Garmin 696 vs. 796

[Flyguytki]

So now that the 796 has been out for a few months, what is the take on them? If you had the option between a 796 and a 696 which would you choose?


I was fortunate enough to pick up a brand new 796 for a steal of a price on the big auction site so now i just need to decide if I keep it or sell it for a 696.

-david

[Chino Tom]

I never had a 696, but upgraded my 496 to the 796. So far, I like it a lot.
The screen brightness is just as good as the 696. The touchscreen is very
intuitive to use and faster than the buttons on the 496. I don't find myself
using the sectional charts in the 796 yet. So far I like the Garmin map
display, it is richer in color than the washed out look of the sectional. But it
is only a touch to switch between them. The only thing i don't like on the
796 (and I probably haven't figured out how to change this) is when you
have navigated to the destination airport, it doesn't end navigating like
the 496 did. You have to go into the flight plan and menu to end navigaton.

[taverroi]

Keep the 796 and dont look back. There's nothing that compares to it. Its the bomb!!!. You will not ever regret it.

[jthocker]

Originally Posted by Chino Tom

I never had a 696, but upgraded my 496 to the 796. So far, I like it a lot.
The screen brightness is just as good as the 696. The touchscreen is very
intuitive to use and faster than the buttons on the 496. I don't find myself
using the sectional charts in the 796 yet. So far I like the Garmin map
display, it is richer in color than the washed out look of the sectional. But it
is only a touch to switch between them. The only thing i don't like on the
796 (and I probably haven't figured out how to change this) is when you
have navigated to the destination airport, it doesn't end navigating like
the 496 did. You have to go into the flight plan and menu to end navigaton.

Tom,
I'm finding I like the Garmin map better also, also the same issue with the navigation not stopping once you reach your destination. Maybe there's a setting for that somewhere???

[JohnRV9A]

Another way to cancel/stop navigation on the aera796 is to press the ?Direct to? button and then select ?Stop Nav?. It?s a little easier than using a menu option. A may be wrong, but I think even the older GPS models will continued to provide navigation even after you have arrived at your destination. The navigation gets canceled once you have received the arrival message before you turn of the GPS. If you never get the arrival message then the navigation will stay active even after a power cycle.

John

[Chino Tom]

Originally Posted by JohnRV9A

Another way to cancel/stop navigation on the aera796 is to press the ?Direct to? button and then select ?Stop Nav?. It?s a little easier than using a menu option. A may be wrong, but I think even the older GPS models will continued to provide navigation even after you have arrived at your destination. The navigation gets canceled once you have received the arrival message before you turn of the GPS. If you never get the arrival message then the navigation will stay active even after a power cycle.

John

Thanks for that tip!. I don't recall ever getting the arrival message on the
796 (always did on the 496, which cancelled the navigation as you noted).

[sailvi767]

Its a bit off the thread subject but I have loved my 696 since its purchase. I did however have a unusual event two days ago. I ferried my aircraft from 14A near Moorsville NC to Mallard Creek near Atlanta for its conditional inspection. Leaving the Charlotte class B all was normal and the 696 displayed all the airspace correctly. Approaching the ATL class B the unit chimed and gave me the expected warning that the ATL was 10 minutes ahead. The problem was that it never displayed the actual class B airspace. Is simply showed the Atlanta airport and nothing else. ATL approach would not clear me through the Bravo airspace and simply said remain clear. Thankfully I had a Ipad with foreflight to insure I did remain clear and a paper chart but I can't figure out why it would not display the ATL Bravo airspace. I don't think its a setting thing since it showed the CLT bravo airspace perfectly. Any thoughts?

George

[FORANE]

Outside the box / question asked, but are you familiar with Anywhere map? I would sell the G and get AWM. The G updates are cost prohibitive. Another tremendous benefit of AWM is the emergency view which draws an arc on the ground based on terrain database, your rate of descent, and your forward speed. Keep the arc at a runway threshold and you will hit the ground at the runway threshold.

[SmilingJack]

George,

Hitting the "Clear" button on my G3X system enters into "Declutter" mode.

My guess is you hit the "Clear" button and it removed the airspace and maybe when you shutdown and restarted the airplane the system started back in the FULL un-de-clutter'ed .....yes....that's a word!

I'm not 100% on this theory and would be interested to know how you make out.

[sailvi767]

Thanks John, Its very possible I did that. I will see what happens when I pick the aircraft up and try and remember to post here.

Thanks!!
George

Edit, After John post I went back and read the manual. Its always interesting what reading the instructions can accomplish. Here is the section from the manual and I suspect that I may have done exactly what John posts. I was playing with the unit enroute trying to learn all the functions.

To declutter the Map Page:
1) From any Map Page, press the CLR Key. ‘CLEAR-1’ appears below the
map range. The background map detail (such as highways, cities, rivers &
smaller lakes) is removed from the map.
2) Press the CLR Key again. ‘CLEAR-2’ appears below the map range and
airspace boundary detail is removed from the map.
3) Press the CLR Key again. ‘CLEAR-3’ appears below the map range. Only
the waypoints and navaids that are part of the current flight plan appear on
the map.
4) Press the CLR Key again to return ‘ALL’ detail to the map.