You didn't mean Handheld Systems? They seem to have really good prices and apparently none of their units are imports either.

Got a Garmin 96c from Hand Held Systems recently. Price was good and the firm followed through advising me of the the delivery details until it was in my mail box.
A happy customer.
And the 96c is a good unit. Fits comfortably into my flight bag.

Apparently permanent factory price drop on 296 and 495 announced.
Also temporary US$300-00 rebate on 696/695 till 31/12/09.

Just noticed Garmin have a new touchscreen GA portable GPS out - aera series.
For those who use the Garmin 296 in Oz which be the step up equivalent of the 296 in functionality?

Once again some good advice and links on this topic.

I had my family and inlaws give me cash for a birthday and christmas and with some of my own funds invested in a Garmin 96C.

This was after I landed my first job up north so I hadn't used a GPS during PPL or CPL training. Lucky for us, almost all the aircraft at work had GPS units in them but they were only allowed as a cross reference during the check flight by the pilot in the right hand seat - Just to make sure you could read a map, do a one in sixty, and figure out a diversion if one day the GPS went U/S.

When I went to my remote base, the C206 didn't have a GPS in it. That's when the old 96C paid for itself. It was a good back up to my map reading skills out there when trying to find strips not on the WAC(!).

I'm looking at getting either a Garmin 96C, Area 500 or 495. I like the Aera cos it does the street nav stuff and I think its a better option than the 495 cos its cheaper. The dude at Handheld was really good and reckons he sells heaps of 96C's to GA blokes and reckons and if I didn't really need the street nav I'll save a bucket load. Now I proably wont get the 495 because the aera is cheaper but has anyone used an Area and what do you think? Or would I be better just saving some cash and getting a 96C?

G495 if you are serious.

The A500 would appear to be just the $300 garmin street unit with different maps.

If you want something reliable, tough and will last a few years the 495 is the go. I think you can get street data sets for the 495 anyway.....Marine also. Could be wrong.

I'm now decieding on either the 96C or 96. Obviously the 96C has colour but it also has more memeory. Has anyone used either and is colour worht the extra expense? Does the extra memory of the 96C do much?

Aeroshop Melbourne $1,895.
Spruce US$1,299 so around AUD$1,680 delivered
Johnny Appleseed in Brisbane $1,589 special order

Handheld Systems

Handheld Systems

Garmin GPSMAP 495 $1,583.00

Clearprop Sales
GPS MAP 495
$1,575.00

GPS :: GPS Units - Aviation Pilot Supplies Shop | Flight Gear | Aircraft Instruments

One of those I wouldn't touch with a 200' pole. PM me if you are about to purchase and I'll make sure you don't buy from the reseller that I have in mind.

The words "dodgey" and "grey imports" come to mind.

Get the Garmin 496 and you wont look back. Worthwhile investment IMHO!

Hey guys,

Can anybody clairfy something for me...I'll be in the US next month and was going to buy a 495 from a Garmin dealer in Seattle. $1299 USD is about $1420 AUD so I'm happy with the price. Comes with the Pacific database.

BUT

Will I have any problems should I need to send it in for warranty repairs or replacement? I figure since it was purchased from a Garmin dealer that I should be able to send it to a Garmin dealer in Australia for repairs even thought it was purchased in the US. Or am I wrong?

Anyone with any expirence in this regard?

Cheers,
AB

Hello Airbumps,

I too was going to do what you did, however I was told that if you buy a Garmin 495 overseas the warranty and repairs are not valid in Australia.

I ended up buying one from Handheld Systems and I was extremely pleased with their service. I received my gps only 2 business days after I purchased it and for a good price.

The battery that came with it was a dud and only held 5 hours charge, a common problem with garmin batteries, I simply called them up and they posted a new one immediately and postage was again super quick. Warranty is very important, maybe call a garmin dealer in Australia and ask them about it if your heart set on saving a bit of dough.

Very Happy! :ok:

ksa5223
"The battery that came with it was a dud and only held 5 hours charge, a common problem with garmin batteries"

How long should you g with a full charge? I have a 296 and get 5 hours at full brightness. I thought that was normal. Maybe I have a dud battery and don't know it!
John

Oh hai guize.

For those of you that don't have a lot of money, even the ones that do, I would seriously consider any Garmin Etrex. The thread is about GPS' for GA pilots, so you don't need anything flash, just something that can supplement your charts and plates.

I have the Etrex Legend which supports moving maps. It comes with a base map of the world, but its pretty rugged so if you do a google search you can find lots of free maps for the country you're in. As a bonus I find I'm only replacing the batteries after every 20+ hours of use.

But in all seriousness I probably wouldn't have minded going for the lower down model that only supports way points, its all you need really. I have loaded all the airports into my gps, before I go flying I just set up a flight plan and just have it as a back up.

For a little over $120ish US (Cost me NZ$200 4-5 years ago) it sure beats paying over $1000 and it does everything you need. And this is coming from a guy that loves owning new technology

Etrex's are great, go a H model though for much better signal strength.

Base model is only Au$130 but worth going up a model or two to get 8 data fields on the screen instead of 5 in trip mode. Also means you get a HSI mode as well as the bearing indicator and proximity alarms.

Still can't understand paying 5x the amount for something that doesn't do RAIM

@Kalavo, haha yeah I agree about that. The etrex does everything you need. I'm not sure if my legend is outdated or not now, but its great with moving maps, bearing screen, can support up to 8 data fields as well I think and has a whole lot of other useful things in there too, AND its water proof, use it for sailing all the time.

The only downside is it only has 8mb built in for memory, more than what you really need, but it would be nicer to have to option to expand it.

http://www.geosystems.co.nz/drupal/f...ces/Legend.jpg

I guess that depends on what you "need" it to do for you......

http://www.avionics.co.nz/images/gps296small.jpg