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Touch Screen or NOT to Touch Screen

gmcjetpilot

Well Known Member
Touch screen a must have option?

Dynon Horizon 10.1 Touch worth vs the non touch with the premium (about $275). Never used one but what is the difference. How handy is the touch (I am guessing very handy). Other wise I assume you are limited to using the buttons and menus only.
 
I prefer a no-touch screen! Unless it is dead calm, touch screens are a real pain IMHO. I suggest you try before you buy :cool:
 
I don't have the GRT Horizon EFIS. I have both an AFS (Dynon) 5000 series EFIS with touch and a legacy AFS 3500 EFIS for moving map display (non-touch). Yes, a touch screen can be harder to use in bumpy air, but you still have the buttons. IMHO, having the additional touch screen capability is well worth the 7% increase in price for being able to use when bumpy air isn't a problem. I'd pop for the $275 without a second thought.
 
I didn’t think I would like the touch screens, I was afraid there would be fingerprints that would drive me crazy.. I was wrong, I love the touch screens!
 
A touch screen can be used with buttons. A non touch can only be used with buttons. $275 is a pretty small premium and if you ever go to sell, you will have to discount the price by much more than that.
 
Touch screen a must have option?

Dynon Horizon 10.1 Touch worth vs the non touch with the premium (about $275). Never used one but what is the difference. How handy is the touch (I am guessing very handy). Other wise I assume you are limited to using the buttons and menus only.

I have the Skyview touch and wouldn’t be without it. I’ve used the same in the non touch variant and my strong preference is the touch. Well worth the extra $.
 
Touch screen life span ?

No bias here about touch screen convenience. I have had Ifly 720,740 and g3x.
Cell phones, tablets and my Ifly 720 screen die. So does any expert here have a comment on touch life expectancy vs non touch ?
 
I find when light to moderate chop, touching stuff on the screen is manageable. Just anchor a thump on edge of display so hand is fixed to display and following the chop. Where Touch screen experience sucks in chop is on iPads and iPhones when trying to do two finger stuff like zooming in/out.
More than moderate chop all bets off and use the buttons.
As Larry mentions above, I would pick based on reliability. I have had several touch screen computer monitors fail but never had an iPad screen fail.
 
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As usual the VAF Forum Community comments are gold. Thank you.

I went with touch. The hard buttons are still there. It is easier to type in data verses joggle through the alpha numeric list and select, especially on the ground... As said a small premium, especially with the airshow special discount. I believe the G3X was non touch at first and now they are all touch screen.
 
I think you’ll be glad you went with touch screen. I have two GRT EX EFIS units, one with touch and one non-touch. The touch screen is definitely a higher and brighter resolution screen. Even if you never use the touch functions you’ll appreciate the higher screen resolution.

BTW: take some time to learn the difference between the left and right knobs on a touch screen unit. There are some interesting differences between a touch screen and non-touch screen unit as far as how the knob’s control things.
 
The touch screen is very handy when you want to find the distance\bearing\time to a plane, airport etc... I use it for this several times per flight. On the Dynon, just touch the point of interest and the time\distance\bearing pops up, very useful for me.
 
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