Next thing from Garmin?

flyingcheesehead

flyingcheesehead

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
24,256
Location
UQACY, WI
Display Name
Display name:
iMooniac
Hmmm...

The 396 has a cousin, the 376c, which is identical except for that it only has Marine and Land modes, and no Aviation mode.

Now the 376c has a big brother, the 378, which includes enough memory for street-level maps of the entire US and comes preloaded with such, as well as charts of inland lakes.

Maybe there will be a 398 at OSH this year? That would finally give me all the capabilities I need in one unit.

Of course, I'd still miss the touchscreen and remote control that my 2620 has. And now, the 2820 ($839) has XM traffic and weather, speaks street names, adds a "fly-behind" view, XM radio, and bluetooth for cell calls.

Has anyone dropped the price of the 396 below $2495 yet? (Hmm, Sporty's plus AOPA credit card would give a $249.75 discount!)
 
The 396 does have a slot for a Garmin memory card to load street maps on.

If you don't need the terrain/aviation database, you could subscribe to XM Aviation weather on the 376c
 
AirBaker said:
The 396 does have a slot for a Garmin memory card to load street maps on.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the problem. CompactFlash would be OK, but Garmin doesn't make a card big enough to hold the full US street maps. :no: So, the Auto mode on the 396 is kinda worthless to me, and a big reason I haven't bought one (because then I'd have TWO of 'em on the dash... Yikes.)
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Yeah, that's the problem. CompactFlash would be OK, but Garmin doesn't make a card big enough to hold the full US street maps. :no: So, the Auto mode on the 396 is kinda worthless to me, and a big reason I haven't bought one (because then I'd have TWO of 'em on the dash... Yikes.)
Click to expand...

If it is compact flash type II you should be able to stick a 4 GB IBM Microdrive in it..or hell. I think 2GB CF cards are pretty cheap now too. I want to say around $150
 
The flash cards appear to be a proprietary Garmin form factor. I've seen up to 512mb ones.

I wouldn't have ALL the US loaded, but I'm sure I could get a few Metro areas loaded in there!
 
I've tried putting street maps on my 396 and found there is limited memory. One could put a few large metro areas on there and fill it up pretty quickly.

Dave
 
jangell said:
If it is compact flash type II you should be able to stick a 4 GB IBM Microdrive in it..or hell. I think 2GB CF cards are pretty cheap now too. I want to say around $150
Click to expand...

That's the problem - AirBaker's Right - It's not CF. It's Garmin proprietary. :mad:

Dave Siciliano said:
I've tried putting street maps on my 396 and found there is limited memory. One could put a few large metro areas on there and fill it up pretty quickly.
Click to expand...

Yup. IIRC the card that comes with the 396 auto kit is 128MB. Also IIRC, my 2620 has a 10GB hard drive that only has 512MB or so free after loading all the maps. And yes, I do need all the maps. In the last year, I've been in all 48 except NM and AR/MS/LA, plus Quebec and Ontario.

One of the things that interested me about the 2820 is their "POI Loader" (POI = Point Of Interest) software that will allow you to load additional points of interest. I found where I can download a few of the truck stop chains into it (The built-in database has many truck stops but many missing too, or some that show as "Auto Fuel" and not truck stop) but it appears that it's kind of brain-dead - I think they get loaded as generic points of interest, not a specific category. :mad: That's kind of worthless, as I'd have to do two separate searches ("truck stops" along current route, and "points of interest" along current route). Oh well, better luck next time. :(
 
Hmm..

Anyone willing to donate their 396 and memory card to me for research? I'd like to rip it apart along with the memory card and figure out an alternative vs. buying waaay too expensive of garmin memory cards.

There is a good chance that I might kill it....But hey, It's for a good cause ;)
 
It is a completely different form factor. Otherwise, I'd be it's pretty similar electrically.
 
AirBaker said:
It is a completely different form factor. Otherwise, I'd be it's pretty similar electrically.
Click to expand...

That would be my guess too. I'd be fun to play with.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Hmmm...

The 396 has a cousin, the 376c, which is identical except for that it only has Marine and Land modes, and no Aviation mode.

Now the 376c has a big brother, the 378, which includes enough memory for street-level maps of the entire US and comes preloaded with such, as well as charts of inland lakes.

Maybe there will be a 398 at OSH this year? That would finally give me all the capabilities I need in one unit.

Of course, I'd still miss the touchscreen and remote control that my 2620 has. And now, the 2820 ($839) has XM traffic and weather, speaks street names, adds a "fly-behind" view, XM radio, and bluetooth for cell calls.

...
Click to expand...
Costo has the 2730 for $799.99 after rebate. I guess the $839 price for the 2820(?) is as good of a deal.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Now the 376c has a big brother, the 378, which includes enough memory for street-level maps of the entire US and comes preloaded with such, as well as charts of inland lakes.
Click to expand...

http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap378/index.jsp

I think I'm going to wait a couple of months. I only have one more long cross-country planned before OSH, and I'd bet money that we'll be seeing a Garmin 398 up there. They just reduced the price of the 396...

Of course, this happens as soon as I'd pretty much settled on getting a 396 and a 2820. I'll probably still do that, at least I'll get the best of both worlds.

http://www.garmin.com/products/sp2820/
http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap396/
 
etsisk said:
Does Garmin also make the 2820?
Click to expand...

Yup. And I'm guessing that even with the 398, I'll probably get a 2820 and a 396. The reason the 2820 isn't much more than the 2730 is that the 2820 does not include the GXM 30 antenna, which is about $200. However, the 396 does, and since that's where all the electronics live, I can get one subscription that'll follow the antenna rather than having to get a dual subscription.

The other thing is that the 398 will probably not have the remote, which I use frequently. In the truck, my hands are often dirty and I don't want to mess up the touch screen. In my new car, the GPS will be mounted way forward of where I can really reach very easily.

Hmmm... Well, that's only about $3200 I'll be spending on Garmin gadgets this summer. Anyone want to buy a Street Pilot 2620? I already loaded the latest (annual) database update on it...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top