Friday, August 31, 2012
Great Product
by A Customer from Covington WA USA 
Review: Great product, very user friendly. Touch screen works better than I thought it would.
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Friday, March 23, 2012
Excellent Product
by Csar Alejandro from Barranquilla, Colombia. 
Pros: Portable, Easy to manage, Simply.
Cons: Low battery Duration
Review: Is very useful in unknown territories, specially if you don't have nav aids...
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011
It is excelente gps
by WILLY from LIMA . Peru 
Pros: Have a good screen
Cons: May be the product aoj
Review: I love this product because it help me to navigate easily.
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Thursday, June 02, 2011
Great resource for flying
by tony from La Canada CA USA 
Pros: don't leave the ariport without one
Cons: takes time to learn all the capabilities
Review: Functionality is great. Screen is a bit small which makes touch control tricky when trying to select an airport from the map for example. Battery life is about 2 hours. Getting the instrument updated with current info from Garmin over the internet took some learning, a few hours and a phone call to Garmin. If you do not have a 110 Volt charger there is a risk the unit will run out of power before downloads complete!
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Monday, May 23, 2011
Great buy
by Basil from Coal City WV USA 
Pros: everything you need in a gps for any aircraft.
Cons: needs mapsend sent with it
Review: The area 500 is everything it was supposed to be and the only thing it lacked was mapsend or some way to set waypoints from the computer.I use it in my T-Bird lsa and it is perfect.
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Monday, May 16, 2011
How can you fly without one?
by A Customer from Santa Cruz CA USA 
Review: I had been looking at the Aera 500 for at least a year and with the price reduction finally pulled the trigger.
How did I fly without it?
Christened this wonderful piece of equipment with a trip from 7S9 (Oregon) to WVI (California). Still need a Sectional for back up, reference plus the HSI screen for more help in knowing what is going on.
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Monday, May 09, 2011
Good Buy
by David from Hilo HI USA 
Pros: Menu options are simple and efficient
Cons: Harder to see diplay in sunlight
Review: We have a Garmin 430 in our other helicopter, and the 430 is more appropriate for IFR flights. The Aera 500 is much easy to navigate through the menu options, and the screen and functions are comparable. The best thing is it's 1/10 the cost. I use the Aera 500 as the primary navigational aid in the aircraft and have removed the panel mount (an old Magellan).
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Monday, April 25, 2011
very price competitve with 2 for 1
by A Customer from isanti MN USA 
Review: I havent had a chance to fly with it, but on the road it works just like my nuvi which I love. Playing with the aviation part at home it is impressive,and I think I am going to love that part too. One downside, it took me 9 hours to download the free up-date.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Good!
by Sonia from Lake Charles LA USA 
Pros: Good resources
Cons: The battery quickly get dead.
Review: Good resources.
The battery quickly get dead.






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Tuesday, March 08, 2011
I would buy again
by Douglas from Melbourne FL USA 
Cons: None
Review: This product fulfilled my own expectations and is easy to use it.
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Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Garmin did it right
by Janice from Brainerd MN USA 
Review: Great product and easy to use.
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010
outstanding
by Oscar Cabrera from New York NY USA 
Pros: data display, touch screen
Cons: short life of battery
Review: Met my expectations.
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Friday, September 17, 2010
Worth the upgrade
by Susan from Henderson NV USA 
Pros: The level of detail provided in tracking a flight.
Cons: Takes finesse to program during any turbulence.
Review: I replaced an old Apollo. Seeing a moving map in color and in detail is a treat. Keep the manual handy for a while. This is a practice makes perfect type of electronic device, and I'm still working with all the features it offers. The auto mount was modified and affixed to the panel instead of using the yoke attachment.
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Monday, August 16, 2010
good investment over all
by April from IA USA 
Pros: good navigation
Cons: poor battery
Review: As far as the navigation with this product goes, it is fantastic. Both the aviation mode and the driving mode were very helpful. I am very disappointed with the battery life. A fully charged battery only lasted a little over an hour. Opening the back to access the battery is a pain too. I have to use a pen or another hard, small object to get it open. I'd just leave the back open all the time, but the device won't let you.
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Wednesday, July 07, 2010
GREAT
by Larry from Whitney Point NY USA 
Pros: great portable GPS for the price.
Cons: none
Review: Great little GPS. Transitions from car to plane easily. Light on the controls. Easy to see even in bright light.
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Monday, June 14, 2010
GOOD
by MARIO from SANTIAGO CHILE 
Pros: GOOD INFORMATION
Cons: I LIKE AEREO SPANISH LANGUAGE IN THE AIR MENU
Review: IN THE AIR ROUTES IN CHILE THIS A LITTLE OFF THE TRACK AND IN THE TERRESTRIAL ROUTES IN CHILE IS VERY OFF THIS TURNING ASIDE WITH RESPECT TO THE PLANE OF REAL
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Monday, May 17, 2010
Excellent
by Russ from HUNTINGTON BEACH CA USA 
Pros: Ease of use, relative low cost, airspace avoidance, flight planning.
Cons: No major cons.
Review: This GPS fits the bill perfectly. Much easier to use than most in-panel gps units. I recently used this GPS to fly Long Beach to Mojave and it did a perfect job of navigating and displaying my location and helped me avoid bravo and charlie airspace. Great product for the money compared to most aviation GPS units. Allows routing and flight planning.
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Monday, May 17, 2010
Better than a LORAN
by Sagebrush from Idaho 
Pros: Simple, Compact, Very user friendly
Cons: Updates suck. I spent about 4 days trying to download and install the updates,
Review: For a tech idiot (me) this is a easy to use and effective GPS. Great display and excelent mounting systems(yoke and dash). Has VFR and IFR charts and aproaches easy to zoom and move the maps around. The car side works well too.
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Monday, April 26, 2010
Lovin' it.
by Jeffrey from Orlando FL USA 
Pros: Excellent value for the money
Cons: Haven't found any cons at all
Review: Used this thing for a few flights.. Works great. No issues in bright sunlight. And the 500 model is really a great value for the money.
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Wednesday, April 07, 2010
by Larry from Marshfield MO USA 
Pros: Does everything I need for vfr flight
Cons: Touchscreen is a problem to touch in turbulance
Review: I haven't used it a lot so far. I replaced my Loran when they shut the Loran system down and was pleasantly surprised that the Garmin aera 500 does everything the Loran did, and more. There is a problem using the touchscreen in turbulance caused by not being able to touch the right spot. I like the idea of being able to take it from the plane to the car.
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
GREAT GPS
by Casey from Fort Collins CO USA 
Pros: Love the terrain feature, easy switch from G1000
Cons: None
Review: This GPS is like having a tiny Garmin G1000. I learned on a glass panel 172 and when I bought a plane, I was back to round gages. The GPS in the plane was hard to read for me with no graphical display and by getting the Aera 500, I basically use is just like the G1000. All the features are great and having that kind of backup in your plane is priceless!
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Saturday, February 13, 2010
Garmin brings navigation to a whole new level!
by Dave from Big Bear City CA USA 
Pros: Too much to list
Cons: menus are extensive. Study the owners manual to get full use out of the unit
Review: Wow! Was I ever pleasantly surprised after using my garmin aera for the first time. While navigating, you can switch between the HSI panel, moving map, in-flight data like timer or ETA etc..., give a position fix (FROM a waypoint or airport), check terrain ahead, avoid restricted airspace, and be alerted when to start your descent with VNAV. I drive a C-310 with a GPS/moving map but won't be going anywhere w/o this GPS. It's way easier to use and worth the touch screen, you can pan anywhere on the map, touch the item and get all info on that item including elevation. Flight planning is effortless and the "Direct To" function is great. It's also a great car GPS. This unit is unbelievable for the price. Have Fun.
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Friday, February 12, 2010
Perfect for what I needed.
by JACK from ST GEORGE UT USA 
Pros: Simple to use
Cons: Touch screen could be a little friendlier.
Review: I use this as a back-up to my GNS530W in the airplane and take it with me on the highway..........perfect unit for fly and drive trips.
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Thursday, January 07, 2010
a nuvi 705 in disguise
by old gooseberry from uk 
Pros: touchscreen works well
Cons: Overpriced, bluetooth disabled in aviation mode, battery life sucks
Review: This is nuvi in disguise, so it just highlights how overpriced and how far behind aviation portables are. That said, the touchscreen works well and makes it very usable. Not many alternatives to the aera 500 at this price range, 600, with the same features. The lawyers have been at this too, the bluetooth is disabled for aviation mode, so that means no connecting it wirelessly to a zulu headset for terrain warnings or music. The automobile friction mount ain't bad, but it's no bean bag friction mount. The battery life is a bit of a sham, it's ok in the car but I've been in plenty of planes where the cigarette lighter has been u/s, the garmin 496 has 15hours, the garmin 96c has 40 hours and uses triple A's. The automobile mode works like any other nuvi, it's great.
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Friday, December 25, 2009
VERY Nice, but a few small issues
by Bill from Savannah, GA 
Pros: It replaces an awful load of charts, books, etc.
Cons: sometimes doesn't respond to screen touches
Review: A super add-in to any cockpit. I can't wait to try it in the air. It even has a simulation mode so you can learn on the ground. My only gripes are that the battery compartment cover must be removed in order to plug in the USB cable to recharge the battery. That and the spring on the release for the battery compartment cover is WAAAY too strong requiring one to just about break a nail getting the darn thing open. I hope Garmin reads these things once in a while. All they need to do is cut a small hole in the cover to solve this user-annoying aspect of an otherwise fine machine.
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1.  Yes, the Americas database does include the Hawaiian Islands.  The Americas includes the USA including Alaska and Hawaii, Canada, Caribbean & Central America, and Central & South America.  You can see a complete Garmin Aviation Coverage Area Map here.
2.  It cannot have both databases installed at one time.  To install a new database, you would just connect it to your computer via USB and install the other database OR store the other database on an option MicroSD card and install the database from the MicroSD card.
3.  See #2
4.  Once you have the unit, you will setup an account using the serial number at fly.garmin.com and then you will be able to purchase updates to your current databases or buy a new coverage database (i.e. Atlantic).  The coverage database is downloaded and saved on your computer and/or the MicroSD card as noted in #2 above.
5.  The databases are downloaded from fly.garmin.com.

It is used for both powering and recharging.

The Garmin aera series GPS units all have a one year warranty.  Any warranty work is handled directly by Garmin.  Here is the first paragraph of their warranty.  The rest can be viewed on page 193 of the Garmin aera Pilot's Guide.

This Garmin product is warranted to be free from defects in materials or workmanship for one year from the date of purchase. Within this period, Garmin will, at its sole option, repair or replace any components that fail in normal use. Such repairs or replacement will be made at no charge to the customer for parts or labor, provided that the customer shall be responsible for any transportation cost. This warranty does not cover failures due to abuse, misuse, accident, or unauthorized alteration or repairs.

• $35.00 for the Jeppesen Database that contains the general aviation data (NavData) used by pilots (Airports, VORs, NDBs, SUAs, etc.). 
• $35.00 for the obstacle database that contains the locations of towers, tall buildings, and other vertical obstructions that could be a potential source of hazard to pilots.
• $150.00 for the terrain database that contains the elevation data which represents the topography of the earth. Terrain database updates are not cyclic in nature and are not updated on a regularly scheduled basis. This is because the data does not change regularly as do man-made objects (towers, airports, VORs, etc.). Updates to terrain data are primarily driven by new data sources and/or error correction.
• $35.00 for the SafeTaxi database that contains the graphical depiction of airport diagrams. The SafeTaxi database is currently only avialable for the U.S. coverage region which contains information on limited airports within the U.S.
• And, $35.00 for the AOPA database that contains additional aviation POI data (point of interest). The AOPA database is currently only avialable for the U.S. coverage region which contains some of the airports within the U.S.  AOPA data is released four times per year on the 15th day of each quarter