Garmin GPS 296 or 396

  • Total voters
    33
  • Poll closed .
A

attackpilot

Active Member
I am looking for opinions about which Garmin portable GPS to buy.

I love the features of the GPS 396. I think knowing the weather situation is very important in remaining VMC, but is it worth the $1,000 dollar premium over the GPS 296, plus the XM weather subscription?

I would be interested in anyone's thoughts.
 
Yes!!!!

I don't know about you, but I can count the times on my fingers, toes and someone elses how many times I wish I had weather in the cockpit instead of 122.0. As a VFR pilot, sometimes I am too low to even reach a FSS and the weather ahead isn't looking to good. Is it a sucker hole? Is it just bad visibility? Are the clouds getting lower? What if I went 10 miles to north and then continued? All this could be answered with the onboard weather (not to mention what the weather currently looks like at your destination (should I continue on and finish this flight or stop now?) Plus the XM radio subscription to keep you entertained plus traffic info if you have the Garmin transponder plus terrain. I could go on but for the weather alone, I would pay the $1000 if I were making the decision to buy one or the other.

Tailwinds,

Rusty
 
Last year, I flew quite a number of winter cross-countries in a friends RV9A. There were too many times that we always wondered about the weather 400 miles away for the return trip. Always checking for weather updates at fuel stops, but not knowing for sure.

I have the 296 which is a great product, but I plan on placing it on the right side for the passenger and getting a 396. Living in mountainous terrain, I think up to date weather is as valuable as the terrrain features.

One thing about it; I haven't seen one pilot that has a weather mapping GPS say they could do without it. Every report seems to say it's one of the best devices available.
 
I like the weather in the cockpit idea but the subscription price to the XM weather seems too steep. I'm looking into cellphone weather options and I hear the Blackberry phones will soon have gps. There are good weather graphics available on cell phones for 5 bucks a month.

JMHO

Roberta
 
I voted for the 396 but!

I like looking at the displays before I takeoff and seeing all of the red green and yellow shapes but if you are only going to fly daylight VFR I have to question how valuable this kind of display is in flight when you should be looking out the window and taking care of VFR flying needs. You should not venture into situations so bad that a two dimensional multicolor display is going to be more important than what you can see outside with your eyes. IFR is a different ballgame and I think the weather that you can't see because you are in the clouds would be very valuable. I've never had the luxury of inflight weather displays so this is not stated as a well informed position - just a gut feel.

Bob Axsom
 
Bob Axsom said:
I like looking at the displays before I takeoff and seeing all of the red green and yellow shapes but if you are only going to fly daylight VFR I have to question how valuable this kind of display is in flight when you should be looking out the window and taking care of VFR flying needs. You should not venture into situations so bad that a two dimensional multicolor display is going to be more important than what you can see outside with your eyes. IFR is a different ballgame and I think the weather that you can't see because you are in the clouds would be very valuable. I've never had the luxury of inflight weather displays so this is not stated as a well informed position - just a gut feel.

Bob Axsom
Click to expand...

I somewhat disagree. I live in a mountainous area, with elevations in the 12000' + range, and valleys 3-6000' msl.
When it comes to "winter" day trips of 300-400 miles each way, having long range weather for hundreds of miles in all directions, allows you to determine the best route to the destination and home, along with fuel stops. Much of the time, a mountain pass or airport will simply be obscured by low cloud cover for only an hour or two. Since many of these trips are scenic in nature, and not a case of having to get there, having a real time weather display is excellent for making adjustments in the route.

Last winter, we flew several long day trips across the states of Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming. We didn't have the luxuary of in flight weather, and often had to fly to an alternate airport for fuel, just because the intended one was covered by clouds for the next hour or so. That's just the way it is, out here, as the weather can change and move rapidly. Satellite weather is just a much better tool for making informed decisions ahead of time; even to the point of just staying somewhere for the night, to let the weather pass.
 
Ok

I am very familiar with the area having flown through there many times for pleasure and trips east from the LA area. I also spent a lot of work time at UTTR/Dugway, Hill AFB and the University up at Logan (Space Dynamics Laboratory). The situation there intensifies my position - I guess we agree to disagree.

Bob Axsom
 
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I guess the answer would entirely depend on the type of flying you do. I have been an XM subscriber for many years now, and when they announced the XM weather and flight data being offered I looked into it, but was put off by the high cost. To me it would be only worth it if you flew alot of long cross country. If the cost came down I think it would be a very "cool to have" item.
 
Yeah, that's exactly right. It depends on the type of flying you do. I bought the 296 when it came down in price because my goal for a GPS was situational awareness. I fly in a Class B area with 6 reliever airports, so precision location is really important to me flying VFR.

I'm not instrument rated and I'm very conservative about weather conditions (I land or turn around a lot), so spending $1,000 more and then paying X amount of money per month for a service I'm not going to use didn't make any sense (here come the two key words) for me.

I didn't install a heated pitot tube for the same reason. All of this sort of stuff comes down to the same question. Not what the other guy has, but what kind of flying you do.
 
Alternative to 396

The Anywhere Map package can give you color, weather and many more features for about the price of a 296. Get a PDA with blue tooth and the wire connections are no more than the garmin setup (only power cables)

I have a PDA and recently paid around $300 for the anyhwhere map software (on offer right now to compete with the 396) to try it out. The garmin 10 gps is included in this price. I am very impressed with the clarity, optioins and ease of use. They also provide free upgrades such as the recent airport layout diagrams.

Another option...

Matt Hurley
 
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