New Garmin 396

In article 1120931190.ee355d9085f8aa3f59c909d62c3c862e@teran ews,
"Richard Kaplan" wrote:
That is the point... there are only "less cables" with a PDA setup if you
ignore the presence and power needs and size of the XM receiver. I suppose
your rationale does indeed make sense if you use the PDA weather system only
in one plane (presumably which you own) and if you somehow run a permanent
power cable to the XM receiver (which is certainly doable though awkward).

For the market of renter pilots -- which is quite substantial -- a 396 is
much more convenient logistically than a PDA solution.

For a portable weather system--no question about it. However, if you're
an aircraft owner and never move the weather system, it's a moot point.
There's nothing difficult about mounting the XM receiver remotely and
providing power to it. It becomes more difficult if you plan to use it
as a "portable" weather system.




on top of terrain. Additionally the portable GPS can be configured for more
information fields than can fit on just a 430/530, i.e. more ways to depict
ETA, bearing, vertical nav info, etc., etc. The Garmin portable GPS units
also have vertical navigation abilities superior to any PDA, which can be
quite helpful in an emergency. And finally in the event of a total
electrical failure the portable GPS already has the current flight planned
route in its memory with no extra work required of the pilot, making the
electrical failure almost a non-event.

None of this is relevant for renter pilots. If I'm considering a 396
primarily for weather, why wouldn't I use a small TabletPC, which has a
superior display and orientation compared with the 396, and WxWorx on
Wings software, which provides a superior weather display? Throw a
small Bluetooth GPS on the glare shield and you can see where you are in
relation to the weather. Entering a flight plan into a Tablet or PDA
isn't a big deal, and I probably wouldn't hesitate to use the Tablet or
PDA for primary enroute navigation if I had a panel mount that wasn't
doing anything other than navigation anyway.

As for vertical navigation abilities, I'm not exactly sure what you're
referring to that would make a Garmin handheld "superior." I would
think that all of the data relevant for VNAV would be provided by the
GPS, so if I'm using a PDA or TabletPC slaved to a Garmin GPS, I'm not
sure how that would be much different for VNAV guidance than using a
Garmin portable--unless you're referring to specific software features
in the Garmin.

I'm not saying there aren't advantages to the Garmin portables, but if I
had an IFR panel mount, I'm not sure that I'd run out and drop $2500 on
a Garmin portable just so that it can sync my flight plan. If I was a
renter pilot, the 396 would be an ideal system due to its easy
portability. If I was an owner serious about certified weather uplink
and features not available on the 430/530, I think I'd investigate
selling the 430/530 and buying another certified system that can better
serve my needs.

That all being said, if I was considering the purchase of a portable
GPS/weather system today, irrespective of what's in my panel, I would
have to seriously consider the 396--I might even run out and buy it.
However, I resisted buying the 296 and its predecessors due to the lousy
screens and poor "landscape" screen orientation. I still have my GPSMAP
195, and it is still a fantastic GPS after all these years, but it has
no obstacles, terrain, or weather capability, so it has been relegated
to storage.



JKG