GPS Device...Which one do you like?

[Tailwind]

A friend of mine wants $130 for his Magellan 315 Aviation.
Is that a good unit/deal?

If not, which unit works better for flying in bug smashers?

My price range: $100-200

Thanks,

Tailwind

 

[sky37d]

In that price range, they are all about equal, eg, not real useful.
Spend more money, you get more features.
I fly with the C-Map EXP IIIC http://aviation.c-map.com/
It is color, moving map, has frequencies, airspace, tracks your flight progress, great for determining how well you really did on a hold.
Updates happen every 56 days, has VNAV, HSI, etc, etc.

 

[fLYbUDDY]

its all about the garmin 196!

 

[flywithastick]

It's all about one word - Garmin!!! The 196 will probably be my next choice. Have used the 295 quite a bit. Own a Pilot III and an eTrek. You want something good in the $100 range, the eTrek is the answer IMO. Some will say Magellan 315(?) maybe. You can get airport info off the web and dump into these. Can also do it with the eTrek I've heard, but I've never seen it done.

I use my eTrek as a backup or to follow along on cross countries with students. Get the lat/long out of the AFD and punch in the airports for your trip. The eTrek has some other features I like. Very small (size of a pack of cigs), very easy on batteries, acquires signal very readily and just as accurate as the $1000 handhelds.

This is my recommendation based on your price requirements. You have $4-500, get something with airspace overlays. See my first comment at the top.

 

[siucavflight]

I just got the 196 three days ago. It is an incredible GPS. Well worth the money (1,000).

 

[wingnutt]

Garmin III...go to ebay, i got mine for 250 clams. you hafta bookmark the auctions, and watch em closely, maybe even email a seller or two, but it paid off for me. bang for the buck, you cant beat it

 

[cessna_driver2]

I have the lowrance airmap 100. For basic navigation it the simplest to use. IMHO.

Doesn't the 196 have the approaches?

 

[guyincognito]

I have an old Garmin 90 (which I think is now the 92) and think it works great for the flying I do. It has all the airports/navaids/airspace (except for class D) and it's small and user friendly. You could probably pick up one of those up on ebay for cheap. My database is out of date but all the airports are still in the same place and I don't really use if for frequencies. I'm sure a lot of the airspace has also changed now, but a little cross reference with a current chart and I'm good to go.

I'd love to pick up a 196, but can't quite justify it for the little flying I currently do...

 

[siucavflight]

Yes the 196 does have approaches, it has a built in HSI. It is really worth the 1000 dollars that garmin charges.

 

[kwb13]

The Garmin 92 is probably your best bet for that price. It has a 12 channel reciever versus the old 8 channel in the 90. They both are discontinued by Garmin which means you won't be able to get updates anymore for it, other than that the accessories that fit the new expensive one's (196,295) also fit the old reliable 92, so parts are still available. The 196 is a great machine if you can afford it. Well worth the money.

Don't touch a Magellan! You can't get anything as far as parts, updates, repairs for them! Magellan has totally turned thier back on aviation GPS's.

You may be able to find a III pilot for a little bit more money.

Good luck!

 

[BeachBum]

The Garmin 92 is probably your best bet for that price. It has a 12 channel reciever versus the old 8 channel in the 90. They both are discontinued by Garmin which means you won't be able to get updates anymore for it

Actually, I've got a 90 and still am able to get parts and updates from Garmin. I just updated the database in April. They just don't make new units anymore.

I'd highly recommend the 90 for that price range. You can probably snag one off Ebay. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the new units, but it works great as a situational awareness and backup navigation aid. It doesn't do approaches or anything like that, but since handhelds aren't IFR certified anyway, that's not a huge drawbacks. True, the handhelds with approaches do help you with situational awareness on the approaoch, but with a 90 (with an updated database) you can still track your progress by matching the intersections and fixes on the screen with those on the approach chart. And with the $800 you save by not buying a 196, you can fly more. Not that there is anything wrong with the newer units, they just cost a lot.

 

[snoopy_1]

If you're looking for value it's hard to beat the Garmin GPS 12, $144. http://www.garmin.com/products/gps12/
http://www.gpsnow.com/gm12.htm
It's got a proven track record garmin still sells it after more than 4 years on the market. I've had mine for 4 years and it's still going strong, 12 channel engine that gets a position in about 30 seconds even in the air moving 400 kts. You have to enter the airport or navaid coordinates, holds 500 user waypoints, speed goes up to 999 kts, I've only seen 550 kts with it in the Falcon 20 though, 4 AA batteries last 24 hours. It's the Garmin GPS 92 without the aviation database.

Regarding the post above that compares the GPS 90 to the GPS 92, you can't compare these two products. The 90 is NOT an 8 channel GPS it is a 2 channel gps that garmin calls a MultiTrac8, it was introduced in 1994 and Garmin replaced it with the GPS 92 in 1998 when the new 12 channel GPS engines were introduced, the same 12 channel gps engine that the new gps 196 uses today. The GPS 90 takes a LONG time (several minutes) to get a position and cannot hold the position anywhere near as well as the 92. The 92 is a completely different 12 channel gps engine that takes no more than a few seconds to get a position and locks onto it and doesn't lose it like the 90 will.

 

[JBcrjca]

I've got an old GPS90 that I bought back in '96 for $600. It still works fine, still able to get database updates from the Garmin website for $35. I've heard that updates will be discontinued soon, so a used 90 might not be the best choice, even if they are cheap. And Snoopy is right, it takes quite a while for the 90 to acquire a position...maybe a newer unit would be the way to go.

 

[kwb13]

Yeah, April is about the last update available. I know there no "current" updates available anymore. I just tried to get a 90 to acquire today and it does take a LONG time compared to the others.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[guyincognito]

True dat. The 90 definately is slow to acquire and quick to drop. And it usually does so while skirting class Bravo...

Unfortunately, ebay only has one 92 up for bid right now, and it looks like the guy is asking close to $400. There are a few 90s in the $100 range though. So if you can remember to boot it up as soon as you start the plane and don't mind short periodic drops in coverage, it's still a pretty good deal. But I'd spend the extra and go for the 92...