Chino Tom

Chino Tom

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Anyone out ther take the plunge and buy the new Garmin 796? Any
real world feed back? likes - dislikes. Inquiring minds want to know!
 
I am debating one really soon to fly on a leg mount before my skyview upgrade, then again, $2500 torwards a skyview goes a long way
 
796

The last word I got was they may start shipping +- 11/2/11. I do not know how other vendors are doing.
 
I was already to get one but decided, with the 796 out, the price of the 696 on the used market has been very attractive so I am going that route.
 
I had 2 of 20 minute flights last night with the first 796 in Canada. I must say for never having used any Garmin hand held previously it was easy and intuitive to use effectively. The touch screen makes zooming in/out and map scrolling a dream. The syn vis had the runway centerline within about 5 feet.
 
The 696 screen is outstanding in the sun. I would be very surprised if the 796 is not at least as good.

George
 
The 696 is not a touchscreen. This really changess things in the Sun on most devices. I will not assume that the 796 is good in bright light until I see some real good reviews on the screen.

Seems that all the marketing hype ignores talking about this area of performance and this is a Red flag for me
 
I compared the various Garmin products at Pacific Coast Avionics a couple days ago. This was indoors, but I have plenty of experience with 696s and 510s in RVs, so I think a comparison is valid.

The 79X screens were not as bright as the 69X. Maybe color saturation is a better metric. The 5XX Nuvi boxes were clearly fainter. BTW, no other manufacturers boxes were as clear and bright at the 79X. The 69X is the top pick for legibility. I wish I paid more attention to slant angle, but I think the touch screens faded quicker with offset.

Airborne, the 696 remains very legible in sunlight. The 510 is like looking through a fog. So I would expect the 79X to be somewhere between. Operation of the the "Home" button devices hardly requires looking in the manual. The 69Xs are much more difficult.

The deal killer for me is touch screen. Maybe in a flight level machine, but a bouncing RV guarantees often missing the mark when you poke the screen.
This doesn't require moderate to severe (where you you want to scrunch down in the seat for more canopy clearance) to be annoying. Buttons are superior in this alone.

Only problem is: Garmin will probably drop the 69Xs within a year, then support will fade.

John Siebold
 
As good as the 696

Finally ACS has a display unit that I was able to play with today. I took
the 796 and a 696 outside in the sun to see for myself if there is a brightness
issue. i could not tell any differance between either unit. The 796 was
just as bright at the 696 (both were set up to maximum brightness). Also
the slant viewability appeared the same. Garmin claims the 796 screen
brightness is equal to the 696, and I believe it. The only thing I didn't
love, was the clarity or contrast of the enroute IFR charts and approach plates.
This improved as you zoom in (pinch or spread with your fingers,
to zoom in and out like the iPad, but also + and - icons to do the same).

I don't see a problem with the touch screen and the size of the icons make
it much easier to hit than say the Aera 5xx series. Resting the edge of your
hand or end fingers on the case or panel makes hitting the screen spots
easy, even in light turbulance. Anything over that, I have trouble even with
the buttons on my 496, it will be difficult.

Looks like this would be a nice panel upgrade for me! ACS Corona has had
only 28 units delivered so far. The waiting list is 100+
 
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What about with gloves?

Can the touch screen be used with gloves on? I always fly with nomex gloves on, so that could be an issue.
 
Garmin 796

I've flown with the 696 since it came out. It was so good that I was the first on the block to purchase and receive the 796. I can see no difference in screen brightness in the cockpit. There are several issues that Garmin is addressing and I would not purchase a 796 until they are resolved.

My big issue is that the screen on my first unit got so hot that the unit was virtually useless. My fingers felt like they were burning up when I touched the screen in the sunlight of the cockpit. At all other times it ran cool, but the cockpit is where it is needed. I have since gotten another unit, but have not had a chance to test it out in the cockpit yet.

Garmin support has been very helpful and they took most of my input on software problems that I found in the unit and fixed them in software updates.

As a flight instructor, I have always been a proponent of Garmin handheld GPSs, and have probably sold many for them with my enthusiasm, but until I am satisfied that there is not a heat issue in flight, I cannot recommend it even though the touch screen enables one to do a given task many times faster than a push button.
 
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