Garmin 496 compared to the 396

Fortunately for Garmin, if you want XM weather in a box, they are
currently the only show in town.

vistanav also provides XM weather. It looks like a waaaay bigger bigger
display, too.

If you read my original posts, you'll know why I considered -- and
rejected -- all the tablet-PC-based versions.

Basically it came down to price for a flash-memory based system. $4K-
$5K was just too much, and they were futzy.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Face it -- Garmin just hasn't kept up with the competition in the
crucial area of display design. Worse, the only work-around to using a
too-small display -- slewing around -- doesn't work very well because
of insufficient processing power.

That isn't the only work-around, as pointed out by myself and others.
For some reason, you apparently refuse to acknowledge the alternatives,
which work fairly well.

Something that works "fairly well" isn't what I expect in a $3,000
piece of equipment the size of my son's PSP. Zooming out causes the
target you are searching for to disappear, as that tiny little screen
"declutters" itself. If it DIDN'T do that, all you would see was a
giant glob of gibberish, with the airport names entangled with one
another.

The only solution to that problem is video screen acreage -- period.
The screen is simply too small, and the landscape orientation doesn't
let you see far enough ahead without slewing.

It's a design flaw.

No, it's not. I'm sorry, but while I wish the 396/496 screen was
perhaps twice as big, that still wouldn't solve the "problem" of having
to scroll around. And, I don't believe that the mass aviation market
wants a 7" or 10" or 12" screen in a portable GPS.

Check the sales of Lowrance's Airmap 2000c. THAT is a usably-sized
screen -- and they were selling like hot-cakes at OSH.

Don't get me wrong -- XM weather is awesome, I absolutely love flying
with it, and the 496 is a nice, robust unit. But as soon as Garmin (or
anyone else) comes out with a larger screened version, you'll see
hundreds of 396s/496s on Ebay, overnight.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Fortunately for Garmin, if you want XM weather in a box, they are
currently the only show in town.

vistanav also provides XM weather. It looks like a waaaay bigger bigger
display, too.

If you read my original posts, you'll know why I considered -- and
rejected -- all the tablet-PC-based versions.

well, I thought I did read them, but that was, what, four days ago.
You expect me to remember that far back? :-)

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:
Something that works "fairly well" isn't what I expect in a $3,000
piece of equipment the size of my son's PSP. Zooming out causes the
target you are searching for to disappear, as that tiny little screen
"declutters" itself. If it DIDN'T do that, all you would see was a
giant glob of gibberish, with the airport names entangled with one
another.

Zooming out--even to hundreds of miles--still shows the state outlines,
and presumably you know where your "target" is in the appropriate state.
Zoom out, position the target on the appropriate location, zoom in, and
repeat progressively until you've acquired your target. Alternately, if
your target is in your flight plan route, just select it and hit "enter"
to view the weather. It isn't "perfect," but I'm not sure of a better
solution; you would need something like a 46" wide-screen to maintain a
practical high detail display over long distances.



Check the sales of Lowrance's Airmap 2000c. THAT is a usably-sized
screen -- and they were selling like hot-cakes at OSH.

The AirMap 2000c has a slightly larger screen, but actually displays
LESS on that big screen because of its lower resolution. The big
selling point to the Lowrance units is price. However, I suspect that
Garmin far outsells Lowrance with portable aviation GPS units.

One point I will give to Lowrance is that they have the screen oriented
the right way. I don't care so much what's on my sides as I do what's
in front of me, and the Garmin units are lacking with the landscape
orientation of the display.



with it, and the 496 is a nice, robust unit. But as soon as Garmin (or
anyone else) comes out with a larger screened version, you'll see
hundreds of 396s/496s on Ebay, overnight.

That's always the case, and it has nothing to do with a larger screen.
There are plenty of 396 units on the used market because folks want the
"latest and greatest."

I would love to see a larger screen version of the 396/496, but it can't
be so large that it is cumbersome, and even a screen twice the size as
that of the 396/496 will still require some manipulation to see
conditions over longer distances. It is always going to be a compromise.



JKG

I would love to see a larger screen version of the 396/496, but it can't
be so large that it is cumbersome, and even a screen twice the size as
that of the 396/496 will still require some manipulation to see
conditions over longer distances. It is always going to be a compromise.

On this, we agree.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
If you set detail levels to so that Joliet doesn't disappear at that
zoom level, you can't see it, cuz it's buried in too many airports.

Would you like some cheese with that whine?


Yes. For $3000, I should be able to demand any cheese I'd like.

Face it -- Garmin just hasn't kept up with the competition in the
crucial area of display design. Worse, the only work-around to using a
too-small display -- slewing around -- doesn't work very well because
of insufficient processing power.

It's a design flaw.

Fortunately for Garmin, if you want XM weather in a box, they are
currently the only show in town.

Yes, exactly. So they can extract whatever price we are willing to pay. We both
voted with our wallets. When the competition comes out, Garmin will either adapt
or die.

Anyway, all designs are a compromise. Bigger displays demand more power, bigger
batteries, shorter battery life, faster processors (which in turn demand more
power...). A bigger display mounted on a yoke hides the instruments behind it. A
bigger display increases manufacturing cost.

It's all driven my the manufacturer's desire to maximize the bottom line,
including his perception of customer demand. I think Garmin pretty much hit the
sweet spot with this design, and I think that's been reinforced by their
marketing susccess. You may disagree. OK. You're free to vote often with your
wallet.

Jay Honeck wrote:

I would love to see a larger screen version of the 396/496, but it can't
be so large that it is cumbersome, and even a screen twice the size as
that of the 396/496 will still require some manipulation to see
conditions over longer distances. It is always going to be a compromise.


On this, we agree.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Thank God! I thought I was going to have to separate you two!

(Insert big silly grin here).

Cheers,
Mike

""I would love to see a larger [.....], but it can't be so large that it is
cumbersome, and even a [.....] twice the size as [.....] will still require
some manipulation to see [......] longer [......]. It is always going to be
a compromise.""

"On this, we agree."

Thank God! I thought I was going to have to separate you two!

(Insert big silly [....] here).


My thoughts, exactly. :-)


Montblack

On this, we agree.

Thank God! I thought I was going to have to separate you two!

(Insert big silly grin here).

Shoot, Jonathan and I are just gentleman sparring partners. It's that
Butler guy we've got to keep an eye on...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"