Hello All,
I have noticed a big price special in the lowrance airmap 2000c now with terrain. Is anyone using this unit? Can you tell me any reasons why not to get it over a garmin 296 its almost half the price of the 296!! Has any one used both units to compare?
Tracey
m-4

Tracey,

I looked at and nearly purchased the Lowrance. I have been trying to decide on a gps for my plane for the last couple of years. The main reason I had looked at the Lowrance was the big screen. I was making the same decision as you and the problem I had with the Garmin was its small screen size. I'm in that over 40 bracket and have tried using small sceen GPS and I have very hard time seeing the details while getting bounced around in the sky.

The only thing I din't like about the Lowrance was when you zoom in the picture seems fuzzy or blocky looking. Even though that was a negative against the Lowrance I was ready to buy one while at Oshkosh. I was walking around checking prices and I happened to notice the AvMap EKP IV. The screen is 7" and crystal clear. After looking at it for what seemed like hours I ended up buying one for $1300. They also make a smaller model, 5" screen I think, for about the same price as the Lowrance. You may want to look at it before you buy.

Oh, The EKP IV also has the capability of weather ala Garmin 496.

Good Luck,
Keith

XM WX is not a cheap proposition, but really worth having, especially in the summer months.

Just get a Garmin 396/496. There's a reason they sell more of those than ALL the competition does theirs.

MTV

mtv wrote:Just get a Garmin 396/496. There's a reason they sell more of those than ALL the competition does theirs.

MTV

Why I don't a thing about the Lowrance or the EKP IV, I do own a 295 and a 396. I'm afraid some of the reason they sell so well is the same reason Bose sells so many headsets, status and brand recognition. The Garmins are good, but there may be some out there that are as good for less money. Competition is good, time somebody knocked Garmin off of their pedestal.
OK, I shouldn't have compared Garmin to Bose, Garmin is better than that

I was thinking that marketing dollars might be playing a roll in garmins sucess and I would like to have a garmin 496 but I will not be getting one at $2400 any time soon. The Lowrance airmap 2000c is having a special for $630. thats a great price as long as the antenna works and the screen can keep up with the 150 I will be flying for another year.
Tracey

I've been very happy with my Lowrance. It is easy to use and has that nice big screen.

My dad just got a 2000c and I just got a 496. I should be able to give a head to head comparison in a few weeks. So far I am very impressed with the 496. I've used many Garmin units from the eTrex for hiking, and the Nuvi 350 for driving, the GNS 430 and 530, and now the 496. There's just something about the *96 software that is very well done.

A real world comparison sounds great.
Thanks
Tracey

I have the 2000c and basically like it a lot. XM WX doesn't sound that great to me, as I don't fly fast enough or far enough to need much more than what I can see out of the windows. Besides, I've contacted flight watch for help getting around thunderstorms on the eastern Sierra's, only to be told they don't have anything on radar...this is while I'm watching three quarters of the sky turn to poo-poo before my eyes.

The 2000c seems to have some hardware/software glitches. I've sent mine back for replacement once, and I've had to pull the batteries and do a reset a couple times. Customer service has been great, but I still feel there is a reliability issue...enough so that I keep a backup gps in the plane.

What I like about the 2000c is that the screen is not only large, but oriented so you get to see what's coming up, not what's off to your sides.

For the money I think the 2000c is the best gps out there. Again...for the money. As this stuff is only going to get better and cheaper, four times the price for the Garmin seems silly.

trock wrote:I was thinking that marketing dollars might be playing a roll in garmins sucess and I would like to have a garmin 496 but I will not be getting one at $2400 any time soon. The Lowrance airmap 2000c is having a special for $630. thats a great price as long as the antenna works and the screen can keep up with the 150 I will be flying for another year.
Tracey

You can't compare a 496 to a 2000c. A better comparison is with the 296 which are now easy to get fore the same price as the Lowrance.

Bonanza Man wrote:A better comparison is with the 296 which are now easy to get fore the same price as the Lowrance.

I think this is what he was asking for initially. I think I could make a fair comparison by just evaluating the units on their common features.

Yes, i think the 296 is a better comparison to the 2000c. ravi how well does the screen keep up with the flight path when moving? I couldnt find anywhere about lawrence 2000c cpu speed. the 296 is 200 mhz, i beleave. I hope i'm talking tech correctly.
Tracey

This thread is all good timing. having removed our new Garmin 296 from the packaging yesterday, I hope to have it fitted it into the Air Gizmo's Panel dock in the next couple of days. For a basic VFR panel without even a AH, this is going to drag us into the current millennia. Terrain warning functions, oh my, I thought that was what passengers were for.

This appears from first glance, as a pretty intuitive software platform.
I even tried to emulate what it would be like by testing it in the car; snatched glances at the screen and the requisite sweaty palms to make the operation more 'real world'. Oh, sorry, that must just be my real world...

Tracy,
I don't know what the cpu speed on the 2000c, but it refreshes damn fast. You can take the portable antenna and turn it in your hand and watch the plane spin circles on the map. Don't worry about outrunning it in your plane.

The terrain database is nice...you can watch power poles and water towers pop up in front of you like red mushrooms when you point towards them... and it helps paint a picture of where you're at. It will also show you whether you're above, under, or in a chunk of airspace. But don't get the idea that you can squeak through mountain passes at night while looking at the screen. For a lot of reasons that just won't work with any of them.

I have a B&W Garmin 195 as a backup, and honestly I like the ability to fine-tune the Garmin features better than the Lowrance. But after using the color screen for about twenty seconds I never looked at the Garmin again.

A couple friends of mine, for whom money is not an object, chose the 2000c over any of the Garmin models. In fact, one of them bought three 2000c's for various airplanes and boats he owns.

ravi wrote:Tracy,

The terrain database is nice...you can watch power poles and water towers pop up in front of you like red mushrooms when you point towards them... and it helps paint a picture of where you're at. It will also show you whether you're above, under, or in a chunk of airspace. But don't get the idea that you can squeak through mountain passes at night while looking at the screen. For a lot of reasons that just won't work with any of them.

You're actually talking about two separate features. There's terrain, which I find of no use for VFR flying and obstructions. The obstruction database updates I think twice a year and can be purchased for $35 a pop. The terrain database updates yearly I believe and are $150 each.

I have a 2000c with terrain on MLB's side. She likes it. The terrain is much better than the 430. I bought a 496 yesterday at PAMR for 2395 no tax no shipping to replace the 2000c. Sooooooooooooo anybody want a 2000c \terrain for 500 clams lemme know. Or, as always, interesting trades.

hey super dave,i would like to buy your 2000 pm or email at [email protected]

Anybody have any experience or opinions on on the Avmap EXP IV or their Geomap products.

IDplanenut,

I bought the AvMap EKP IV while at Oshkosh and have just started using it. It is GREAT!! I have no complaints so far and I love that BIG screen. I'm not the biggest computer nerd so don't ask me a bunch of technical questions but it is very easy to use and I sure like it better than the Garmin handheld I had been using for years. I'm 48 and my eyes have started that downward trend to usefulness and I always had a hard time seeing the detail on the Garmin screen and I have no regrets about buying te AvMap.

WWhunter