OK, not a shoot out as such but I'm interested in views from those that have used/owned them. I've read some reviews, most of which I understood but I want to double check some ideas that I have as a result of reading them.
Forget price for the moment, as there are some distinct differences and please forget the usual Pro/Anti GPS arguments that we usually have and please forget that we have had several threads on this before.
Questions:
1) Some of the units are available in colour but I understand that the colour units chew batteries and are not so easy to see as the grey units.
2) If used in conjunction with Jeppeson Flitestar, the PLOG is quicker. How easy is it to plug the two together and how quick/easy is it to update and download?
3) GPS, used in conjunction with conventional chart work strikes me as time saving and also helps take the pressure off (and increases the enjoyment of flying I suppose). Have you guys found this?
4) Are these units pre-loaded with waypoints/airfield information? If so, has anyone used them in SA and if so how well did it work compared to the UK/US or anywhere else for that matter?
5) In general, did the unit fulfill your expectations? Are there any negative points that are worth pointing out?
6) Has anyone tried using these units for sailing and if so, did they live up to expectations?
Battery life. I've seen quotes of 6 - 10 hours which is a hell of an improvement over my GPS II which gobbles batteries at the rate of 4 X AAs every 5 hours. Are these figures realistic?
Disclaimer: I'm not going to solely rely on the GPS and I'm not interested in whether or not they are a good thing and I'm certainly going to continue using a chart/computer/flight plan and any other navigation tool that I should have. Cheers all.