Garmin 496 compared to the 396

Jay Honeck wrote:
If you set detail levels to so that Joliet doesn't disappear at that
zoom level, you can't see it, cuz it's buried in too many airports.

Would you like some cheese with that whine?


Yes. For $3000, I should be able to demand any cheese I'd like.

Face it -- Garmin just hasn't kept up with the competition in the
crucial area of display design. Worse, the only work-around to using a
too-small display -- slewing around -- doesn't work very well because
of insufficient processing power.

It's a design flaw.

Fortunately for Garmin, if you want XM weather in a box, they are
currently the only show in town.

Yes, exactly. So they can extract whatever price we are willing to pay. We both
voted with our wallets. When the competition comes out, Garmin will either adapt
or die.

Anyway, all designs are a compromise. Bigger displays demand more power, bigger
batteries, shorter battery life, faster processors (which in turn demand more
power...). A bigger display mounted on a yoke hides the instruments behind it. A
bigger display increases manufacturing cost.

It's all driven my the manufacturer's desire to maximize the bottom line,
including his perception of customer demand. I think Garmin pretty much hit the
sweet spot with this design, and I think that's been reinforced by their
marketing susccess. You may disagree. OK. You're free to vote often with your
wallet.

Jay Honeck wrote:
My question is for those of you that have tried out both systems. Is the
496 REALLY worth .6 AMU's more than the 396?

The main money difference is the addition of the auto kit. The added
features are the runway layouts for larger airports (that I don't
frequent) and the AOPA directory (in a font size that I would find
impossible to read). The big book does fine for me. Oh yeah, the
"faster" screen refresh.

When I looked around, I saw that recent "factory refurbished" Magellan
auto units can be had for $500 or less with a warranty. I thought that
may make better sense than trying to "secure" my new $2300 396 Garmin
unit once I arrived at my destination. There is NO WAY you would leave
the Garmin in the car while parked in downtown Chicago. So, what are you
supposed to do with it? Carry it around? If they stole a $500 auto unit,
I would be ****ed off at around level 4. Ripping off my 396 (or 496)
would put me around a "9" on the PO Meter.

Others find the delay/blankout and awkward slew annoying. So far, it is
only a minor inconvenience. Guess I don't fly far enough away (Hey, its
a 140, where the heck am I gonna go?)

So, if you really WANT the auto kit and can USE the runway diagrams and
AOPA catalog, the numbers may add up to buy the 496.

I was not too concerned that the 496 came out a couple of weeks after
the 396 purchase. Had I known, I would likely still buy the 396.

Good Luck,
Mike