Max Trescott Aviation Trends Aloft: Product Review: Garmin Aera 560 Portable GPS

It's rare that I write so many stories on a single topic, but no one dominates the GPS business like Garmin, and its Aera series of portable GPSs really hit the mark. No, they don’t pay me a nickel for these stories and sadly, I do have to send back the Aera 560 unit they loaned me for over a month. I really like the unit and think it’s a solid improvement over the Garmin 296 though 496 series that it essentially replaces. Full disclosure: I do sell an iPhone GPS quick reference guide for the Aera GPSs. Update: Here's a video on using iPhone GPS Guides.

For an overview of the four Aera models, see my original blog article. Note that it includes a comparison chart I created which highlights...

the feature differences between the units and compares the prices of the new models with the older ones they replace. The price points of the new Garmin Aera GPSs are equal to or lower than the older GPS units with one exception, the Garmin 550.

I also wrote about the Aera for my Trends Aloft column in the March issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine. EAA members can view the article and the entire March issue by registering and signing in at http://www.oshkosh365.org. You’ll find the magazine in the EAA Members Only section.

Brief Recap
The entry-level unit, the Aera 500 lists for $799, giving Garmin a product with a price point close to the Bendix/King AV8OR, which also features a touch screen. Users can also switch between aviation and automotive functions with a single touch screen key, a major improvement over older units.

The primary differences among the other units are whether they offer XM Weather or include the AOPA Directory and SafeTaxi diagrams. For pilots interested in receiving XM Satellite weather—a service any serious pilot should have in the cockpit—the new Aera line lowers the cost of getting an XM-capable GPS. I am a huge fan of XM weather and pilots can now get this capability with the Aera 510 for $1299 plus the cost of an XM subscription. Previously, the lowest cost Garmin GPS with XM-capability was the 396 that originally sold for $1795 and can now be had for $1495.

Opening the Box
The box comes loaded with accessories, the largest of which is a yoke mount for use in a plane. It’s of rugged construction and should last forever. A separate dash mount with a friction bottom lets you mount the GPS in the car. Other items include the XM Weather and Radio antenna and cables for powering and recharging the GPS from a cigarette lighter, AC wall socket, or a USB port.

Once again, I couldn’t resist trying the ultimate test of getting the battery into the unit without looking at the manual. Unlike last month when I tried this with the SPOT2, I succeeded. I found a slide switch on the side of the Aera’s case that releases the battery cover, which you can then easily pry off with your fingernail. However, before powering up the unit, I went to the manual anyway just to find out if the battery needs to be charged separately, or whether it can be charged for first use while it’s in the GPS. As I suspected, it was the latter which was very convenient.

In the tradition of Hewlett-Packard calculators, the Aera’s stack of user manuals was as tall as the unit is thick and considerably larger. It’s nice to see that Garmin hasn’t fallen into the trap of many companies that ship a paper-thin manual and then rely on more detailed manuals available on line. Thank you Garmin!

Flying with the Aera 560
I found the Aera GPSs easier to use than the units they replace. For example, accessing utility functions used to require pushing the MENU key twice and then scrolling through many tabs. It’s now very easy to reach these functions by just pushing the Tools icon (and then sometimes the Setup icon) on the home screen. From there you see icons for all of the utilities—no scrolling required—and you can just push an icon for the function you desire.

Touch screen interfaces often make devices easier to use; instead of a few buttons being used for all functions, the screen displays labeled icons for each function. That’s definitely true for the Aera. However power users, who use a system all the time and know which buttons to push, get the most benefit if fewer button pushes are required. In creating the Aera GPS Guide for the iPhone, I discovered that in at least half the cases, performing a function with the Aera requires one or two fewer button pushes. For example, the older GPSs often require one or two pushes of an ENTER key, but the new Aera sometimes eliminates what many GPS pros felt was an annoying extra button push.

The Aera 560 includes all of the features of the 496, including SafeTaxi, AOPA Directory, XM Weather, XM Radio and displays low and high altitude airways. It also includes private airports, something I wish were in the Garmin G1000 glass cockpits that I fly almost daily.

The best feature in the air is terrain alerting. As a client was flying the RNAV (GPS) Y 28L approach into Monterey, California, the unit suddenly called out “Caution, Terrain” while displaying potential impact points on the screen. I think controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents could be totally eliminated if all pilots used a portable GPS with a terrain database.

Driving with the Aera GPS
All Aera models include an automotive mode in addition to the aviation mode. I ended up using both modes a lot. For example, I’d fly somewhere, rent a car and pull out the Aera 560 loaner unit to navigate in the rental car. I really like how easy it is to switch between modes—simply touch the airplane or automobile icon. Older Garmin GPSs required multiple keystrokes, that weren’t always obvious, to switch between modes.

The Aera comes with a separate dashboard friction mount. Its rubberized base bends to fit a dashboard and has a slightly sticky bottom that doesn’t use an adhesive and hence won’t leave sticky goop on the dashboard. It works well as it didn’t move when I purposely made sharp turns to see if it would budge. It’s a better alternative to the windshield suction cup on the ancient GPS that I keep in my car. States such as California have laws that severely restrict the placement of GPS units on the inside of a windshield, so the Aera’s dashboard mount is a great solution.

The Aera turns on automatically when you snap it into the automotive mount. An on-screen QWERTY keyboard is used, reducing the time it takes to enter a destination versus the units it replaces. On the ground, I like how it displayed the speed limit for most streets, a feature available only in the Aera 550 and 560. Surprisingly, I found that the speed limits were almost always accurate. The only major exception was along U.S. highway 27, as I drove from the Sebring LSA Expo to do floatplane training in Altamonte Springs, Florida. It missed several 2 minute long slow downs, while passing through small towns, and it was just plain wrong for several long stretches of the highway. However that was truly an exception; speed limits depicted were almost always accurate on the many roads I drove in three states while testing the unit. All units include Bluetooth wireless technology letting you use it in conjunction with a cell phone for hands-free calling.

By the way, I was careful to hide the GPS anytime I parked the car, something I do with my own automotive GPS that cost a few hundred dollars. The Aera 560 sells for around $2,000, so the regret factor would be much higher if it were stolen. The unit is remarkably small and sometimes I just put it in my pants pocket when I left the car.

Finer Points
On the Aera, panning the moving map is easier than on the units it replaces. Just touch the screen and drag the map to where you want it. Since the unit has a faster processor, there are also fewer delays in redrawing the map.

No touch screen is perfect and I found that sometimes I had to touch an icon more than once. But it’s not inconvenient to have to touch an icon twice, and overall I greatly prefer the touch screen to the older models.

There is one minor user interface issue that initially caused me some confusion. In a few cases, an icon performs a different function when you touch it for a second or two instead of just touching it briefly. The only hint—which I totally missed for awhile—is that the Menu icon looks different from the normal Menu icon when this is the case.

The one change I’d really like to see would be a separate wheel on the side of the Aera’s case to adjust the volume of XM radio. I love XM, but find that I’m often changing the volume, which requires multiple touches with the Aera. I wish instead I could just reach over and move my finger over a potentiometer wheel, much like you would on an old transistor radio. I know potentiometers wear out, but the one on the 30-year old 9-volt batter powered transistor radio I have sitting in the bathroom still works fine and it gets used almost every morning.

Conclusion
The more I used the Aera, the more I liked it. In fact, I absolute hate having to return the loaner unit. Overall, it may prove to have been an expensive evaluation—because I’m now seriously thinking about buying one for myself.

If you choose to buy an Aera and you own an iPhone, go to the iTunes store and search for Max Trescott. You’ll find full details on my iPhone application for the Aera and other GPSs that serve as a quick reference checklist and an illustrated self-study learning guide for using the Aera.