Ross Richardson wrote:
For those 396/496 owners, what is the annual cost to keep that thing
updated, GPS, EM Weather, etc.

XM weather subscription is either $30 or $50/mo, depending on which
service you prefer ("Aviator" or "Aviator Lite", I think they're
called). I have the $30/mo version.

There are "Jeppesen", "Obstacle" and "Terrain" databases. The Jeppesen
updates are $35 each. There are discounts for longer term subscriptions,
($295/yr for 13 conecutive updates) but I just get a Jepp update every
once in a while, whenever the spirit moves me, maybe a couple of
times/yr. New cycle every 28 days.

Obstacle database is $35, or $195 for 7 consecutive. New cycle every 56
days. Terrain database is $150, no regular update cycle. I've never
updated either of these on my unit.

The automobile database is IIRC $75 and there is a new cycle every
couple of years.

Software/firmware updates are free downloads from garmin.com