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Avidyne 440 and 540 prices


nels

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I had entered the Avidyne "give away" about a month ago so today I got a call from a sales person. I expected this would happen and was looking forward to talking with them. It sounds as if their 440 can be bought in complete kit form for about $12k and the 540 for about $14k. I'm sure these are an improvement over the old Garmin 430 and 530 but still a lot of money. I imagine a could buy two 430 waas units and have them installed for the price of the the Avidyne 440 still in the box. Has anyone out there experienced a better sales price on either of the Avidynes mentioned? I just can't justify that kind of money. Am I wrong?

 

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Check with Gulf Coast Avionics.  

I got the 440 GPS, 340 transponder, and ADS-B IN (MLB100 or Skytrack) for less than $15k.  

The 440 was about 11k of that.

If you get a chance to demo both brands in other planes it would help make your decision.

Tim

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Nels,

I doubt you could get two 430 WAAS units installed for $12k. The reason I say that is I recently traded in my two 430 WAAS units for two 440s last March through Pacific Coast Avionics. So the value allow on these units are $6000 each. I'm not sure if they make them up when they resell them. Installation will probably cost you 30-40% on top of that. 

By the way, I love the Avidynes. I realize they are tough to justify. But they are very well thought out and beat the GTNs hands down in my not so humble opinion. If you decide to do it spend the extra money for the 540. I would have but didn't have the space in my panel. But the forthcoming IFD 100 app really changes things. It might not be all that necessary.

Edited by NotarPilot
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New product promotions offering trade in/trade up deals are priced to absorb the trade value in the price of the new product. In other words, it would seem that Avidyne has enough margin in the new IFD 440s to cover the trade in. 

They get free advertising from you and make some profit on the wholesale of the used Garmins. Where are all these trade ins anyway? The market should be flooded with them?

Most of the time, the mfg. will already have a market set up for the trades, probably overseas.

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I would rather go for the GNS 530W or IFD 540 rather than the IFD 440. The one bigger screen provides a more complete guidance image and details than the smaller screen. With the bigger screen there is no need to zoom in or zoom out for details. You can get one on e-bay for $7,200 like these one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garmin-GNS-530W-/272337423700?hash=item3f68934d54:g:JGEAAOSwRgJXjYN~&vxp=mtr

José

 

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Just now, mike_elliott said:

Or you could use an IPAD mini with the 440 and have a much larger screen than the 530, or the 540 or the 750, and 2 of them to boot.

that's my thinking with my 430.  BTW, is avidyne a solid company?  In other words, would you think they're going to be supporting the 440/540 in 10 years?

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Just now, rbridges said:

that's my thinking with my 430.  BTW, is avidyne a solid company?  In other words, would you think they're going to be supporting the 440/540 in 10 years?

I might be mistaken, but I don't think Garmin has an app that will run the 430 on an IPAD, and yes, Avidyne is a certainly a real player. If your asking me if they will be around in 10 years, Well, I dropped my crystal ball this morning. Who in 1985 would have thought IBM would not be making micro computers  today? I really doubt Garmin will be supporting the 430 in 10 years for sure, as it is a 199ish tech that has been replaced. The Avidyne 440 can be displayed and controlled on the IPAD, just like a big screen Avidyne 540 only bigger. Garmin will probably come up with something similar sometime in the future to catch up on the 650.

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2 minutes ago, mike_elliott said:

I might be mistaken, but I don't think Garmin has an app that will run the 430 on an IPAD, and yes, Avidyne is a certainly a real player. If your asking me if they will be around in 10 years, Well, I dropped my crystal ball this morning. Who in 1985 would have thought IBM would not be making micro computers  today? I really doubt Garmin will be supporting the 430 in 10 years for sure, as it is a 199ish tech that has been replaced. The Avidyne 440 can be displayed and controlled on the IPAD, just like a big screen Avidyne 540 only bigger. Garmin will probably come up with something similar sometime in the future to catch up on the 650.

I just meant I use my Ipad for most of my situation awareness but have a 430 to keep my IFR legal.  I know the 430 is long in the tooth, but Garmin has supported the 430W for many years.  At some point, I'm going to be looking for a replacement, and I'll have to decide on my options.  I recall horror stories with other companies orphaning their products.  

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Don't forget to contact our Avidyne guy and our Garmin guy directly.  A good part of their job is to maintain online presence, give solid answers regarding their products, and field questions regarding their future products and integration.

Trek Lawler - Garmin

Simpson Bennet - Avidyne

They haven't been heard from in a while.  They need you to give them a jingle... :)

Best regards,

-a-

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I might actually be in the market for a 430 non WAAS. I already have a 530W in the stack but need a second nav/com. I was thinking a 430 would be a nice addition to the stack and provide the second nav/com. But I haven't seen one for less then about $5500 anywhere.  So if any of you are thinking of moving up from a 430 to a 530, or moving from the 430 to an Avidyne, I might be interested in your 430.

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On 8/17/2016 at 10:52 PM, rbridges said:

that's my thinking with my 430.  BTW, is avidyne a solid company?  In other words, would you think they're going to be supporting the 440/540 in 10 years?

Well, we have been here for 22 years already and with the success of the IFDs so far, it looks like we will be here for another 22.

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On ‎8‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 0:22 AM, gsxrpilot said:

I might actually be in the market for a 430 non WAAS. I already have a 530W in the stack but need a second nav/com. I was thinking a 430 would be a nice addition to the stack and provide the second nav/com. But I haven't seen one for less then about $5500 anywhere.  So if any of you are thinking of moving up from a 430 to a 530, or moving from the 430 to an Avidyne, I might be interested in your 430.

Paul , I have a 430 Non W , complete , south of 5 K , give me a shout....

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Simpson , nice to have you on the forum ,   Although I am a staunch Garmin guy , I will say that Garmin had similar growing pains to the ones Avidyne is having now....(many years ago)   And I do have to throw Avidyne a bone , when they dropped the EX500 series , instead of orphaning them , they sold the repair authorization to Duncan......  I would like to see three major players in the GA flight deck arena , Garmin , Avidyne , and Dynon......  I think Dynon is going to be the next big player........

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