Advice on buying GPS units?
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Advice on buying GPS units?
G'day guys,
Wondering if anybody can give me some advice on buying a hand held GPS unit. I'll be using it for cross country VFR navigation.
One of the most popular seems to be the Garmin 296. I've got two questions;
1. Are there any other cheaper variations here in Australia that are still of a decent quality?
2. Are there problems/complications buying them from the US? I'm tempted to buy one off ebay but not sure if all the map and airspace details for Australia will be programmed into them..
Any insight or advice....
Cheers
Wondering if anybody can give me some advice on buying a hand held GPS unit. I'll be using it for cross country VFR navigation.
One of the most popular seems to be the Garmin 296. I've got two questions;
1. Are there any other cheaper variations here in Australia that are still of a decent quality?
2. Are there problems/complications buying them from the US? I'm tempted to buy one off ebay but not sure if all the map and airspace details for Australia will be programmed into them..
Any insight or advice....
Cheers
296 is the go - nothing better!
As far as I know the 396 and 496 are not available with the Pacific database.
If you source a 296 in the States, be sure you can get the Pacific database!
Dr
As far as I know the 396 and 496 are not available with the Pacific database.
If you source a 296 in the States, be sure you can get the Pacific database!
Dr
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Thanks Doc,
Anybody know anything about the Garmin GPS Pilot 3? They're a hell of a lot cheaper (can get one for about $300AUD). I realise they're not colour and a bit smaller, but hey, its $1500 cheaper. Any opinions on these?
Anybody know anything about the Garmin GPS Pilot 3? They're a hell of a lot cheaper (can get one for about $300AUD). I realise they're not colour and a bit smaller, but hey, its $1500 cheaper. Any opinions on these?
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GARMIN 296 is in my opinion.....THE FINAL WORD in VFR GPS.
Now if the price is an issue and you are happy to have a monchrome screen, buy the 196.
If thats still too much....save up a bit harder.
End of Story!
Now if the price is an issue and you are happy to have a monchrome screen, buy the 196.
If thats still too much....save up a bit harder.
End of Story!
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The 396/496 have features that can't be used in Oz (XM weather etc) so unless you want to use it in North America, why spend the extra money?
I have a 296, bought it in Cairns, best price I could find in Oz.
It is worth every cent -and then some! I would never have considered spending all that money on a GPS until I saw one and what it could do -instant convert.
I just purchased the car kit so I can use it as a street navigator. God bless Garmin!
I have a 296, bought it in Cairns, best price I could find in Oz.
It is worth every cent -and then some! I would never have considered spending all that money on a GPS until I saw one and what it could do -instant convert.
I just purchased the car kit so I can use it as a street navigator. God bless Garmin!
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Everyone loves monoopolistiic Garmin don't they?
There's not really much opposition in aviation GPS and they do make some good gear - but are things like the 430/530 really still state of the art? How long have they been around and are they really good value? Come on, encourage the competition - otherwise we'll end up getting even more ripped off with whatever old products they feel they can get away with pushing on to us. 296 has been around for years and should by now be much cheaper - and would be if it had any competition.
Remember Apollo?
There's not really much opposition in aviation GPS and they do make some good gear - but are things like the 430/530 really still state of the art? How long have they been around and are they really good value? Come on, encourage the competition - otherwise we'll end up getting even more ripped off with whatever old products they feel they can get away with pushing on to us. 296 has been around for years and should by now be much cheaper - and would be if it had any competition.
Remember Apollo?
Being a somewhat avid collector of new "toys", I have looked into this. As far as I can see there is no advantage of buying a 396 or 496 over the 296, apart from a possible faster refresh rate (although I have not checked this).
I could not justify the additional cost over the 296 when I can't use many of the features.
Dr
I could not justify the additional cost over the 296 when I can't use many of the features.
Dr
I've got the 296 as well. I am very happy with it. 3000 user waypoints capable, as well as the Jepp Dbase. 396/496 has features that are not available to us like XM weather. 496 has 10hz position update rate.
Buy from a Australian Dealer. Any other bargain you find is just not worth it if you have trouble.
Once purchased, make sure it has the latest software version, as there were a few little bugs in the earlier software (nmea output etc).
Spend a bit of time on the web regarding prices.
185
Buy from a Australian Dealer. Any other bargain you find is just not worth it if you have trouble.
Once purchased, make sure it has the latest software version, as there were a few little bugs in the earlier software (nmea output etc).
Spend a bit of time on the web regarding prices.
185
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look at the market
Hey All,
The 'pop up' said I should contribute more so here we go.
Garmin 296 is the current top spec for our southern region, the 396 and 496 only offer features that are not supported here (weather etc). The Garmin product is very good and if you are already Garmin 'brained' then it makes sense. The 296 has much better graphics in daylight readable colour than the 196 in its monochrome. The 196 is good but not as intuative as the colour display of the 296, but most importantly its lithium ion battery is the deal maker. (Forget the road or marine features, they are basic at best and downright incorrect most of the time). Don't buy the Ebay US version, the data is locked into the circuit boards and CANNOT be re loaded for Pacific region.
Have a good look at Lowrance - the 600c. It is full of sensible stuff and in a usable size. (Both Garmin and Lowrance use the Jepp database so the information is the same. It is the extrapilation of that data into usefull information where they differ).
The 600c kit has as standard all the extras that Garmin only supply as optional extras (and all rather expensive).
The AvMap is very nice (a real aviation device, it does not look like a modified phone). Very basic and true to its cause, not claiming to be multi purpose, it is what it says it is 'An aviation GPS'.
In the smaller format (96c v 600c) the winner is 600c on cost and basic standard kit equipment level.
Large format (296 v 2000c v AvMap EKP-IV) if money no object then the AvMap wins though if cost is an issue the 2000c has to be a contender.
Lots of people bag out Lowrance for tech support. The company has changed hands and this seems to no longer be an issue, in fact Garmin is possibly moving up the ranks with problems, though this could be a case of the one percent of Garmin units out there that have issues reflects a bigger number than the one percent of Lowrance units.
Ok, so now onto terrain features.
If you rate terrain awareness as a worthy feature, then it may be time to reconsider how you fly.
Don't start me on the 'fake' panel display on the Garmin, which is esentially a battery powered law suit.
You seem to pay a bit extra for the Garmin, as in if you pay $900.00 for a unit you get $750 worth of kit and the balance in branding. Lowrance you seem to get about $895.76 worth of kit.
Re VFR flying.
As an ex roulette said to me "Get your eyes outside, all the answers are out there. There are only questions in here".
I have played with all of these units.
Just My Thoughts.
cheers,
Solocmv.
The 'pop up' said I should contribute more so here we go.
Garmin 296 is the current top spec for our southern region, the 396 and 496 only offer features that are not supported here (weather etc). The Garmin product is very good and if you are already Garmin 'brained' then it makes sense. The 296 has much better graphics in daylight readable colour than the 196 in its monochrome. The 196 is good but not as intuative as the colour display of the 296, but most importantly its lithium ion battery is the deal maker. (Forget the road or marine features, they are basic at best and downright incorrect most of the time). Don't buy the Ebay US version, the data is locked into the circuit boards and CANNOT be re loaded for Pacific region.
Have a good look at Lowrance - the 600c. It is full of sensible stuff and in a usable size. (Both Garmin and Lowrance use the Jepp database so the information is the same. It is the extrapilation of that data into usefull information where they differ).
The 600c kit has as standard all the extras that Garmin only supply as optional extras (and all rather expensive).
The AvMap is very nice (a real aviation device, it does not look like a modified phone). Very basic and true to its cause, not claiming to be multi purpose, it is what it says it is 'An aviation GPS'.
In the smaller format (96c v 600c) the winner is 600c on cost and basic standard kit equipment level.
Large format (296 v 2000c v AvMap EKP-IV) if money no object then the AvMap wins though if cost is an issue the 2000c has to be a contender.
Lots of people bag out Lowrance for tech support. The company has changed hands and this seems to no longer be an issue, in fact Garmin is possibly moving up the ranks with problems, though this could be a case of the one percent of Garmin units out there that have issues reflects a bigger number than the one percent of Lowrance units.
Ok, so now onto terrain features.
If you rate terrain awareness as a worthy feature, then it may be time to reconsider how you fly.
Don't start me on the 'fake' panel display on the Garmin, which is esentially a battery powered law suit.
You seem to pay a bit extra for the Garmin, as in if you pay $900.00 for a unit you get $750 worth of kit and the balance in branding. Lowrance you seem to get about $895.76 worth of kit.
Re VFR flying.
As an ex roulette said to me "Get your eyes outside, all the answers are out there. There are only questions in here".
I have played with all of these units.
Just My Thoughts.
cheers,
Solocmv.
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go for the 296
And you can connect a fish finder to a 296 and fit it to the tinny to catch a barra up north.I heard it attracts girls if carried in your trouser pocket.
MC
MC
Garmin Pilot 3
Anybody know anything about the Garmin GPS Pilot 3? They're a hell of a lot cheaper (can get one for about $300AUD). I realise they're not colour and a bit smaller, but hey, its $1500 cheaper. Any opinions on these?
I have almost all the alerts turned off as I find they distract me from real navigation. I have refreshed the Jep database several times.
I agree with other comments, buy locally so you get the right database. I got mine at Pacific Avionics at YSBK.
If you can get a Pilot 3 (I thought they had been superseded) go for it. PM me if you want anything more.