Garmin 396 GPS with XM Weather (Americas) – Sporty’s Pilot Shop
When the Garmin 296 came out, I said that all it really needed was XM Satellite weather and approach plates, and it would be the perfect electronic flight bag (EFB). Since EFBs start at about $4,000, they are so far out of my reach as to be laughable. But now they’ve done it – they’ve combined the Garmin 296 with built-in XM Satellite weather (and you can listen to XM Satellite stations with an audio jack on the unit), and it’s just about perfect.
I seriously wish I flew enough to justify this beast. But since all I really do is a few 2 hour flights every month, I should probably just keep drooling and keep the credit cards locked away.
I just saw the 396 advertisement two nights ago. I’ve been suffering away with an Anywhere map PDA which requires a masters in computer science and an electrical engineering degree to keep running. I love the weather info, but my wife hates the reliabilty. The complexity intrigues me, which is really stupid on my part.
I was on the pc looking at a webpage for the 396 and my wife heard me saying “ohh my god” over and over. She made me buy it immediately. I have the Garmin 530 in my Bonanza, but I really did not want to spend another $6000 to get the weather via the GDL69A. I kept wondering why no one has done this before. I am glad that Garmin pulled it off.
It really sounds the death knell for the PDA weather/GPS companies.
Don’t you dare take a look at those juicy screen shots they are posting. They are designed to make your credit card appear beside your keyboard.
Take care.
Kevin