Why Upgrade to the G500TXi

[donkaye, MCFI]

I posted this to Beechtalk, but thought it might be of interest to some here.  so here goes:

Ever since the G500TXi was announced, I was trying to look for a reason to do the upgrade. I rationalized a lot of reasons not to do it. I didn't see that I was getting any additional capability, and in fact losing some with the lose of multiple map pages, this is, until I found the display specifications today and was able to compare the two.
 

The legacy G500 has a display resolution of 480 (w) x 640 (h) = 307,200 pixels per display or 614,400 total pixels for both displays. The G500TXi has 1280 (w) x 768 (h) = 983,040 pixels.
 

((983040-614,400)/614,400) x 100 = (368,640/614,400) x 100 = 60.0% better resolution.

That is significant to me, and when including the benefits of unifying the G500 interface to the GTNs and adding the HSI map, makes the upgrade a go for me. I had some concern about losing the benefit of multiple maps pages, but the simplicity and speed with which you can change overlays relative to the legacy G500 mitigates the loss of multiple map pages in my opinion.

With the backlog, maybe I'll have the install completed by Oshkosh.  

 

[gsxrpilot]

@donkaye what are the plans for the G500 that will come out of your Bravo? Will the shop give you a trade in or will it be up for sale?

[JohnB]

Ha! I had a feeling you were going to upgrade! I'm getting my G500Txi installed at the end of this month! My installer says the resolution is leaps and bounds better than the G500 display.

[kortopates]

27 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

@donkaye what are the plans for the G500 that will come out of your Bravo? Will the shop give you a trade in or will it be up for sale?

Only the GDU display comes out for the upgrade and goes back to Garmin. The rest I understand is software. Their offering a discounted  10.6" single new screen GDU that will support PFD, MFD and EIS all on one screen at an upgrade cost of $8K. But I assume its not the dimensional equivalent to the original G500 and will need a new panel cut which could weigh heavily in the total upgrade cost. But I also wonder if the upgrade will preserve existing pre-paid enablement extra's like Syn Vision and Jepp Charts; hopefully they don't expect you to buy those again. Although interestingly they charge less for them on the Txi version than the G500. 

[donkaye, MCFI]

19 minutes ago, kortopates said:

Only the GDU display comes out for the upgrade and goes back to Garmin. The rest I understand is software. Their offering a discounted  10.6" single new screen GDU that will support PFD, MFD and EIS all on one screen at an upgrade cost of $8K. But I assume its not the dimensional equivalent to the original G500 and will need a new panel cut which could weigh heavily in the total upgrade cost. But I also wonder if the upgrade will preserve existing pre-paid enablement extra's like Syn Vision and Jepp Charts; hopefully they don't expect you to buy those again. Although interestingly they charge less for them on the Txi version than the G500. 

Luckily, I have enough room on my panel to enlarge the hole.  I think the upgrade retail cost is $9,270 after rebate with the return of a previously registered GDU 620 in working order, but maybe the shop will discount slightly.  Not sure, yet.  Enablement cards are replaced for free with return of the old cards.

[MIm20c]

With one or two 750’s installed in the panel I find little value in a dedicated map or traffic page. The ability to scale one in if needed or leave the pfd full screen is valuable IMO. The higher resolution and faster processing power is important as well. Think about how long the current monthly updates take  

Now if you didn’t have a 750 and 650 installed (like a single 650, 430, 440) I’d want a dedicated mfd installed. 

[kortopates]

9 hours ago, donkaye said:

Luckily, I have enough room on my panel to enlarge the hole.  I think the upgrade retail cost is $9,270 after rebate with the return of a previously registered GDU 620 in working order, but maybe the shop will discount slightly.  Not sure, yet.  Enablement cards are replaced for free with return of the old cards.

Good to hear that. For an idea in street pricing discounts check this example out: http://sarasotaavionics.com/garmin-txi-upgrade

Edited March 4, 2018 by kortopates

[MIm20c]

6 hours ago, kortopates said:

Good to hear that. For an idea in street pricing discounts check this example out: http://sarasotaavionics.com/garmin-txi-upgrade

The real value in the upgrade is being able to keep the unlocks. I think the upgrade program will end at some point (can’t remember the date) so those that are thinking about it might want to keep that in mind.