Advantage: Anywhere

A comparison of the Garmin 396 and Anywhere Map
Anywhere Map offers all of the aviation functionality of the Garmin 396 and then some for an INITIAL cost of about 20% less, while offering far more versatility, expandability and a far lower ongoing cost of ownership. This gap gets even wider with weather.
If you think the 396 is “all you need to know” about portable XM weather, the following comparisons fairly contrast Anywhere Wx and the 396 and should be required reading.
Value: The 396 street price is $2495. Jep data and obstacles cost another $490 a year. Add a year’s worth of XM weather for $360 and you’ve got a yearly maintenance total of $850. You save a full $1,000 right off the top with an Anywhere Map weather system for $1495. The first year’s aviation data is free, and you don’t pay for obstacle data.

Upgrades: There’s no “weather upgrade” for any Garmin. If you want XM weather for your Garmin, you buy a 396 and put your 296 on ebay. You can’t add approach plates to any Garmin portable, either. Pocket Plates are available for every Anywhere Map system and PCs.

Advantage: Anywhere 

Actual Scale Panel Template Print this document to see the actual sizes of each computer, to determine which platform will work best in your cockpit.

Display - Anywhere Wx comes on your choice of powerful, full-color displays; the smallest is the 3.7 inch Dell Axim X50v ( with twice the resolution of the 396). Next up is the 8.4 inch Raven XP and 8.4 inch Motion tablet PC and an 12.1-inch tablet PC. All have better resolution and color fidelity than the 3.7 inch Garmin.

Why pay so much more for less performance?

Map features - Anywhere Map includes thousands of private airports in its database; has patented Cones of Safety®; wind-compensated emergency landing glide-prediction mode. The 396 includes none of these features.

IFR features - The 396 doesn’t offer many of the IFR mapping tools common to Anywhere Map, such as Airways, MEAs, holding patterns and localizer feathers. And Garmin leaves out the IAF for some reason.

Fuel information - Anywhere Map comes with the services of 100LL.com, a take-along fuel price directory that not only helps you plan your flights, but also aids you when your plans change enroute.

Why pay so much more for fewer features?

Upgrades - When purchasing avionics, you should expect a reasonable life-span for your investment in the form of software and equipment upgrades. Here the Anywhere Map advantage becomes more obvious.

Both systems have roughly similar capabilities out of the box. But the 396 you purchase is the 396 you will get for the life of the product. An Anywhere Map WX system is just one step into our product line; there is tremendous latent value built into the product.

As has been Garmin’s practice, the 396 is a closed box—it is not upgradeable. When they get around to copying our next great idea, you’ll have to shell out another $3,000 or so for a new Garmin… While our customers will only pay for the actual upgrade.

The Real Cost of Upgrades

Why pay so much more for fewer overall capabilities?

Which XM Weather for me? Both Anywhere Wx and Garmin display XM Weather including Nexrad, Metars, TAFs, Winds Aloft, Lightning, and City Forecasts. The difference is in the size and color fidelity of the display . Anywhere Wx’s 3.7 inch screen and 64,000 colors is superior to Garmin’s 3.7 inch, 256-color display. Period.

Why pay more for the same weather?

Traffic Avoidance - Garmin has made a lot of noise about being able to support the display of traffic on the 396, but this is just a lot of smoke and mirrors for most pilots. * Displaying Mode-S TIS (traffic) on a 396 calls for the permanent installation of a Garmin GTX330 transponder as well as a connector to link it to the 396. The trip to the avionics shop will bring aircraft downtime as well. Very few aircraft currently have this transponder installed, but virtually all that do display the traffic information on built-in 430 / 530 / or MX 20 displays, and do not have the necessary cabling installed to connect to a 396.

The most important thing to know about Mode S TIS is that the FAA is already in the process of phasing it out! Don’t believe us, read what Aviation Consumer said about the subject in their August 2005 issue:

“If you’re a Garmin GTX330 transponder owner, you won’t want to hear this but… that expensive traffic avoidance system you bought is in the process of being unplugged … Although the FAA didn’t tell us this three years ago… the new ... digital terminal radars replacing older units at 23 airports won’t have the Mode-S traffic information service ... Bluntly, those of us who bought into Mode-S TIS—and that’s about 9,000 so far, according to Garmin—are just out of luck… ”

In contrast, Anywhere Map, in cooperation with TrafficScope is introducing a totally passive directional traffic avoidance system that does NOT require permanent installation in the aircraft, nor any aircraft downtime, and isn’t a service that can be unplugged by the FAA. Adding Anywhere Traffic Control™ (ATC) to your Anywhere Map display costs less than $2,000. And, while TIS only works in more congested terminal areas (and is shrinking), ATC traffic from Anywhere Map works worldwide.

Why pay $5,000 for a traffic-avoidance system that’s already being “unplugged” by the FAA? And you might ask yourself, what kind of company would sell me a $5,000 transponder for a service that’s already being phased out?!

Why invest in an expensive and obsolete service?

 IT’S YOUR MONEY - Garmin’s 396 goes for $2495, $1000 more than Anywhere Wx. But it doesn’t end there.

Ongoing costs: A Garmin 360 costs about $875 a year to keep current and keep weather coming in. Some pilots economize—leave out the obstacle data or only upgrade aeronautical data once or twice a year.

Buy from the weather experts - When you call Anywhere Map you can speak with an instrument-rated pilot who flies with this system and has years of experience with datalink weather.

The Bottom Line - With roughly similar map services (Anywhere Map has a lot more IFR capability), the same (XM) weather, similar flight planning, Anywhere Wx costs $1000 less to purchase ; about $500 a year less for data ; offers LEGAL Pocket Plates ; and has Bluetooth allowing you to connect to outside devices.

Anywhere Map’s next major upgrade, Traffic Avoidance, will be an UPGRADE to your basic system. No such capability is being offered by Garmin, and when and if one is, it will come as a completely new hardware system that, like the 296, will make a 396 obsolete.

Advantage: Anywhere

	Comparing Anywhere Map to the competition
	Tale Of Two Pilots
	Actual Scale Panel Template
	Customer Testimonials