New Garmin touchscreen aviation portables

[flyingcheesehead]

Although Garmin debuted the premium priced GPSMap 696 only a year ago, it's rolling out yet another new portable navigator model line this week at AOPA Summit in Tampa, Florida. The new product line is called Aera, and although its features and capabilities are similar to the popular GPSMap 396/496 series, the Aera line will have something entirely new: a touchscreen interface.

And a bit more reasonably priced, too:

Garmin says the Aera screens are larger than the 396/496, measuring 4.3 inches on the diagonal. The Aera will be available in four models, beginning with the $799 500 and topping out with the $1,999 full-featured Aera 560.

Good timing for me. My Street Pilot 2620 is all but dead.

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/GarminAera_NewTouchscreenPortableGPS_201440-1.html
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=156

 

[SCCutler]

I have been aggressively drooling over this all morning; may be what makes me pull the trigger.

Makes the 496 for $1200.00 eBay scam look less like a problem, and more like providence!

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I have been aggressively drooling over this all morning; may be what makes me pull the trigger.

Makes the 496 for $1200.00 eBay scam look less like a problem, and more like providence!

I'm trying to figure out the differences between the 510 and 560.

As far as I can tell, the 560 includes the following additional features:

* SafeTaxi airport diagrams
* AOPA Airport Directory
* higher-resolution terrain
* Lane Assist (auto mode - helps you not have to change at the last minute)
* Speed Limit indicator (auto mode)
* FM Traffic compatible (auto mode)
* 1-year subscriptions to obstacle, terrain, SafeTaxi, and AOPA updates.

Given that I have the AOPA airport directory and non-georeferenced airport diagrams on my iPhone both in ForeFlight ($75) and AOPA Airports (free for members) apps, I'm quite unconvinced that the 560 is worth the extra $700 over the 510. If I were to get the 560, it'd most likely be for the additional automotive features (which I could use in the truck), but I can get a Nuvi 465T with those features (plus truck navigation, which I don't know if these will do) for only $500.

Is there any place that I can play with the Aera 510, 560, and Nuvi 465T besides the Garmin store in downtown Chicago?

Here's an AOPA article that's a little more in depth than the ones I previously linked: http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/2009/december/avionics0912.html

 

[TangoWhiskey]

I agree, Spike. The drool factor on this is high.

 

[CT Arrow]

Geez, just when you think "What else could Garmin possibly come up with"....

The new series looks pretty nice!

 

[AdamZ]

WOWZA!