It really depends what you want it for, I have a brillian Fujutsi seimens Loox 560 PDA with memory map software and I bought an extended battery.
So I get half mill, quarter mill and 50,000 OS, with moving map, it's light, slim, (it'll fit in an inner jacket pocket), 3 and a half inch screen, and with an extended battery lasts at least 7 hours, with the original as a 3 hour back up, never had to use it though. Oh and it also has Tom Tom for All North America and Western Europe and all my mass and balance calculators for every aircraft I fly and you can web browse on it.
Had it 2 years now, dropped it a few times in daily use and it's never let me down. It doesn't have the features of the 296/496, but for VFR moving map and route planning in seconds it cant be beat. The gps is integral.
Will cost about £500 all up with the map software. Bit less now it's just been discontinued.
Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket LOOX N560 (DISCONTINUED) from Clove Technology
The 50,000 OS will cost you £300 extra.
There was a long thread on all this, I had a quick look but couldn't track it down.