Genghis,
I am a recent PPL so have limited experience on the different types of GPS
That said my first and only GPS to date is the Garmin 495. As far as I am concerned it is immense. It greatly simplifies my nav work load and really enhances my own confidence in my situation awareness. I find the unit to be very user friendly in terms of entering new routes as well as finding a ton of information quickly when flying should you need it. The unit is easy to throw into a flying bag and takes up no space at all really when mounted onto a yoke
The battery life to my knowledge is around nine and a half hours when fully charged although this reduces if you increase the backdrop light setting. I believe that it is very easy to hook up with navigational software as well where you just plan your route on a home PC before dropping the route direct into your garmin – although I haven’t used this yet
I have nothing to compare it with being very new to flying – but for me I love my 495 and find it invaluable
Hope helps
Nick