kaplan" wrote:
forums to give me pause
about whether I want to mess with such things while flying. Here, the
Garmin approach wins, and solidly.

That is absolutely true... not to mention no dealing with power cables,
bluetooth, configuring windows, etc. etc.


No dealing with power cables? Do these things run on fuel cells?

You will still have at least two cables running from the GPS: one for
power and one for the antenna. That's a greater number of cables than
are presently running to my PDA, using Bluetooth to the XM receiver and
GPS with a competing software product. As someone else pointed out, you
will have a $2500 paperweight when the a new version with new
capabilities is released, if you want those new capabilities. And, as
far as I know, you can't take the 396 out of your airplane, pop it into
your back pocket, and jump on the WiFi network when you get to the
airport/hotel/restaurant, etc. I found the WiFi capability of even a
PDA to be very helpful for simple things like checking weather, filing
flight plans, etc. on a recent trip. Didn't have to lug the laptop
around.

That all being said, Garmin produces a very good, polished navigation
system that is hard to beat--in my opinion, none of the PDA-based
software products does navigation as cleanly. I wouldn't be surprised
if Garmin has implemented all of the XM weather features on the 395, but
I haven't seen confirmation. Garmin's development resources are much
greater than most of the PDA-based competitors.

As far as interfacing for TIS display, I wonder for how much longer this
will be a useful feature? Has anyone been able to confirm the reported
plans to start turning down TIS sites? I'm not sure that I'd invest in
a GTX330 at this point with TIS on its way out, but if you have one
already, it's certainly a selling point.



JKG