Worst UI - or is it?

I am happy to start that conversation, but I fear that it is a bit like debating Catholicism vs Protestantism, or Mac vs PC. You will always find people who are vehemently on one side or the other, usually because they have been sold one or the other and need to justify the decision and are then unwilling to hear the wider debate.

In terms of UI, they both have their good and bad points. I find the way of swapping between heading and GPSS, and engaging target altitude, on the Gx00 (it’s actually a G600 above, but they are physically largely identical) to be particularly unintuitive and prone to WIDN.

But the big UI gotcha on the Aspen is that you have to press the buttons (particularly the right button) to switch between some pretty vital actions. In turbulence it is fairly easy to change the altitude when you meant to change heading.

Sticking with UI, the Aspen has its own, whereas the Gx00 is largely similar to, or reminiscent of, the G1000 and GNSx30. That has advantages and disadvantages both ways. Having UIs which are similar but a bit different is sometimes worse than having completely different ones.

You can take particular UI issues which are definitely better in one than the other. For example, putting in IAP minima in the Aspen is hugely easier than the Gx00.

So now we move to screen size. There are those who think that bigger is automatically better, but I don’t agree. A bigger screen needs a bigger scan. You can actually see everything on the Aspen without moving your eyes. The G1000 requires a fairly considerable scan. The Gx00 is somewhere between. For the PFD, I prefer the Aspen.

But on the MFD, size matters. Whether for map, traffic, weather, whatever, the bigger the screen real estate the better. So for MFD, the Gx00 is better.

People tell me that the screen brightness, refresh and resolution is better on the Gx00 than the Aspen, but I have never seen a problem.

If you fly a fast (or maybe heavy?) aircraft, you cannot have SynVis on the Aspen PFD, ony on the MFD, which is a shortcoming.

There is no reversionary mode on the Gx00 (I think that the MFD and PFD are the same screen under the bezel). Reversion is available on the Aspen 2000, but not the 1500, which is what I have got.

The Gx00 is more expensive that the Aspen 1500 but I think that the Aspen 2000 would be comparable.

The Gx00 is better if you believe that the Garmin way is the only way, but actually the Aspen integrates perfectly, so there is no need to hold that attitude, IMO.

So you really pay yer money and make yer choice.

Personally, my preference is for the Aspen, but I am perfectly happy flying the Gx00.

And, I have to add, there are arguments for steam as well. How many people have ribbon or digital watches?

YMMV

But they are otherwise very nice for 45 year old ladies:

It is so awful that I am going to have one of them changed.

I know it sounds like a joke, but hearing ATC asking you if you are still on frequency just as you are trying to deal with an autopilot disconnect is something that you can bored of hearing several times on a long flight

Well, now you come to mention it….

I fly two PA31s regularly. They are very similar in most respects…GTN, Glass, JPI, steam on the right, legacy autopilot etc…you would scarcely notice which one you were in.

Oh, except one thing. One of them has PTT under the forefinger and a/p disconnect under the thumb, and the other has a/p disconnect under the forefinger and PTT under the thumb.

I am sure that you can imagine the rest