As Bob said, all of the remote modules are the same, so the features are very close in those regards. The screens are the difference, and there are big differences there, but not in features. They us a very different philosophy in interface, which is fairly complicated to describe, and really doesn?t make much difference in my opinion, as you will get used to whichever you choose.
Some differences I will note here:
- Compatibility versus stability. Much like apple products, which are sometimes less feature rich, but are very stable and dependable, because Apple controls the hardware, software and app approval, the Dynon is a little less buggy and more stable because they mainly just work with their own products, so they make sure everything works with everything else before they release the software and hardware out of Beta testing. AFS, on the other hand, is very cross compatible with 3rd party products, so the software has a few more bugs in it.
- Support. Both have great tech support and wonderful product support. When I call AFS, I rarely have to leave a message, and I usually talk to the same person, and there are 2 others I sometimes talk to, one is the main software guy and one is the head of the company. They are very knowledgeable and friendly and helpful, and as Bob said, I can even get Support after hours if necessary. Dynon often requires me to leave a message, but they always get back to me in reasonable time. At the same time, my calls to Dynon are less frequent and are usually due to a hardware problem that I need replaced, and AFS is usually a software question, which refers back to the first difference I mentioned. When compared to the big vendor out there, both are much quicker to respond, much more knowledgeable and much quicker to admit a software bug or hardware problem when there is one, as has been demonstrated recently, but I won?t get into details here.
- Flexibility. AFS is a much smaller company (or company?s group), so when I talk to them and request a feature or change, I sometimes get a software update with that feature within a couple of days. Dynon adds feature requests to their list, and they do often show up, but never as quickly.
In summary, and in practical use, for a new panel from scratch, they are pretty much a draw. You will be happy with whichever you choose. I have installed many of each an de have rarely had a customer who wasn?t very happy with their choice. For panel upgrades, the AFS is often a cheaper option because you can keep more of your existing equipment (auto pilot, engine monitor, etc) and the AFS will work with it.