600c
Have to agree with Mc Fuzz, the Lowrance 600c is as powerfull as the 296
smaller CHEAPER more intuiative did I mention Cheaper.
If you are Garmin brained then the 29/39/49 is good. (also the 29 has that Lith/Ion battery)
I still feel that if you are using these things for ground seperation then its time to reevaluate the big picture.(the V in VFR is there for a reason).
Also with the Lowrance you can plug in all those outher Lowrance toys, Fuel flow units from the marine series (grate for ferry tanking) and some others.
Cheers,
Solocmv.