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#1
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Goodbye, AvMap...
Well, we've now flown behind the Garmin 496 for 10 weeks, and around 20
flights, and we've decided that -- despite having an awful screen and a slow processor -- we'll keep it. The fantastic benefits of having on-board weather simply outweigh the painful truth that the 496 represents a bad compromise in an aviation GPS display. We thought about keeping our favorite GPS -- the AvMap EKP-IIIC Gold -- on the copilot's yoke, but we've already got the Lowrance 2000c planted there. The 2000c represents the best value in GPS today, with a screen nearly as large as the AvMap's, at a fraction of the price. It's also current technology and a current model, which means that it will be supported (I hope!) by Lowrance for a while longer. Thus, sadly, we've decided to sell the AvMap. If only those stupid *******s at AvMap had come out with XM weather, like they promised at OSH '05, we'd have kept the unit forever. It is still hand's down, head & shoulders the finest moving map display I've seen in a portable GPS -- it's a far better display than either the 2000c or the 496 -- and we hate to part with it. Buy I've simply got no use for it, now. It's on Ebay right now. See it here, if you're interested: http://makeashorterlink.com/?W186264FD -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#2
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Goodbye, AvMap...
Jay Honeck wrote:
Well, we've now flown behind the Garmin 496 for 10 weeks, and around 20 flights, and we've decided that -- despite having an awful screen and a slow processor -- we'll keep it. The fantastic benefits of having on-board weather simply outweigh the painful truth that the 496 represents a bad compromise in an aviation GPS display. We thought about keeping our favorite GPS -- the AvMap EKP-IIIC Gold -- on the copilot's yoke, but we've already got the Lowrance 2000c planted there. The 2000c represents the best value in GPS today, with a screen nearly as large as the AvMap's, at a fraction of the price. It's also current technology and a current model, which means that it will be supported (I hope!) by Lowrance for a while longer. Thus, sadly, we've decided to sell the AvMap. If only those stupid *******s at AvMap had come out with XM weather, like they promised at OSH '05, we'd have kept the unit forever. It is still hand's down, head & shoulders the finest moving map display I've seen in a portable GPS -- it's a far better display than either the 2000c or the 496 -- and we hate to part with it. Buy I've simply got no use for it, now. It's on Ebay right now. See it here, if you're interested: http://makeashorterlink.com/?W186264FD -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" What do you think the reoccuring cost for the 496 is going to be to keep the weather, database, etc? -- Regards, Ross C-172F 180HP KSWI |
#3
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Goodbye, AvMap...
Ross Richardson wrote:
What do you think the reoccuring cost for the 496 is going to be to keep the weather, database, etc? Google for my contribution to the thread "Garmin 396 vs 496" just a few days ago. Dave |
#4
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Goodbye, AvMap...
What do you think the reoccuring cost for the 496 is going to be to keep
the weather, database, etc? $50 per month for weather, unless we downgrade to the $30/month version over the winter. We'll probably update the other databases at OSH every year. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#5
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Goodbye, AvMap...
496 and a slow processor? Garmin are making a big deal out of it being
5x faster screen update etc. I know. I simply can't imagine flying behind a 396, if these claims are true. What Garmin doesn't tell you is this: The re-draw rate as you fly along is fine. Nothing to write home about, but okay. But just try to skew your cursor ahead of your route, to check out the weather! Here's how it goes: Skew...cursor disappears....screen goes blank...count to 3....cursor reappears....screen reappears....cursor disappears....screen disappears...count to 3...ad nauseum... Your only other option is to zoom out far enough to see your route of flight -- but then most of the reporting stations disappear, because the screen is so dinky! (If it didn't declutter, it would be one blob of triangles...) Your only hope at that point is to move your cursor to where you THINK the next reporting station ought to be, and zoom back in, hoping that you're pretty close. THEN you can check the weather -- IF you guessed right. If you guessed wrong, start skewing...or zoom back out and guess again. We find ourselves simply not checking the weather ahead, cuz it's so clumsy to use. It's ridiculous, and it's not what I expected in a unit that cost almost $3000. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#6
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Goodbye, AvMap...
Jay still commenting about the slow slew rate of his new Garmin 496:
Skew...cursor disappears....screen goes blank...count to 3....cursor reappears....screen reappears....cursor disappears....screen disappears...count to 3...ad nauseum... The 396 is about the same. I don't believe the faster refresh rate of the 496 makes this any better. The faster refresh appears to be mainly limited to the updates of the rotation of the map as you turn and the faster response of the little airplane in the turn coordinator on the panel page. Scrolling and slewing around appear to be about the same (delay) in both units. However, I tried them at different times. If anyone has both models in the same place at the same time to test please report back to the group if there is a significant difference. I will say that I only get the blank screen and wait when I move the cursor initially just a little. After I have the redrawn screen, I can slide around that screen without any more blanking provided I stay on that screen. Once I slide off the screen it goes into the blank out mode again. Jay, is that what yours does? Mike |
#7
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Goodbye, AvMap...
Peter,
have been trying hard to establish the 396 v 496 difference, for European use where there is no airborne weather. Unfortunately none of the vendors I spoke to seems to know anything about it (they aren't pilots, for a start). Didn't we speak about this extensively? You didn't give the impression that you were still lacking any information. If so, ask away. -- Thomas Borchert (EDDH) |
#8
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Goodbye, AvMap...
Peter,
I have been trying hard to establish the 396 v 496 difference, for European use where there is no airborne weather. Oh, the key thing with regard to this is, of course: There is no European version of the 396. Simple as that. The 496, however, is available in a version without weather. But, as I told you before, the unit that really fits your mission description 100 percent is the Lowrance Airmap 600c, or the 2000c. -- Thomas Borchert (EDDH) |
#9
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Goodbye, AvMap...
The Avmap EKP IV seems nicer (big screen for a start) but even fewer
people here know anything about it. Isn't that odd? AvMap is a European product. Here's my take: If you can't get weather on the 496 in Europe, run -- don't walk -- to the AvMap IV instead. It is head and shoulders, 1000 times better at being a GPS than the 496. If only AvMap would overlay XM weather on that beautiful screen! My 496 would be on Ebay in 10 seconds... :-( -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#10
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Goodbye, AvMap...
I will say that I only get the blank screen and wait when I move the
cursor initially just a little. After I have the redrawn screen, I can slide around that screen without any more blanking provided I stay on that screen. Once I slide off the screen it goes into the blank out mode again. Jay, is that what yours does? Yes, it works that way -- provided you stay on that screen. When I'm on a long cross country flight, however -- say, from Iowa to Michigan -- and I want to check current weather at my destination, that's gonna require slewing (not skewing -- d'oh!) "across" several screens. Cursor disappear...screen goes blank...count to 3....screen reappears, slew across tiny little 3-inch screen...cursor disappears...screen goes blank....count to 3.... Or you can zoom out, reposition the cursor, and zoom back in, hoping that you've placed your cursor in approximately the right spot. If not, zoom out, and try again! (Or slew...) As long as you're not on a cross country flight, and the weather isn't a factor, this design flaw never comes into play. Of course, that's precisely when you need and want the weather most, is when you're on a long cross country flight... I may have already said this, but the 496 is an outstanding automotive tool, by the way. We used it again the other day to find an obscure address in a tiny town in a different state -- and "Bitchin' Betty" directed me right into the driveway. It's an incredible tool. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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