Reasons for Garmin 696 price reduction?

[Captain Sacto]

This is tempting...

I just noticed that Sporty's reduced the price of the Garmin 696 (kneeboard gps) by $800, down to $2199; and this price is fairly constant throughout the various online pilot supplies vendors.

My question to the learned folks on this fine site... is there a newer model forthcoming, or some other reason (such as a new competitive product or reported "issues" with the unit) why I probably should wait a while before I consider ordering the unit?

Opinions invited. Thanks in advance! Tom in Sacramento.

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[SteinAir]

As far as i know this was a direct relational reduction along with the GDU's (that are part of the G3X system) a month or two ago before OSH....no other reason that we can tell! When the price of the panel mounts came down with the G3X the portable just followed. No doubt there will be something new someday, but typical dates for release of new stuff usually happens at one of the big shows (SnF, OSH, AOPA).

What I would guess is that any new 696 replacement would be pretty neat if and when it came out!

My 2 cents as usual.

Cheers,
Stein

[Caveman]

Originally Posted by Captain Sacto

This is tempting...

I just noticed that Sporty's reduced the price of the Garmin 696 (kneeboard gps) by $800, down to $2199; and this price is fairly constant throughout the various online pilot supplies vendors.

My question to the learned folks on this fine site... is there a newer model forthcoming, or some other reason (such as a new competitive product or reported "issues" with the unit) why I probably should wait a while before I consider ordering the unit?

Opinions invited. Thanks in advance! Tom in Sacramento.

.

I'm not sure about forthcoming products, but I bought a 696 at Oshkosh and I am not very impressed. Considering my 496 was 4 years old, I figured the internal battery would go bad at any time and rather than taking a chance ruining it while replacing the battery myself or sending it in and being charged an outrageous amount to have it replaced, I'd just upgrade to something else. I was very interested in an I-pad with one of the new aviation aps such as Foreflight so it was a toss-up as to which to purchase. Garmin not only lowered the 696 price plus had a $200 rebate at the show but I also found out that PCA would give me a $1000 trade in allowance for my 496. So, for about $1000 I could "upgrade." The trade in allowance clinched the deal.

I may have made a poor choice. The 696 has locked up multiple times as has been reported by others on VAF. I had missed those threads and was unaware of the problem until I started researching the issue after the fact. Other than a bigger and brighter screen, I liked my 496 better. It had more features that I used and it fit in my panel without exposed wiring. The 496 had auto and marine features and was rock solid.

I believe the I-pad competition may have played a part in the price reduction but that is just a guess.

One caveat, I don't have a lot of hours with the 696, perhaps 20 or so. I hope I'll grow to like it better. But in any case, the lock up issue needs to be resolved. I'm hoping Garmin comes out with a software or firmware update that fixes it. The 696 is an aviation specific GPS and for it to act up like this is inexcusable. I'd hold off buying one until they resolve this issue.

One guy's opinion.

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by Caveman

One caveat, I don't have a lot of hours with the 696, perhaps 20 or so. I hope I'll grow to like it better. But in any case, the lock up issue needs to be resolved. I'm hoping Garmin comes out with a software or firmware update that fixes it. The 696 is an aviation specific GPS and for it to act up like this is inexcusable. I'd hold off buying one until they resolve this issue.

One guy's opinion.

Hey Joe, what has Garmin said about the lockup's? I'd be a bit upset myself if a new-out-of-the-box system that expensive was acting up, and I'd call for a replacement under warranty!

Just FYI - I've had a 696 in my plane since before they were introduced, and have yet to experience a lockup (that wasn't caused by loading beta software).....

Paul

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by Caveman

I may have made a poor choice. The 696 has locked up multiple times as has been reported by others on VAF. I had missed those threads and was unaware of the problem until I started researching the issue after the fact. Other than a bigger and brighter screen, I liked my 496 better.

As a 296, 496, and 696 owner..............I'd never go back to the teenie weenie 496 screen. Have used the 696 for two years, and no lockups. I must have missed those threads too, although I seem to read about everything.

L.Adamson

[Wayne Hadath]

I have had a 696 in my RV10 since April 2010 and have 100 hrs. It has locked up twice. Both times happen when the internal battery gets low. The only way I could unlock it was to remove the 696 from the plane and remove and reinstall the battery pack and then charge with the 110 V charger. The unit is panel mounted and hooked into airplane power but if the internal battery is low it will not charge off the airplane power. I always check the battery status before flight if the aircraft has sat for any length of time or I have used it on its own battery. I have Xm weather on the 696 so when I cross country my F1 Rocket, I remove the 696 from the Rv10 and take it along. The battery pack alone will only last for 45 min max so I plug it in and run off the F1 power.
What I like.
Big screen is great.
Easy to panel mount.
What I don't
I do not find the operation of the unit to be as intuitive as the 196-496. I have learn how to operate but it takes a while for some one as slow as me.
The XM Attenna has a different plug so I cannot swap it between my 496 and 696.
Battery life is short. Not much good as a hand held without plugging it into power. I think this is standard with Garmin pruducts.
Battery will not come up to charge when it is low unless plugged into 110 V.
I paid too much for it. Good to hear the price has come down.
RV 10 100 hrs
F1 Rocket 500 hrs

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by Wayne Hadath

I have had a 696 in my RV10 since April 2010 and have 100 hrs. It has locked up twice. Both times happen when the internal battery gets low. The only way I could unlock it was to remove the 696 from the plane and remove and reinstall the battery pack and then charge with the 110 V charger. The unit is panel mounted and hooked into airplane power but if the battery is low it will not charge off the airplane power. I always check the battery status before flight if the aircraft has sat for any length of time or I have used it on its own battery.

Perhaps, charging technique is the difference. My 696 always used aircraft power. If the plane wasn't charged for a period of time, I'd connect a charger to the airplanes battery, to bring it up to 12 V.+

Twice- I ended up dimming the 696... enough, to not see the screen. I've never had to remove the battery pack. Has around 140 hrs on it. I paid way too much also.....

L.Adamson

[Sig600]

Ive heard rumors of a Garmin system to bridge the gap between the G900 and G3X... That may be a small part of the price drop, however it's more likely a direct correlation to the price drop of the G3X.

BTW I wouldnt hold my breath on a new system. Garmin moves at Garmins pace... Which is tectonic.

[RV7ator]

My bet is Garmin is about to drop the 69X line and push anyone who wants a big screen GPS to also have to buy an EFIS, a la, 3X. Better integration, yada, yada. If such happens, it may open more market share for B-K and the other larger screen mfgrs, but even then I wouldn't expect them to sell much more since their screens are the typical awful compared to 69X. We shall see.

Regarding glitches, my 695 occasionally hangs up during boot, "Software missing". Horsepucky. When this happens it's also unresponsive to the handbook reset method (push left and right soft buttons and scale out simultaneously). The only way to regain control is remove ship's power, which for me means shutting down the avionics master.

John Siebold
Boise, ID

[wjnmd]

The 696 price drop occurred at the same time as the G3X and GX Pilot price drop around the time of Sun'n Fun. Garmin appears to be trying to get a bigger foothold in the experimental market with the G3X/GX Pilot/VP-X Pro collaboration.

I've never had a problem with my 696 and in fact, I chose the G3X system for my panel upgrade because I like my 696 so much. I wonder if doing a hard reset might solve the lock-up issue if you haven't already done it. Matt Burch could help with this. I'm sure he'll chime in tomorrow when he's back at work at Garmin. Sending it in to the factory might also help if the reset doesn't work. Once this issue is resolved, you will love it!!