GPS Models -- Pros and Cons

Jay,
The guy that I bought my Garmin 195 from also had a ControlVision setup
for the same price. I asked him which one was better and he unequivocally
recommended the Garmin. He said that although the CV product had some nice
features, it's not as reliable and really is a mess in the cocpit. Sunlight
readability is also a factor he said was an advantage for the Garmin. I
just don't think he was all that impressed with the CV setup, although he
liked the CV software.

Another thing that you should think about is that you will most definitely
not get the kind of service out of HPaq as you will from Garmin or even
Lowrance. At least Garmin or Lowrance will know the product you're talking
about when you call them. When was the last time you heard someone raving
about the quick and cheerful service they got from HP/Compaq/Sony/ et. al. ?
In three years, when the screen fritzes out or your buttons fall out, and
they will, (have you noticed how fragile those things feel at the store?)
don't count on anyone fixing it. This may not be a big deal if you get an
extended warranty on the Ipaq, but I would not expect the reliability of
stand alone GPS's. Another issue is that you won't be able to sell the CV
setup on eBay for half of what you paid for it, which you can do with the
stand alone GPS's.

However, there are some really nice features that CV offers that make me
think twice about getting it, like the backup solid state AI that can
interface to it. Maybe it would make sense for you, since you own your
plane and can keep the wire clutter down by judicious use of velcro. Your
call. But my gut feeling is that you would be happier with a less
complicated setup, and that points to the stand alone units.

Did this help?

-Aviv


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:K_DSa.107706$ye4.80571@sccrnsc01...
I've been leaning towards a Garmin 196 to replace our ailing Lowrance
Airmap
300. However, now that Garmin has announced they are no longer going to
support the Garmin 90, it appears that they are no better at support than
Lowrance -- who recently "orphaned" my Airmap from all technical support.
(This occurred right before it started acting flaky, naturally.)

So, I'm now thinking about one of these Compaq Ipaq/GPS combinations. One
of our guests at the inn gave me a 15 minute "tour" of his, and I was
fairly
impressed with:

- The color screen.
- The strength of the software.
- The fact that it just doesn't sit in the plane, but is actually useful
beyond flying.

Apparent downsides we

- The screen didn't look bright enough in direct sunlight
- The "pen" interface seemed like a tough thing to handle, especially in
turbulence.
- The clutter of wires in the cockpit sounds like a mess.

What says the group? Anyone out there care to comment on the various
strengths and weaknesses? I've only got about ten days left to make up my
mind!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"