XM question for Garmin 396/496 owers

"Mike" wrote in message
news:EQWsk.782$5C.657@trnddc02...
"Shirl" wrote in message
...
Jay, thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough answer to my
question. I hadn't seen your previous review of the 496. I haven't done
the kind of long/far x-c flying that requires having weather on board,
so I haven't had the weather-related needs from the GPS. I've heard the
complaint about the small screen and also about seeing the color screen
in the sun, but I haven't experienced problems in either of those areas.
A friend showed me the Lowrance, and I have to agree, the size of that
screen is terrific; but in a small, tandem-seat cockpit, there isn't as
much room, either...the Garmin fits perfectly. I'm not sure where I
could put the Lowrance and have it be as out of the way yet readily
visible. I'd love to try the Lowrance or AvMap one day, though.

What you should understand is that Jay's opinion regarding the 496 is very
much in the minority. Everyone else I've heard of would never consider
going from a Garmin product to any of the others he mentioned. The
interface to the 496 is far more intuitive than any of the others he
mentioned, and as you've already noted, screen size (which is his biggest
complaint) is a non-issue. The scrolling issue is also not a problem for
those who are more concerned with flying the airplane than screwing with a
GPS. Set the thing up and forget about it. Use the nearest function if
you need METAR updates.

mucho snippage

I'm with Jay in preferring Lowrance products over Garmin, primarily because
of the screen aspect ratio. Unfortunately, Lowrance seems to be quitely
abandoning the Aviation GPS market. They are not *telling* anyone they have
stopped developing new products (particularly one with XM), but their
absence in the market with new products is telling.

That said, I prefer the Lowrance 600C over the 2000C. The 2KC is just too
darned big for my cockpit. Now if I was in a big 'ol load hauling airplane,
I'd probably have space, but I'm in an RV where space is limited and there
are no yokes.

KB