( No Pros Listed From Reviewer )

you might be better off buying a small street gps then the auto kit for your 396, is is an expensive unit to have sitting in your car even for a shor time between stops. the bad guy are pretty quick to break in and grab a unit.

( No General Comments Listed From Reviewer )

One GPS system can be used in the plane and in the car.

Memory only holds a few states at a time and other maps must be manually uploaded when you want to take a trip.

Save your money by not buying this product and buy another GPS for your car. The very basic service added with this software versus the high cost of the option is not a good value.

Did not have to buy another gps for my truck. I can see where I've flown over when I'm driving (when I have track on) which is a neat feature.

The way this works is that you install software on your computer that has all the roads, you then have to pick the areas you want on the gps (you are limited to 128 mb, that is the size of the card they give you). The 128mb limits you to about one state(I live in NY) and a few counties in the surrounding states. I am moving to Florida next year and will barely have enough space to get the entire trip on the gps. Secondly, the charger has the speaker built in, so you must have the unit hooked up to use the speaker. Third, does not use the suction cup window mount that most garmins have, you use a weighted grip pad, or permenantly attach the mount to your dash with a sticky pad.

I constantly worry about my $2000 gps getting stolen whenever I use it and leave it in my truck, even if I hide it. Therefore I would suggest scraping together another $150 bucks and buying a garmin GPS strictly for your car.

Provides excellent turn-by-turn directions. Data base is quite good; gets me places that are not covered in my friends built in auto GPS. Outstanding convenience taking the unit from the airplane to the rental car.

The only "con" was that the power cord/speaker connection was very tight. I opened the pin-in's very gently with the tip of a nail and now it works great now.

( No General Comments Listed From Reviewer )

lots of info

card not big enough (even largest available) for cross country trip. also re-routes if using map and goes through a non "map" area. WATCH OUT HAS GIVEN DIRECTIONS to NON AVAILABLE INTERCHANGES!!!

Good for city driving

It beats using a map.

I like the beanbag. It stays put.

I am still learning the ins and outs, but it seems that it could be easier set up route that you will use repeatedly.

Some of the database for the auto is old or not updated within the last 5 years. Of course I live on one of those roads that were added 6 years ago and work on a military base that few of the roads are correct.

The plug-in for the auto kit was very difficult to attach although the plug looked like the others, I almost had to send it back. After numerous attempts it finally worked (I may have finally worn it down).

The data card was disappointing. You pay $225 plus for the kit, you would think you could load more than 3 states.

There are no churhces in the "nearest" menu.

In my opinion the GPS works better in the Aviation mode than in the auto mode.

Learn how to turn off Navigation in auto mode. If you stop short of destination like in the parking lot. If you then turn around you will get pestered till you turn it off.

Makes the 396 a complete air and ground unit.

Garmin should make it better known that to really use the unit on a long trip you have to buy a $200 card that will hold enough data for a long trip. Plus you have to reload the card if you make another trip in a different direction. A better value for me would have been to apply the price of the auto kit to a trade up to the 496.

It gives you a road unit with up to date weather and XM radio capability.