I find the LX V7 Vario to be very intuitive and solid. Price to performance is very hard to argue with.

I considered the ClearNav vario at first but it seemed to take a very long time to develop...which made me wonder. After years of waiting, the CN vario was STILL was not ready at the SSA convention (RENO) last winter where I bought a V7 at a nice price. I knew ClearNav changed software developers mid stream which can never be a good sign.

In terms of performance, all the modern variometers use multiple accelerometers and custom algorithms to maximize the accuracy, smoothness etc of the instrument. They all should be a step ahead of the older generation units. So the folks claiming it is smooth, etc vs. their 302's are not really saying much in comparison to all modern vario's currently available. They are all better, smoother, more advanced than the older vario's. The question is who has used them all and made any quantitative analysis of what one performs better. Answer: nobody has. Subjective at best here.

Also, the ClearNav vario is a bit boring and "plain Jane." Basically a 302 look. No color, no modern UI. The V7 shows me 4 key pieces of vario information (electronic needles in addition to a mechanical needle) at once via symbols as well as numeric information. The ClearNav vario is a upgraded 302 with the same single mechanical needle and a couple numeric readouts. Not a ground up new vario in my opinion. No UI advancements.

It is clear to me that the Butterfly vario is the most powerful vario instrument available, and also the latest to be developed although all of the manufactures are constantly refining their firmware (improving or fixing errors). From what I have heard it is really nice. But at $3500 it is very expensive. An entire LX 8000 or 8080 flight computer (including essentially a V7 vario...V5 in this case) is $5000. I was close to buying the Butterfly.

For what it's worth I chose a V7 and for $1500 bucks it has been excellent. I run it with a Colibri II (GPS) and a Dell Streak 5 running XC Soar. This combination is a exceptional set-up in a racing glider. And also VERY affordable.

Sean
F2

On Saturday, September 22, 2012 11:58:15 AM UTC-4, Craig R. wrote:
In your opinion, what was the best performing vario you have ever used? Specifically, the one that got you centered in and to the top of the thermal in the least amount of time.



Let's ignore products because they have the latest "bells and whistles" add ons, latest technology, sexy appearances, or best computer processor. Basic performance is the only criteria.



I've heard some say the legacy Cambridge units and some say the Sage mechanical.



Which unit did it for you?