Garmin 296

"Newps" wrote in message
...
I actually placed an order for a 296 from JA Aircenter. They don't have
any, supposed to get one in this week to send to me. Then today I had a
guy from the Beech list who was going to trade his in to JA Aircenter send
me an email. End result is JA loses a sale and I get a 296 for $1000
instead of the $1300 they charge.




Paul Tomblin wrote:

In a previous article, Newps said:

I'm going to buy a 296 this week. Is there any reason not to buy a used
unit from these discount houses like JA Air Center? Did Garmin
improve the processor or make any changes that would make a new unit
preferable to a used unit?


I bought a 296 on eBay a few weeks before the 496 came out. At the time,
Aircraft Spruce and Specialty had a page saying they had used 296s for
sale, but it wasn't until after you placed the order that they admitted
that they really meant that there was some possibility they might get one
as a trade in at some time in the future, and if they did, they would
definitely keep you in mind if you were first in line. I was pretty damn
****ed that they didn't make that clear before you placed the order. I
cancelled the order and bought on eBay.


Understand you are a Garmin guy, but a new Lowrance 2000C can be had from
Avionics West for $689, seems like a good deal to me when a second hand G296
is $1000.

Just a thought.

Kevin

Newps wrote:

I'm going to buy a 296 this week. Is there any reason not to buy a used
unit from these discount houses like JA Air Center? Did Garmin
improve the processor or make any changes that would make a new unit
preferable to a used unit?

They changed the LCD panel about April 06 on the 276C, did the same
happen on the 296 (same hardware). The new one is much brighter. They
made no noise about this, and you can only tell by the MPN. For a 276C
this is 010-00331-01 for the old one, and 010-00331-51 for the new.

I guess we'll see. Mine will be here on Monday.



Gilbert Smith wrote:
Newps wrote:


I'm going to buy a 296 this week. Is there any reason not to buy a used
unit from these discount houses like JA Air Center? Did Garmin
improve the processor or make any changes that would make a new unit
preferable to a used unit?


They changed the LCD panel about April 06 on the 276C, did the same
happen on the 296 (same hardware). The new one is much brighter. They
made no noise about this, and you can only tell by the MPN. For a 276C
this is 010-00331-01 for the old one, and 010-00331-51 for the new.