Garmin Unveils the 695/696 - WOW

[mooniac58]

Meet Garmin's new ultimate portable MFD: the GPSMAP 696, an all-in-one navigator designed exclusively for aviation. Featuring a large screen, detailed electronic charts and real-time weather, the 696 is your own personal avionics system.

Featuring:

• HUGE 7" diagonal screen with 800 x 640 resolution
  
• A Garmin G1000-like joystick to control data entry


• FAA NACO approach plates pre-loaded


• XM Satellite Weather and Radio (696 only)


• High resolution terrain avoidance


• "View from space" satellite imagery


• Smart Airspace™ to identify what lies ahead

[TurboExec]

it certainly looks like a nice unit....a little more than I would like to spend.

I just got the AnyWhereMap ATC and love it....

[GeorgePerry]

call me crazy, but it seems to big.  Somthing that bulky really needs to be an integrated part of the panel.  G 496 does just about anything one could want...and yea, that's one heck of a price tag.

[RobertoTohme]

Pretty nice unit Garmin just presented... It's not that difficult to get used to that kind of bulk, though; I have been flying lately with a Fujitsu lifebook 1620 tablet loaded with Mountainscope by pcavionics (great mapping software!) and Jeppesen Flitedeck, which is part of my Jeppview subscription for the GMX200 on my Eagle.  This combo makes the best of both worlds: Mountain and terrain mapping with mountainscope, including synthetic vision (they call it cockpit view), and charting (both IFR and VFR) by Jeppesen; all this for about the same investment not counting WX of Jepp subscriptions.

At first is kind of cumbersome to figure where to put the tablet, but in the end I realized that since it's just a back up to a very advanced panel, I just get it going before the flight and lay it on the passenger seat or on my lap if I have a passenger.  Since the GPS sensor is a remote bluethoot unit sitting in the dash, no cables need to be run to the tablet as opposed as having to set the unit where it has sky view for the satellites.   Who would have thought where avionics are nowadays!

[mooniac58]

I use a Lifebook 1620 too, and love it!  I use the FlightPrep software package though.  However, this new Garmin unit seems so much cooler - especially with the daylight readable screen and buttons along the display.  I think I could happily trade in my 1620 setup for this puppy!  That price tag is painful though.

So, how do you mount your 1620 in your cockpit Roberto?

[RobertoTohme]

Quote: mooniac58

So, how do you mount your 1620 in your cockpit Roberto?

[Greg_D]

I got one of these yesterday.  I can post some pics of where I installed it if anyone's interested. 

At first, I thought the large size would be a problem.  While I don't really like the RAM yoke mount that was included in the box, I do ilike the way it positions the unit.  It looks nice and feels like it belongs there.  I had my 496 mounted down below the throttle controls (on the wheel well) since I mainly used it for WX. 

I decided to put the 696 up on the yoke since it has the approcah plates built in.  I'm going to have to get a new cord to run power and data from my panel mount to the 696 since the power connector is different.  That's a plus since the old connector was plastic and very prone to breakage.

[mooniac58]

Excellent, yes please attach some pics!

[Magnum]

Quote: Greg_D

I got one of these yesterday.  I can post some pics of where I installed it if anyone's interested. 

[Greg_D]

Is the unit faster than the 496? Especially when scrolling the map, my 496 sometimes needs 3-4sec to redraw.

Yes, much faster.  I didn't notice any lag on the screen when switching pages.

Where did you buy it? Did they have the 695, too (I need the Atlantic version and unfortunately there is no XM weather available in Europe..)?

I got it from Sportys.  I had some old gift cards that I hadn't used and I applied them to the sale. I've got a nice, nearly new 496 for sale, BTW.

Does it come with a universal wall charger (110-220V) like the 496?

There is a wall charger, but I don't think it's a universal unit.  The power connector is all metal this time and it looks like it will hold up much better than the old plastic one.

Playing around with it a little more today, I found that I don't really like the quality of the scanned approach plates.  The resolution isn't very good full screen, but you can zoom and pan fairly easily which somewhat mitigates the poor quality in full screen mode.

[Magnum]

Thank you for the information.