The first post in this thread has a link to the page I took these photos from. The comparisons are valid but a bit biased towards the Cheetah (after all it is their product) I have used the Garmin x96 products a lot (but not a 696) as well as the Cheetahs and currently have a Cheetah 190. So I thought I would comment on the comparisons.
I had a Cheetah 210 in my F1 that I sold when the 396 came out because it had some features I wanted that the Cheetah didn't. Went back to the Cheetah when they added approach plates and enroute charts.
I am now in a quandary of upgrading to the Cheetah 210 vs the 696.
Purchase cost comparison................
This is a bit misleading as the first years database is part of the 696 purchase cost so your first year cost for the 696 is really what you pay for the unit or about $3200 putting it on par with the Flight Cheetah 210. For price you need to compare it to the 210 because the 190 is a computer not nearly as bright as the 696 or 210. The 696 overall is more compact than the Cheetah fewer wires etc.
Annual update comparison..............
While this is an apples to apples comparison you can mitigate the 696 update costs with some degree of prudence. I would consider not updating everything every year and only update those items that are essential for your flying or info not available to you on other devices in your cockpit.
Features....................................
The features comparison is (of necessity) partially subjective and does not address usefullness or ease of use.
If you have used other Garmin GPS's ie 295, x96, 420, 430, 520, 530 then the 696 certainly will be intuitive and easy to use. The flight Cheetah takes awhile to get used to but eventually becomes intuitive and easy to use. I use my FL 190 as my travel computer and could not do this with the 696. If you are using the FL210 wit the SS hard drive it is not really feasible to use as a travel computer due to limited memory. With the addition of a channel display and interface the Cheetah weather recievers will provide XM music. This costs about $75 and involves yet another wire.
I have never found the Cheetah "cheapest fuel update" very useful. Nor the Com Link function.
The approach overlay, holding pattern, DME arc and route segment altitude functions on the Cheetah are exceptional.
All in all for frequent IFR pilot I think the Cheetah 210 has more to offer than the 696 and certainly the update cost is far less while initial acquisition cost is a wash.
If you are a VFR pilot with a moving map in your panel I think the FL190 has a lot to offer from an acquisition cost and update price comparison to the 696 as well as its utility as a travel computer I think though the 696 display would better serve the VFR pilot who relies on it as his primary nav device.
For the strictly VFR pilot and occassional "I gotta shoot an approach" IFR pilot it would be hard to beat the 696 as a primary nav and IFR EFB if it were not for the annual update costs.
Also depending on the brand of your panel mount EFIS you can consider putting weather on your EFIS and getting the 695 or a Flight Cheetah without the weather reciever or weather software.
There are many combinations and permutations to consider each with impact on features and cost.
It is the cost of subscriptions that are the real consideration and cost involved with all of these gizmos.
In my case I have 2 Blue Mountains in my panel thats 2 annual subscriptions.
Then there is the flight cheetah or Garmin annual update costs
Add in the XM weather, Flight planner (Flitesoft) subscriptions and it is almost as much as your insurance.
At the moment I choose not to update the BMAs but once every few years and keep my Cheetah up to date.
If I get a 696 I will probably Update my BMAS annualy and judiciously update the 696 on a less frequent basis.
For those that require a Roadmap in your car you can easily install any one of a number of good programs on the Flight Cheetah FL 190
If you are thinking of the Cheetah 190 I would consider buying a Samsung Q1 Ultra with the largest amount of Ram they have and the large hard drive. It will serve you better as a personal computer than the one that comes as the Cheetah 190. Then you can nget the software and weather reciever from Flight Cheetah and a GPS antenna off e bay. It costs a bit more doing it this way but you will have a more versatile unit. You must remember that if you use a computer with a mechanical hard drive that somwhere around 10,000 feet it will malfunction and even damage itself.
Because of update cost alone I am really leaning to sticking with the flight Cheetah and upgrading to the 210 when I get my plane back in the air.
