Comments interspersed below..

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 12:31:08 -0500, Jonathan Goodish
wrote:

While not ideal, Garmin's solution is certainly more convenient than a
comparable WxWorx + PDA or TabletPC installation.

Agreed... much better....

I suspect that the magnets in the XM receiver were not a mistake,

They were not, they just did not think very much about the aviation
market..

In fact, they did not think at all...

but rather an intentional design element that appeals to the automotive
market.

Correct

Garmin was able to reduce production costs on the receiver by
manufacturing only one type of receiver.

Ummm... a lot of customers would have appreciated it if they had
"saved" the cost of the magnets....

Still, I would have preferred to see a magnetic base that screws on to
the receiver. Such a design element could be easily excluded from the
aviation kits, but included with the automotive kits.


Agreed....


However, I just
don't see why the magnets should be of big practical impact for most
people.

They are not, for MOST customers, but they are aparently an serious
issue with the pilot customers, and should be..


Simply put, it is in the instruction books on flying, boating,
navigation, the manuals for the compasses, (marine & aviation),
placards on instrument panels, even some sunglasses....DO NOT, EVER,
FOR ANY REASON , place ANY object near the magnetic compass, in case
it MIGHT affect it.

Regardless if you or others EVER use it, it is the LAST available
directional instrument available when everything else goes tango
uniform.

I use mine constantly, to set the DG, and to cross check all
directional equipment...

Then, all of a sudden, we have an experienced aviation manufacturer
BUILD magnets in a device to be placed on the cowl of an aircraft !!

Then when CUSTOMERS complain, with VERY valid reasons to do so,
Garmin says, in effect, leave them in, or void your warranty.... (!)

If Lowrance or any other manufacturer "has to catch up" well, they
have a great opportunity..

The (alleged) leader just stumbled.... big time...

And instead if saying , "oops, sorry, lets fix this now" , they say,
tough, thats the way it is, don't void your warranty.....

Not the best marketing/service strategy in a tight , well connected
market - hmmmm?

.........word travels fast.... (and has)

Dave




and Lowrance does NOT have XM capability.

Yet,...... lately, the DO have a habit of delivering on what they say
they will...

I haven't seen any official comment from Lowrance on an XM-enabled
portable GPS unit.



Being "second" in introducing a new feature is not always a bad
thing..

No, but Garmin has done just about everything right with their
implementation. I hope that Lowrance does bring a unit to market at a
lower price, because I think that XM weather is fantastic, and a
capability that more pilots should employ.