Introducing the Garmin Portable Aera GPS

Garmin Aera 500 Series GPS
New Touchscreen GPS

Wow, Garmin has done it again. This time though they released a series of units that will fit anyone's budget. The Garmin Aera 500, 510, 550 and 560 are small, lightweight aviation GPSs with a Touchscreen Interface. If you have ever used one of Garmin's Nuvi Automotive GPSs then you will be familiar with this new interface. The buttons that were common on Garmin's older aviation GPSs are now gone and replaced by a very easy to use touchscreen display that provides easy access to all of the features you have come to rely on with Garmin GPS.

Garmin released the Aera Series to replace 4 older models of GPS.
The most closely related older models are the

$ 799 Garmin Aera 500 Similar to GPSMAP 296
$1299 Garmin Aera 510 Similar to GPSMAP 396
$1499 Garmin Aera 550 Similar to GPSMAP 495
$1999 Garmin Aera 560 Similar to GPSMAP 496

Here is a chart to help differentiate the different models and help identify which unit will be best for your particular needs.

The Moving Map on the Garmin Aera 510 and Aera 560 will show current weather. A subscription is required though.
Please Click here to view the subscription
options for receiving XM Weather.

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IFR Maps - The Garmin Aera GPSs will display Victor Airways. The moving map will display much of the information that is normally on your Low Altitude Charts. This feature is available on the Garmin GPSMAP 695 and 696 but not on Garmin's older GPSs. This is a feature upgrade for owners of either the GPSMAP 196, 296, 396, 495, or 496

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AOPA Airport Directory - The Garmin Aera 550 and 560's Airport information screen has the capability of displaying all of the information avialable in the AOPA Airport Directory.

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The Garmin Aera 550 and 560 will display your position on the taxiways at over 650 of the larger airports.

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Terrain (Birdseye and Profile View) - All of the Garmin Aera 500 Series GPS will show terrain warnings. The Aera 500 and 510 utilize a lower resolution 30 arcsecond database. The Aera 550 and 560 utilize a higher resolution (11 times higher) 9 arcsecond database

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Automotive Mode - The Garmin Aera 500 Series of GPS all have the capability of operating much like a Garmin Nuvi Automotive GPS. It contains all of the road information preloaded for the entire country (United States).

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Enhanced Automotive Features - The Garmin Aera 550 and 560 have a feature called lane assist that gives extra information for ensuring you are in the correct lane to follow the GPSs instructions. They also have the ability to receive NAVTEQ Traffic information (extra equiment necessary)