Better mount/cabling
engineering is needed, too.

Good point about the cabling! I forgot how horribily the power cable end is
engineered to fit into the back of the 396. That is a known weak point and
fails frequently. I am on my third power cable. Garmin asked no questions
and just sent me a new one.

I hope my postings are not an indication that I am dissatisfied with the
396. Quite the contrary...I love the unit and all the functionality that it
brings to the cockpit for the cost. I just hope there's room for the
improvements I mentioned without driving the cost up over 3,000.00. Other
than the touch screen, most of what I want should be able to be done with
new software, albeit it would also then need a faster processor and more
memory.

Kobra