Cubdrvr, this may help you decide.
I?ve had the 196 for less then a month and only have about 10hrs on it, so it?s not like I?m a pro at it yet. I got the Topo USA, Metro USA, USB card reader, and 128mb memory card as add-ons. I put the whole thing together thru eBay for about $1200.00.
Down side first.
At least for me, I have to carry my reading glasses so that I can see the map. The map is just a tad bit small for me (but what isn?t in my life? Color would help). I can see all the blocks of info just fine, but if you ask me what the name of that mountain top is? out come the glasses. You can pick a setting to make the names larger, but then the screen gets too cluttered with text.
When you have the Topo info loaded and you fly into a controlled airspace (SUA) and then put the pointer on a mountain top (or other point of interest), all you get is a message that says ?Class C? (or what ever type of airspace it is). This annoys me to no end. It?s probably something that I?m doing wrong, but that doesn?t stop it from annoying me! The airspace has priority and ?paints? over the top of the other names.:evil:
You can?t load Topo maps and Metro maps on the same flash card (memory card). If you want to fly somewhere, and then use your 196 in a rental car to drive around town (so that you?ll have street maps), you?ll have to take two separate flash cards. See statement above.
It too, eats batteries. I don?t have a 295 so I can?t say how much better or worse it is, but I?m sure that I?ll be happier when I get some NIMH batteries.
The drivers for the Garmin USB reader/writer are a total pain in the ass to use with windows XP. They work, but you have to work at it. Garmin has an update for the drivers but every time you put a map disk in your puter, the disk automatically loads the old drivers on your machine and you have to reload the new drivers in order to plant the maps on the flash card.:evil:
OK that?s my complaints.
On the plus side.
I have a panel mounted Garmin 150 as a backup. It?s STCed, TSOed, FAA-PMAed, BFDed and such. The updates for it are $200.00+ ?each? (updates come out every 28 days) Can you guess how old my newest update is? That SOB is so complicated to operate that all that I can really use on it is the ?direct to? button. You would have to take a collage semester course to learn how to work it. It?s worse then trying to set the clock on a VCR. The 196 on the other hand, is pretty darn simple to use, and I mean use all of its features. The menus are pretty logical and they just make sense (after some practice).
Damn this thing is fast, and accurate. The altitude is spot on and in fact, I?ve been using it to set my altimeter and have yet to be disappointed. The VSI is better than my panel instrument. I use its DG to set mine. I?ve never had to wait for the moving map to paint a screen. The HSI is fun to play with and it even has a vertical bar (cool, I feel like a Lear driver). I?ve read that if you have an EI fuel gauge (has to be the type ?L? I think), it will plug into it and give you all sorts of fuel info. The free ?flight log? software is a real bonus when it comes time for the log books. I could go on and on about how much better it is then my mega buck panel mount!.
As to the artificial panel, would I use it in a pinch?...well?I wouldn?t just sit there and ignore it! This thing is damn accurate AND fast.