Going to Alaska next month for the summer.

Looking to upgrade the 'ol Garmin GPS III PIlot.
Works fine but,,,,
I havent updated it for a couple of years now.
The new updates you can only get:

Alaska with Northern half of U.S.
Or
Southern half of U.S.

About $50 for update.

That just sucks.
I would rather keep the old database with everything.
I guess it's a memory thing.

Anyway it sounds like I would really like to have either the 396 or 495/496 but, they are now discontinued.
Garmin will probably support updates for a while but who knows.

So now I am leaning toward the Aera 500 or 550.
If the XM weather worked in AK I would probably go 510 or 560.
But right now it just seems like that option would be a waste.

I do like the idea of terrain though.

I don't really care about the automotive modes or Taxi diagrams


Looking at the website the resolution is better on the 550
Does anyone know if that means it is more accurate, or just prettier looking on the screen?

Also semi considering Bendix AV8or.

Any insights would be helpful

Trent,

I have a 396 and love it. I think the 495/496 are still avail. from Garmin??? Maybe not. Anyhows, I do a $50 update every year at Annual..figure thats good enough for me. You will like any of these units. I have no experience with the touchscreen Garmins but they are going to shove those at us eventually. I would think you would have a few good years with and older unit.

Did you secure some flying work in AK?? Taking the 205 up?? I'm jealous.

Going to take the 205.
Decided to get back into 135 ops.
I'll see if I can scratch out a living during the summer, and head back south in the winter.
(could just wind up being a long vacation)


Been working on getting my 135 cert back since September.
Everything is done except picking up the certificate.

Supposed to pick it up in Reno @ the FSDO on Wednesday.

Knowing what I know now, I would have never given it up in the first place.

Oh well, live and learn.

When ever the 496's came out, I bought one and liked it. When the 696's came out and I got one of those. I even exchanged it once for another one, but I have always had issues with them.

Several different problems with both of my 696's:

1. You can be going along and all your user way points vanish ( about once a long day for me). I use them a lot. The only way to fix is shut down the 696 and re start and that takes a while when you are depending on the guidance.

2. Another thing is the airport air space circles just go away (about once a week for me). And usually when you are weaving around class C's and D's. Same fix, you have to reboot.

3. Less often, but even more important (my wife and I about died over Lake Erie one hazy night because of it). The GPS "locked up". You can't turn it off or anything. The fix is to unplug the cig adaptor AND remove the battery pack.

4. A real pisser was one time it crashed and it permanently wiped out my entire data base ( I have thousands of them for my routes and favorite landing spots.

Going to Alaska I am sure you know the weather and music disappear north of the Canada border on all of them.

It seems like when I need it most, it quits.

Have the Garmin 510 with WX weather and really like it. Have a 496 in another plane but would go with the new Aeros.

So the new Garmins are touch screen?? Does anyone know if that works with gloves on?

denalipilot wrote:So the new Garmins are touch screen?? Does anyone know if that works with gloves on?

FWIW, I have used my 560 with nomex flight gloves and other light work gloves and it works fine, I have not tried it with big thick winter gloves though....

Magnet wrote:Have the Garmin 510 with WX weather and really like it. Have a 496 in another plane but would go with the new Aeros.

So how is the display on the 510 compared to the 496?

Haven't flown with the 496 for about a month but the display with the 510 is larger. I can't see that anything is lost over the 496. Really like the touch screen and it seems easier to use in the cockpit.

With the iPad you can do up your route, take a snapshot and email it to family and friends so they have a starting point for search and rescue!! (hopefully not)

Biggest factor in my opinion is screen brightness. The 496 is bright. The new touch screens are not as bright.
Check Barnstormers for a used 396 or 496. You can't go wrong in my opinion.

Check out the iFlyGPS thread that's running now ... I won't repeat everything from my post there, but be sure and consider the Anywhere Map Quadra (4.3 in) or Septa (7 in). It's not only way cheaper to buy and to cover annual subscriptions than the Garmin (having had two Garmins in my panel), it's also more capable and easier to use.

flightlogic wrote:Check Barnstormers for a used 396 or 496. You can't go wrong in my opinion.

I've had my 496 since 2005 when they first came out, and I love it. I don't see any reason to replace it, other than upgrading for the sake of upgrading. I may dabble in the some of the iPad solutions though, that seems like a promising avenue, and versatile.

I just bought a used 396 with all the accessories through Controller for $600.(there's more where that one came from) My 296 had been almost flawless but I wanted XM Weather and Radio. My 296 will be my backup. Had I not found what I thought was a good deal, I would have considered the new AV8er because of the rave reviews I read about in the eburger newsletter. After spending a lot of money on updates keeping my old Apollo current, I'm sure not wanting to own something that Garmin will end up owning and raping me annually to keep it going.

I have a 295 that works well but recently got the new Garmin 550 AERA. I like it alot. It is very easy to use. I like the touch screen, and the bigger screen is a plus. I am happy with it . The price is a little high but still a excellent choice. The 510 has the radio features but dose not work in Alaska and you have to subscribe to it. They are all good flying tools. SO well worth the money. If you plane on doing alot of flying get one the suits your needs... Happy flying, be safe...

I bought a pre-owned 496 from pilotshop.com a few months ago for $1400 and I can't tell any differnce from a new one that sells for 2k. I just checked the site and it looks like they dropped the price to $1295. They also have pre-owned 396s and 296s for $895 and $650.

http://www.pilotshop.com/gps-for-aviati ... 8_269.html

SE6601KF, I have the 496 and love it, bright, easy to use, etc. I think you can get it for a reasonable price at gpscity.com they are the cheapest GPS dealer I have found around.

Make sure to give me a shout when you come by Whitehorse, Yukon CYXY. Cheers

I wound up getting the Aera 500. $699 from Aircraft Spruce.
It just showed up yesterday.
I havent had a chance to use it yet (except sitting on the couch).
The reception seems to be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the old gps III.
I get good reception inside the house.
On the old gps I had to be against a window in just the right spot for it to work.

I went with a 510 because Dynon Skyview won't have weather probably till next year.