If you believe the anywhere map propaganda the AM is more user friendly, it's also color, and the price is now less than $800. with a Dell PDA. However if you use the Dell you give up the ability to download weather in the future. I assume you're comparing apples to apples and the Garmin 196 doesen't have weather either. You also have a PDA to use when not using GPS if you buy the AM. I'm too cheap to buy either.