Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes My new GPSr is on the way!

As I reported in an earlier thread [cessna150-152.com], I've been using a Garmin Forerunner, strapped onto the air vent "can". It works, but isn't very sophisticated (no airspace boundries, no obstructions... in fact, there's no built-in database at all!)

So, after comparing the various aviation-specific GPS receivers (and searching the forum, of course), I finally ordered a Lowrance AirMap 500 [avionicswest.com]. Avionics West, just down the road in Savannah, TN, has 'em brand new for only $299, which is $100 cheaper than I've seen anywhere else. Cheap enough to make up for the enormous Tennessee sales tax I'll have to pay on it.

I'll post my thoughts on it once the UPS guy drops it off and I get a chance to test it out.

Thanks for letting me gloat. I get the feeling if I were to stick my head into my co-workers offices and say "Guess what? I bought a new GPS unit!" they just wouldn't get it.

- Jeff

Although not particularly user friendly, the 500 is an excellent choice and a "Best Buy" in my book. I'm happy with mine.

Thats the best price I've seen. They wanted around $480 at Oshkosh last year. I got one from Rollison Airplane Co., Indiana about 3 months ago for $415 and thought that was a good deal. It seems these gps prices keep dropping. The Lowrance uses airport identifers rather than names which took some getting used to vs. the Magellan 315. I do like the HSI feature.

299 is a good price, is that new in a box or a demo or something? All the regular dealers I've found are selling the Lowrance 500's for $399. I got a similar deal a few years ago from Avionics West for a Garmin 195, but it was definitely a demo unit, and had an expired database. Lowrance charges $35 for a single database update, so that would not be a deal breaker in this case. You might want to confirm that the unit is covered by a full warranty though.

Other than price, you may wish you'd waited a few more weeks...We're currently doing a full scale and very detailed comparison between the Lowrance 500 and the Garmin 96 for the club newsletter, the results to be published in the May/June edition, with even more details in the Member's hangar.

We actually purchased one of each, and will be selling them as used demos after the comparison is done. (I suppose which ever one is our least favorite will be more steeply discounted)

In any case, we intend to settle the question whether or not the Garmin is worth an extra $70. (street price)

For those wanting a little more upscale GPS, we'll be doing the same kind of comparison between the Garmin 196, Garmin 96C, Lowrance 1000 and AVMap GeoPilot next. That comparison will take a little more time and money, and will likely be published in September/October.

Our plan is to set up some kind of hands on demo of all six of the above mentioned GPS's at Clinton this year, so you can try them out in person and offer your own opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of the various designs. By July we should have quite a bit of hands on experience with each of the six models and we may even host some kind of forum or round table to discuss the relative merits of each of these models at Clinton.

The price range of this group is $400-$800, a good fit for a large percentage of budget conscious 150-152 pilots. Those who want bigger screens, color, terrain, or live Nexrad weather will have to spend more, and we'll cover those options in early 2006. If the GPS demos and tech forum are popular at Clinton we'll repeat them at future fly-ins adding more experience and knowledge as we go.

Thanks for the heads up. As far as I can tell, it's a new unit. Nothing on their web site (that I saw, at least) said it was used, reconditioned, demo, etc.

And they're doing that thing where they don't even publish their price--you have to add it to your cart to find out. Manufacturers often prohibit their retailers from advertising a price if it's below a certain point, so you'll ocassionally see places like Aircraft Spruce and even Amazon do that. If it wasn't a factory-new unit, they wouldn't need to resort to such a trick. Or least that's how I'm reasoning it.

In any case, we'll see when it gets here. If it does turn out to be a total junker, they do allow returns. But, as you said, if it's a demo model, has an old database, etc., that's probably still worth the discount.

By the way, I did think about waiting until I read the upcoming review, but I was afraid the $299 deal would be gone by then. Even if the Garmin is worth another $70, I doubt it's worth another $170!

- Jeff

P.S. When I checked the order confirmation they e-mailed me, I noticed that the shipping address was the same as my billing address, which (as far as I recall) was not how I entered it. I fired off some e-mail to them, and got a response within a half-an-hour saying they'd take care of it for me. So far, so good, as far as customer service goes.

[quote]

Our plan is to set up some kind of hands on demo of all six of the above mentioned GPS's at Clinton this year, so you can try them out in person and offer your own opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of the various designs.
[quote]

Greetings,
Being able to see these GPS units side by side and being able to have a hands on chance to work with thiem would be enough reason to come done a day early.
Wil
Stoughton, WI

Oh great, now you tell me. I just bought a 500 at Sporty's for $399. But I did get a $100 certificate from Lowrance when I sent them my AirMap 100 and 5% discount for using my AOPA credit card. Can't wait to get home to try it out. The 100 was a good unit, I hope the 500 is as good.

I'll let anyone use my Airmap 1000 at Clinton that wants to see what it can do. That way you won't have to buy one. I'll even bring the book!!

Kudos on your product evaluation efforts Royson! THAT's the kind of info I like to see <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Looking forward to your test Royson! I just bought a Garmin 96 and it's great. My old GPS was a 95XL that I paid $1100 for in 1995.The biggest difference is how much better the new one recieves the sattelites and the HSI. The 96 works great on the yoke with no remote antenna. Thanks for all the information.