Time to upgrade (2 x G5, IFD440, etc.), looking for suppliers... Critique welcome, too

Michael wrote:

Garmin, EI , Avidyne & Trio ?

I have found Garmin to be trustworthy and honest. I have no experience with EI or Trio.

I was talking about Avidyne, from whom I bought something four years ago and they still haven’t delivered; they’ve actually stopped discussing it altogether, so I am left with a dog, on which I am going to have to spend money cutting across to Garmin.

I just can’t imagine why anyone wants to buy from them.

I have received a fantastic product from Avidyne. The DFC90 autopilot is awesome and everything works as advertised.

I hear good things about the IFD440/540/550.

I have an IFD540, IFD440, & AXP340 xpdr (incl ADS-B Out) and am very happy with them.

Ultranomad wrote:

There will still be a turn coordinator, and the dual G5 installation has a reversionary mode if one of them fails. The G5s also have 4-hour backup batteries of their own.

Don’t you need a stand by attitude indicator for IFR? As I understand Aspen does require a standby AI even if two independent Aspens are installed, including dual antennas, sensors etc.

These Garmin v. Avidyne debates will always carry on. There are many variables e.g.

• Garmin has a European base, Avidyne doesn’t (everything has to go back to the USA and in some cases e.g. the DFC90 not even back to Avidyne but to some other address, according to pilots I know)

• Garmin is much bigger than Avidyne and clearly has a lot more money to throw at everything

• Avidyne gets a lot of underdog support – like Apple always did against Microsoft (of course Apple is now much bigger )

• Avidyne had severe QA issues with the IFD540 (a high % of defective boxes shipped; not always made known to the customer if the relevant features were not used in the particular installation) but recent reports indicate a big improvement

• Avidyne is run by an “evangelist” who likes to announce products which don’t exist and this damages their reputation in the eyes of some people, while giving them a “dynamic and going forward” reputation in the eyes of other people

• Garmin have dropped the ball many times too

• Owners of Product X defend Company X on forums because they want to protect the resale value of their plane regardless of what they tell you privately except that defending Garmin is today as fashionable as defending Microsoft

• Most avionics installers (not all) I have spoken to favour Garmin, but for business / dealer support and installation related reasons, not for in-flight usability which they as (in nearly all cases) non-pilots can’t really judge

A search on e.g.

garmin AND avidyne

digs out a lot of past threads.

I would think that in the NAV/COM marketplace both companies today offer similar products, and you pick the one you like more. Make sure it supports the various interfaces to other stuff e.g. your specific model of fuel totaliser etc. For example is the EI FP-5L fuel computer known to work in a specific installation? I have seen stuff in Garmin installation manuals which actually does not work (e.g. the GTX330-KLN94 connection).

I think that Avidyne actually release great products when they release them but they are seriously capital constrained. The IFD is a nice piece of equipment. As was the DFC90.

My problem is the Garmin ecosystem is far more extensive, better supported and lilely to have greater innovation in the future. So if you just want the IFD it should be fine so long as you dont expect to be able to ever interface it to anything.

But if we are going to do analogies, i would see Avidyne as OS/2 to Garmin’s Windows.

JasonC wrote:

But if we are going to do analogies, i would see Avidyne as OS/2 to Garmin’s Windows.

Which is odd given that Avidyne Entegra and System 9 runs Windows NT

JasonC wrote:

So if you just want the IFD it should be fine so long as you dont expect to be able to ever interface it to anything.

Which hardware does Garmin’s GTN (the analogy to the Avidyne IFD) interface with that Avidyne does not interface with and is not made by Garmin?