With an increasing amount of stuff that can be done on tablets, it might seem that way:
Against that you have
Yes they are but for a bare minimum. I personally see no advantage in having an MFD, it’s just an overpriced outdated piece of hardware that is feature crippled. The GNS430 is fine for radio/VOR and feeding the autopilot. The rest I do on the tablet and phone and I have none of the problems you mention. Never had GPS reception issues (loads of those on the expensive GNS430W), I have no problem with the touch screen, no problem with ambient temperature (I guess a DA40/TB20 is more of a problem than a Cessna because of the canopy).
BTW: Many current Android phones/tables support wireless charging and I have put one of those chargers in a pouch in the aircraft. Whenever I insert the tablet (where it normally resides), it gets charged.
If you happen to fly where the weather is generally OK, and where VFR airspace access is generally OK, its hard to overstate the value of tablet based moving map ‘electronic flight bags’. You can basically do anything you need with a radio and a transponder and nothing else. For those of us who would rather own simple aircraft, that means a lot – the only thing that missing in that scenario is the ability to do departures and arrivals through mist.
Right now I’m happy with what I have but I can imagine a time when I’ll get something like a Bellanca Viking or Meyers 200 (I enjoy flying and maintaining unusual stuff), re-do the panel into a minimalistic but modern form, and continue to rely on the tablet for the bulk of the work.
I use both. I have an iPad with a Stratus receiver and use ForeFlight. It is absolutely great as a map/chart replacement, information lookup tool, document storage, and backup to the panel mount equipment. I would not want to be without my certified equipment including the GNS530W as my MFD which displays weather and traffic along with my route and drives my autopilot thru GPSS flawlessly. For a local VFR trip in the neighborhood, I am fine with the iPad. For serious IFR, panel mount all the way.
I think we’re going down a rabbit hole just focusing on portable devices. I think the real future should include head-up displays which could be linked to the iThingy and/or built-in avionics/navcom.
I can imagine a time when I’ll get something like a Bellanca Viking or Meyers 200
I have only ever seen a Meyers 200 in the James Bond film “You only live Twice”. Perhaps you look like Sean Connery?
I think the future lies somewhere in between:
For VFR flight by far the biggest single capability enhancement is a tablet running skydemon/foreflight or similar.
For IFR, an EFIS system with live wind and track coupled to a GPS and an autopilot makes a huge difference.
[Almost] Everything that the old MFD systems did can be done on an iPad, for an order of magnitude less money:
IMO, the bits still missing are:
I think the real future should include head-up displays
I love the Aero Glass video – for VFR flight it would be amazing to see airspace boundaries and traffic in 3d. For IFR flight, having a much larger horizon visible and the virtual “boxes” to fly through be a complete game changer – if it could be made properly reliable then 75% of the IR training would be immediately irrelevant.
I think tablets have pretty much eaten the lunch of the retrofit panel mount MFDs. If you have a working sixpack and a, say, 430, all you need is an iPad and ForeFlight.
I have been flying with the above setup for a while (in the US) and the only issue I ever encountered was an overheat situation of the iPad. My bad – I had it on the dash. Came back to life in a few minutes. None of the other issues Peter mentions are real issues. A tablet can happily live on the kneeboard or on a yoke mount (iPad mini). And for the really paranoid, there’s a simple solution: buy two iPads! Or even three. Still only a fraction of certified panel mount kit.
And for the really paranoid, there’s a simple solution: buy two iPads! Or even three. Still only a fraction of certified panel mount kit.
I’m one of them… I fly with an iPad and a nexus 7 at all times. I also print out approach plates for my destination and (likely) alternates.
I have only ever seen a Meyers 200 in the James Bond film “You only live Twice”. Perhaps you look like Sean Connery?
Not really but flying around with a German beauty sounds OK to me 
