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Je viens de lire les 20 pages du manuel d'utilisation et on peut dire que Garmin ont maintenant de la compétion surtout en y figurant le prix.
Le poids et la grosseur de l'appareil sont impressionnant mais il ne faut pas oublier qu'un Garmin à une autonimie de 8-10 heures sur les piles.
A première vue ça semble être un bon achat.
Garmin peut répondre à ces GPS avec le nouveau mode GPSMAP 640 https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=148&pID=14898
Cependant il n'est pas aviation...ce qui n'est qu'un petit détail en soit et le prix serait alors comparable...
Enfin Garmin n'aura plus le monopole des Hand-Held et devra s'adapter autant en prix qu'en technologie.
Avec toute l'étude de GPS que tu as fait dernièrement et en plus avec la lecture des 20 pages du manuel je pense que je viens d'avoir l'avis d'un expert examinateur, un gros merci Bob !
Par contre si un utilisateur veut me donner plus d'infos n'hésitez pas car j'achète très bientôt....
D'ailleurs quelqu'un sait ou je peux me le procurer au Canada, autrement j'aurai pas le choix et je le commanderai du côté USA !
Voici un review intéressant que j'ai trouvé sur Internet au sujet des différents GPS.
Bonne lecture pour ceux qui comme moi sont à la recherche d'un nouveau joujou...!
Eric GARF
Garmin’s GPSmaps are still the best of the best, but for half the money, Anywhere Map’s ATC does nearly as much, is easier to use and has better ground nav.
What we have is basically a David and Goliath sort of thing. Goliath, in this case, is Garmin International which sells no less than 28 model variants of its Nuvi-series GPS street navigators. The Davids—two of them, actually—are Control Vision and Bendix/King, who have just introduced GPS navigators that combine both aviation and street navigation functions.
Are buyers really interested in these two capabilities in the same device? Evidently they are, given the number of requests we’ve received for a hurry-up look at these products. We examined the Bendix/King AV8OR Handheld in the September 2008 [IMGCAP(1)]issue and for this report, we’ll look at Control Vision’s Anywhere Travel Companion, with a sideways glance at Garmin’s established GPSmap 396/495/496.
HP On the Case
Control Vision unveiled the ATC earlier this year and generated some buzz at Sun ‘n Fun and Oshkosh. This product is less interesting for what it is than what it is not: a PDA or computer. Even though its software architecture is Windows CE, the ATC is a purpose-made navigational platform based on HP’s iPAQ 310, which appeared two years ago to make a run at the portable ground navigation market dominated by Garmin.
The ATC is a turnkey version of the 310 loaded with Anywhere Map’s aviation navigation software and HP’s standard ground nav package. Wisely, Control Vision has made the ATC weather capable through a Bluetooth XM receiver and, as seems to be the fashion these days, it sports an MP3 and video player and will do Bluetooth interface with a headset to control a cellphone. (It doesn’t contain a phone, however.) With a dual function XM receiver, the ATC will also tune XM audio programming. At $695 for the basics—aviation and ground nav software but not the weather box—the ATC is an impressive value.
So how well does it work and is it easy to use? The ATC has a couple of limitations. First, processing horsepower. It has a 600MHz ARM-type processor with 128MB of [IMGCAP(2)]SDRAM. This gets the job done, but we noticed it’s slow to initiate some applications and, especially when changing screen scales, it needs to chew for awhile. Further, the device soft resets between application changes and is somewhat sluggish in reloading. The screen is a 4.3 inch TFT at 800 x 480 pixels. Not bad on sharpness, but definitely not as sunlight readable as we’d like and you need to get the angle just right to avoid glare.
The ATC’s physical control set is minimal: just an on/off button and a thumbwheel on the right side of the wafer-thin chassis. A flexible cover hides an antenna jack, a USB port for power and charging and headphone jack. Power is through a removable/rechargeable lithium ion cell that snaps into the back.
Touch and Go
As with Bendix/King’s AV8OR, virtually everything is driven by touchscreen softkeys. The device has a stylus, but we didn’t need it much, nor do we think a stylus in the cockpit is a good idea. The softkeys are large enough and sensitive
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enough to respond to a well-placed finger jab. This didn’t seem to trash up the screen surface, but you should keep your hands free of grease and dirt when using the ATC. (It works with gloves, by the way, if you wear those in the cockpit.) Although it’s Windows-based, the ATC doesn’t requiring launching applications in the conventional sense. You just turn it on and after an initial boot-up, you get three choices: aviation navigation, ground navigation and Control Vision’s unique Pocket Plates, which offer digitized versions of NACO approach plates. This allows another high-level feature: geo-referenced taxi guidance which Control Vision calls Taxi-Express. (Garmin’s version is SafeTaxi.) This feature depicts the airplane’s position on the airport surface relative to runways and taxiways—it’s an incursion preventer.
[IMGCAP(3)]Like navigators before it, the ATC has various map pages or views, including a VFR version, a terrain depiction view, an enroute low-altitude IFR view, an approach view and an emergency page. One unique feature is Anywhere’s so-called "cones of safety," which depict the glide range around nearby airports based on the aircraft’s current altitude. As with other navigators, the map pages can be customized to suit the user, but the ATC does this differently. Each view can be set up discretely and saved with its own properties, such as navaid depictions, airways, airport details and so on.
As with other navigators with touchscreen capability, you can tap on a waypoint, airport or map feature and a small label pops up with basic data such as frequencies, elevation and distance to the fix. The touchscreen is responsive enough to accept these commands correctly nine out of 10 times—no complaints there.
As for general input of data, the ATC works in two ways. Along the edges of the screen, arrayed vertically, are six icons or toolbars per side, each representing a particular function. Stab the direct-to icon and up pops a dialog box offering a list of nearby airports or a large button offering the option of picking any airport. Punch the latter, and a virtual keyboard appears with keys large enough to make keying in [IMGCAP(4)]data easy in smooth air, more of a challenge in turbulence. Listed
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airports can be selected directly by touch stroke and even though the type is small, this seems easy to do.
Weather, Fuel, Ground
The Anywhere products have consistently suffered from two drawbacks. One is the lack of robustness of the iPAQ PDA platforms—connectors and wiring—and the other is the wire demon itself. Control Vision has addressed this in various ways with beefier connectors and mounts and with Bluetooth interface to eliminate wires. The good news is that the ATC makes further progress by eliminating all but the power wire to the navigator itself. Although the 1700 mAh battery will operate the device, it won’t do that for long—under three hours, according to our trials. Further, the battery is a slow charger—an overnight plug-in didn’t bring it to full capacity. Therefore, we think the battery is really back up, not primary power. Plan on installing the power cable and routing it out of the way. Also, the top-mounted power button is exposed and accidental turn- ons are a concern,
Control Vision nixed another wire by offering only the Bluetooth version of the XM WX box. (Package price with XM WX is $1495, plus the XM activation fee of $75 and either $29.99 a month or $49.99 for XM subscription services. For an additional $6.99, you get audio services and that requires another $19.95 cable for audio feed.
We found that ATC’s weather display is comparable to both the AV8OR and Garmin products and the weather data is configurable with regard to what’s displayed. You [IMGCAP(5)]can specify how transparent the weather depiction is, for instance, and set storm tags, lightning and other data. The display is large enough to accommodate the weather—our only complaint is that when panning to look at weather off the display, the ATC’s response is slow, in our view. The ATC has a feature none of the others do: a fuel finder. Control Vision maintains a current database of fuel prices at thousands of airports, which it revises via survey. This data is resident in the ATC and kept fresh via downloads from Control Vision’s Web site. Touch the nearest button and the ATC offers the
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choice of cheap fuel, indexed to the current position, by navaid or destination. It presents this data in tabular form, with airport ident, price, distance and bearing, plus the age of the data. Considering the price of the fuel these days and the fact that price Deltas of $2 aren’t uncommon, five 60-gallon fill-ups will pay for the thing. We’re surprised Control Vision doesn’t promote this more vigorously; it’s a valuable feature.
As a ground navigator, the ATC is competent. While a higher-priced version of the HP products uses TomTom software, the ATC has Nav N Go, similar to the AV8OR. We found this easy to use without resorting to the manual—which is a good thing, because the product isn’t shipped with one, but you can download it from Control Vision’s Web site.
For ground nav display, the ATC gives the choice of 2D or 3D, the latter showing buildings, structures and terrain, if selected. Moreover, the perspective view shifts with scale—the higher the scale, the flatter the view.
Turn warnings are adequate and ground routing seems to be comparable to the other products. Keying in destinations is done via the virtual keyboard, by state, city and street name. All three of the ground nav databases feature points of interest such as food, fuel and lodging.
Comparing Them
Straight across the board, how do these units compare? First, let’s consider price [IMGCAP(6)]with and without the XM WX option. Sans XM, the AV8OR is selling discounted for $639, while the ATC is $695. Both have broadly comparable features but not the same capabilities, as we’ll note in a moment. Garmin’s closest comparable option is the new GPSmap495—$1595 discounted. But it doesn’t include ground navigation, which is a $239 add-on and weather isn’t an option at all. At $1845 when the ground nav is added, it’s a distant third in price/value for just the basics. If you add XM WX, the ATC totals $1495, the AV8OR is $1135 discounted, both with Bluetooth. The closest Garmin option is the GPSmap396 at $1795 discounted, plus $239 for the ground nav package. The $2395 GPSmap 496 has XM
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and ground nav as standard.
Hardware/Display: We give Garmin top marks for the most robust hardware and brightest, sunlight readable display, although its form factor is large compared to the other two. We’ve never seen the 396/496 lockup, but both the ATC and AV8OR did.
Operating logic ease: Because of their menu-driven, touchscreen displays, the ATC and Bendix/King are easier to operate and faster to command than the Garmin navigators, which retain the key-and-rocker logic they’ve had since the dawn of time. In our view, the AV8OR and ATC are about equal in this regard, even though they’re different. Each has some quirks, but each is learnable.
Aviation functionality: Garmin wins this one by a nose, for several reasons. The display is one, but another is the unique flight panel gyro page, which we have proven can actually back up failed vacuum instruments. Further, Garmin’s 495/496 sports the SafeTaxi and AOPA Airport Directory data, two other plusses we like. It also loads and flies approaches nearly as well as panel mounts do and its terrain display and warning features are the best, in our view.
The ATC is right behind it, however. Its aviation function is rich with features—too many to list here—and these are flexible and easy to use, especially given the Pocket Plates and fuel finder features, which no one else has. We also like the cones of safety idea and what Control Vision calls the Personal Digital Co-Pilot, a kind of super-smart tank timer with safety checklist, obstacle and upset warnings. Here, the AV8OR finishes a distant third. It’s more of a light-duty VFR-only box, lacking the Garmin’s flight page and approaches and the ATC’s approach plates. In [IMGCAP(7)]fact, the AV8OR is no help at all on the airport surface. If the ATC didn’t exist, this wouldn’t be an issue, but it does, so we have to note the AV8OR’s warts. We’re told that Bendix/King has some upgrades coming and that’s good news—we think buyers are going to want these features.
Ground navigation: We’ll give the AV8OR the edge here, although it’s comparable to the ATC. However, the AV8OR initializes faster and
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we found its display a bit more readable, especially in sunlight. Both seem equally adept at route calcs and either will get you where you’re going complete with turn-by-turn voice callouts.
The Garmins aren’t as strong at ground navigation, by contrast. They’ll get you there all right, but they lack the nice 3D view of the other two and the key-and-rocker input is just too tedious for us. Newer Garmin dedicated ground navigators—the Nuvi line—blow away the ATC and AV8OR—but those operating features aren’t integrated into the 396/495/496 and aren’t likely to be until the next generation arrives.
Weather: Both the AV8OR and ATC use the remote XM WX receiver. The AV8OR can be hardwired or Bluetoothed, but the ATC is Bluetooth only. The Garmin’s weather receiver is integrated into the XM antenna and, in our view, it’s the most elegant solution of the three. It also seems to be the most reliable—we’ve heard few complaints about lockups or lack of performance. One reader told us he had trouble getting the Bendix/King system to process weather correctly and reader Bruce Buchanan of Naples, Florida, phoned to say he returned his ATC because of poor XM performance and dissatisfaction with Control Vision’s customer service.
Recommendations
Because buyers are usually clear about what they’ll pay for something and manufacturers figure that out, prices on like products in a market are rarely more than a dozen percentage points apart. But because Garmin so dominates the GPS market, that’s not the case here. At $2395, the top-level GPSmap496 costs more than twice as much as the Bendix/King AV8OR, yet it doesn’t do twice as much. But it does do more. Its aviation navigation is second to none, the weather display is rock solid and it has that impressive flight instrument page, all of which run free of lockups and quirks.
Functionally, the AV8OR does the navigation and weather, it just doesn’t do it as well, ground navigation excepted. The ATC bests the AV8OR in aviation mode by a wide margin, but we liked the AV8OR better for ground nav. It’s also the best value for just weather, if
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that’s your wont.
Which to buy? If top-dog aviation navigation is your goal and you’re not budget limited, buy the GPSmap496 and leave it in the airplane. Get a separate ground navigator and carry it in your briefcase or flightbag, saving the hassle of moving these gadgets around and fussing with wiring and mounts. The AV8OR is not a bad choice for this, but Garmin’s mid-priced Nuvis are also good choices.
The best overall budget choice is definitely the ATC, in our view. It’s good in the air and on the ground and Control Vision has done yeoman’s work in reducing the wiring hassle, plus the device is easy to use. But there are some give ups. The unit is relatively new so its service history and durability are a toss-up and largely dependent on HP. We have concerns about consumer-grade electronics in the cockpit. The real pot sweetener for the ATC, however, is the fuel finder. That alone will make it worth it for some buyers. As for the AV8OR, we think its aviation functions need to be beefed up to run more strongly against the ATC. We’ll be watching for that to happen.
Finalement, j'ai acheté un GARMIN 295 car le service à la clientèle avec l'Anywhere travel companion me rebutais et le fais qu'ils semble avoir de la difficulté a recevoir les données de NavCanada pour les espaces aérien me faisais pas mal peur.
Aussi, j'avais des doutes sur les futur updates disponibles. Au moins avec Garmin et surtout le nombre d'unités vendus je me sens plus sécure à ce sujet même si le 295 est discontinué. Aussi, comme je suis déjà proprio d'un GPSmap Garmin 60CX depuis quelques années eh bien, j'ai l'habitude d'utiliser leur interface.
Si de votre côté vous osez aller avec le ATC, n'hésitez à laisser vos commentaire plus bas....
Eric GARF Qui trouve son premier hiver en tant que pilote pas mal long...
pas encore regardé en détail mais la première chose que j'ai regardé est la navigation automobile car je remplacais un anciene unité auto. Je m'apperçois que la database couvre toute les provinces canadienne... SAUF le Québec.....
J'ai laissé un message au service à la clientèle...
Est-ce que d'autre personnes qui ont acheté se produit ont eu se problème ?
À $845 pour un GPS (Garmin) de cette qualité c'est très abordable !
Et pour avoir reçu le mien je peux te dire que j'en suis satisfait. J'ai fait des tests sur la route et j'ai hâte d'aller en vol avec maintenant...
Oui il me tente maintenant mais c'est l'an passé que j'ai acheté mon Garmin 295 !
D'ailleurs si on m'offrirais un bon prix pour mon 295, je changerais possiblement... Mais comme il fait si bien la job, je veux surtout pas le vendre pour des pinottes non plus !
J' aimerais bien voir le niveau de précision des carte sur le tiens si on se croise à Mascouche.
Oups J'avais pas remarqué que ton message datait de janvier 2009
À toute les fois que je vais à SK3, je jette un oeil sur les avions de mes chums et je jette aussi un coup d'oeil sur GARF. Alors si tu es là, j'irai te voir c'est officiel, et on regardera ça.
J'avais pas remarqué que ton message datait de janvier 2009 
