Zigsta,
The 496 is a big improvement over the 296 - I used to have one of those too. The screen refreshes much faster, VRP's are shown clearly too. It's a great unit.
It's perfectly capable of being used without being mounted, but I would still suggest that you did.
You could purchase the suction mounts that will allow it to be removed easily if you didn't want a permanent fix.
It sold for £450 - but I think I let it go too cheaply!!
61 Lafite - I'm not a maintenance engineer and I definateley don't know the rules, but there must be a way to mount the 696 in the R44. I think your maintenance organisation are interpreting the rules too strictly.Try talking to an Avionics company, they may be able to sign it off. The 696 is a portable device and there should be absoluteley no reason that you can't have it installed.
Failing that, I have recently seen, a suction mount specifically designed for the Garmin 695 and the Avidyne. That would probably do the trick.