On Apr 9, 10:18*am, Nathan Young wrote:
On Wed, 9 Apr 2008 10:09:31 -0700 (PDT), Longworth





wrote:

I got an email today from air power, inc (www.factoryengines.com)
announcing that they have a program to allow pilots to buy, rent or
try (for free for 30 days) Garmin GPSs. * The rental fee for Garmin
396 is $35/month and 496 is $45/month with the first 3 rental payments
applied toward purchase the purchase prices ($1795 for 396 and $2395
for the 496). *I'm curious on whether there are other outfits who also
offer GPS rental and how do they stack up in comparison to air power's
offer.

I have seen recent ads for the Avmap GeoPilot II Plus mentioning an
optional XMweather antenna but with no price and/or availability. *I
hope to hear Sun-n-Fun's *report of its sighting. *If I have to wait
for a while for a GPS with bigger XM weather display than the Garmin's
option, I may consider renting the Garmin for long cross country trips
this summer. *$35/month for the Garmin 396 is a bargain. *The Jeppesen
database update for my Lowrance 1000 cost about the same!

Hai Longworth

Hai,

I have been testing a similar 296/396 rental program at my local FBO,
and plan on rolling it out nationally via FedEx deliveries.

Unless it is just a short term incentive program, I don't see how they
can make money on the 396 and 496 pricing. *XM Satellite weather is
$50/month.

I would buy a 496 tomorrow if I could get "trip" XM weather. Its just
not worth it for me to pay $50 every month. When I fly I often take
long trips (Mexico, Central America, etc) but then I get back and
don't fly for a month or so (at least not far enough to justify XM).

-robert