Now, I pretty much fully agree with you
.
I have a 396, and bought it after the 496 came out. I just didn't see an extra $800 worth of features there, since I don't hardly ever go to airports big enough to need a GPS to find my way around. Oh, sure, phone numbers are nice, as well, but I can set up my tent and camp out if need be.
The 396, however, via the nexrad radar and metars, gives me the long range planning information that I really appreciate. Last summer, I chose NOT to head into the high country because of what I saw on the nexrad, and stopped somewhere I preferred to be, as opposed to camping out. Next morning, everything was clear and off I went.
Working around lines of TStorms is HUGE, even in the mountains. Once those mothers start to develop, even if you can only see the tops, it'll tell you for sure where you DON'T want to go.
Anyone who uses these things for penetrating severe weather is fooling themselves, frankly, and may well come to grief one day.
The terrain information I find to be a pain in the butt in mountainous terrain. The only time I pay much attention to it is in the flatlands--cause there are a LOT of towers out here. Not every tower is on that database, but many are. I won't get comfy, thinking it'll help me miss every tower, but I'll take all the help I can get.
I'm with GUMP re: this information. The key, as he noted, though is to use these things as a VERIFICATION of what you think you already know, not as primary information.
MTV
