Gps

[DanB]

I tend to shy away from Magellan products as I have been through 2 units in my truck (both went south within a year). I have owned a Garmin Nuvi for the last 3 years, a Garmin 295 for the last 4 and a 396 for the last 2 years. I have not had a stitch of trouble with any of them.
I will highly recommend the Garmin 396 as I like having the weather feature (and XM Radio) I can activate for extended trips. The used ones are droping to a palatable price now.

[Av8r3400]

Magellan no longer makes aviation units and it sounds like Lowrance won't for much longer, too. From my experience with what I have, getting something that is no longer supported or produced is not good.

I've been thinking of a Garmin 196 for it's unbeatable reputation and cost. I'd like a 495 or 695, but they are just too costly for me (I've no use for XM).

Now I read in AOPA that Garmin will stop production on the 196 and 495/6 soon, in favor of the aera 500 series touch screen units.

Man...

[SkySteve]

I have the Lowrance 2000c and love it. The large screen is the best feature. I use the Landing Guidance feature at new airports. Being able to have weather would be very nice and weather is not available on the 2000c.

[Slyfox]

I have the Iq3600a in the kitfox and has worked great, but small screen compared to the Garmin 696 in the RV which is absolutely amazing. I plan on getting the 1inch ball mount for the kitfox so I can move the 696 back and forth between planes when I do a long distance in the kitfox. Otherwise the Iq will stay in the kitfox.

[jrthomas]

I have a Garmin 296. This is my third Garmin. My 1st was a first generation 45XL. It started doing strange things so I sent it in for repairs. Garmin couldn't reproduce my problem so they sent me a new one. Such good service and no other problems in the last 10 or 12 years is why I went back with Garmin. James Thomas

[akarmy]

I started with the Garmin 196, nice and simple, quite cheap also. Then upgraded to the Garmin 296, just had to get some nice color. Then I wanted the nice terrain and faster processor, with the addition of private airports, so I upgrade to the Garmin 495 (this is the one without the onboard weather subscription). I really like it, just big enough to see, but small enough to not take up all your panel space.