30 October 2008
Garmin has announced the release of its new portable GPSMAP 695 unit. The unit will be available in November. The UK street price is expected to be ‘in the region of £2000 inc VAT’.
The tablet-style device boasts 7-inch portrait, high-resolution, sunlight-readable screen which should make it easy to use by day and night. There are buttons to the right and the bottom of the unit. The bottom buttons are ‘soft keys’ whose function changes according to the screen being displayed, while the keys on the right-hand side are dedicated to common GPS funtions. There is also a ‘rotary knob/joystick’, similar to that on the G1000, which allows you to scroll through maps, choose identifiers and so on.
The unit’s IFR mode will give ‘the opportunity to have IFR sectional maps virtually displayed in a large screen format’, while also allowing better situational awareness through the subtle display of major visual reference points like rivers, country boundaries, roads and railways and town outlines.
Other popular features on the unit include airspace declutter, smart airspace, visual
reporting points and a large European database of private airports, helipads and obstacles.
The next issue of FLYER (with subscribers next week, on the newsstand the week after – why not subscribe?) will have an exclusive review of the unit.
The unit’s database will be easily updateable through Garmin’s own website at fly.Garmin.com.
