LeSving wrote:
What has happened with the G5 from the non-certified version to the certified one except doubling of the price?
The certified one requires a battery and the STC, that’s what you’re paying extra for. The first is optional for the non certified version (the price is quoted without the battery) and the latter is N/A for the uncertified one.
There is a software update available for the Garmin G5:
http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=10354
One item in the change log is:
Also, in the most recent change log, the very nebulous:
It would be interesting to see what changes updating the software makes for the guy upthread whose photo shows the horizon being off.
As an early purchaser of Garmin Pilot, a GTN 650 and a GNC 255, I would say that all were just barely usable until the first few software updates had been applied.
I think that’s just the way of the world, but Garmin’s European customer support has always been second to none. Send them a bug, they reply within a day or two by email, and some clever lady kills it in the next software release.
Jacko wrote:
I think that’s just the way of the world, but Garmin’s European customer support has always been second to none. Send them a bug, they reply within a day or two by email, and some clever lady kills it in the next software release.
This is certainly true. Actually helpful and knowledgeable on the phone. Compare that to Jepp Europe…
I know I keep coming back to this, and I know the answer so the Q is rhetorical, but what does certification achieve when a €10k box ships with serious bugs which the customers discover?
A part of certification is a QA process for the software. Clearly this isn’t working as it should be. Or maybe the software is of the required quality but the wrong functionality has been programmed 
This sort of thing is OK unless the “box” is your only one (or worse still you have two of them installed) and then you discover it doesn’t do something which you actually bought it for (e.g. EGNOS i.e. LPV).
Obviously the answer is to wait for say a year before buying anything. The problem with that is that
so you could wait a year and then still get two €10k+ boxes which have a major issue. I spoke to one avionics vendor at EDNY this year who told me that as far as he knows only about 5 of Product X exists in Europe.
wigglyamp wrote:
What upgrades are wanted for the G900X? I’ve never seen one personally in a kit aircraft.
As I said, it is only what I have heard. I think the issue is the g3x/touch systems are more capable devices (better graphics, touch screen etc), and new options and add on’s are coming all the time. People who have bought the g900x have nothing of this, there is no upgrade path, and still the system is less capable than the g3x (for the most part) and much more expensive. Garmin is not all hallelujah. They have a market dominance for certified GA for some reason, all the others have given up? But that’s it. In the non-certified world, where all the development of GA electronic is happening, Garmin is no bigger than anyone else. They have no better reputation, no better systems. The g3x systems are good, but there are loads of others.
Jacko wrote:
I think that’s just the way of the world, but Garmin’s European customer support has always been second to none. Send them a bug, they reply within a day or two by email, and some clever lady kills it in the next software release.
Well. For the MGL devices, you will get an email the same day from the CEO and lead designer. It’s the same for lots of other devices from other manufacturers. IMO this is the way to go for GA in general. It is a very small market, there isn’t enough money or people or devices to sustain the usual big corporate agenda. Lycoming keep on pretending this is not the case, but for how many more years? They are decades overdue already. Garmin can still do it due to their market dominance and widespread manufacturing in several industries. They do however have a separate “Team X” with what they think is “the right stuff” for this market. A marketing gimmick or whatever it is, it doesn’t really matter because this is the kind of support that is needed in the future.
This thread is relevant to avionics for homebuilts.
In the non-certified world, where all the development of GA electronic is happening
I don’t think so……..
Peter wrote:
This thread is relevant to avionics for homebuilts.
The G5 is a non-certified device. The certified version is not even certified in the usual sense, there is no difference between them.
Peter wrote:
I don’t think so……..
Just look at Garmin. Except from the g3x systems (and this g5), nothing has happened there in the last 10 years. The GTNs are an exception perhaps. I don’t know when they came, but I guess it’s not too long ago. But, where is the competition, where is the rest of the certified industry? it’s only Garmin Garmin Garmin as far as the eye can see. Radios and transponders is a different matter though with lots of manufacturers.
LeSving wrote:
The certified version is not even certified in the usual sense, there is no difference between them.
There is a difference: there are certain features only available on the non-certified version.
LeSving wrote:
Just look at Garmin. Except from the g3x systems (and this g5), nothing has happened there in the last 10 years. The GTNs are an exception perhaps.
G3000 G5000
