Steve:

I have used CV on a PDA for more than 4 years. It has saved my bacon on more than one occasion. With that said, the first entire year I used the system was a nightmare. However, that was because I was using a Sat Phone for down loads, and it was VERY unreliable, particularly in . . . wait for the punch line . . . bad weather! What brain surgeon came up with that plan?

Okay, so they switched out the Sat Phone for the wx box, and I have had some pretty good success with it, after I learned all of the tricks to keep the software happy, e.g., sometimes the wx file gets corrupted, and you have to shut down the software, go into file explorer, and delete the dat wx file, reboot the PDA, and then start the software again. It's a hassle, but it eliminated 90% of my problems. The only other problems I had were related to the wx system requiring you to initiate the connection again. This is unrelated to CV, and was happening to all systems using the wx sattelite system (e.g., Garmin also).

You are correct that there have been a rash of programming glitches in the operating system the past few months that are, at a minimum, annoying. Particularly, as you say, when they try to turn a blind eye as to reliability of their own system. I was unaware that the antique fly-in airspace breach was CV related. That's very interesting.

I spent less than half of what you did on my system. I would have been extremely peeved the first year if I had. Since then, I've learned to test the unit out the day before a long trip just to be safe because of the problems I've experienced in the past.

So, my conclusion? It's a pretty good system and a pretty complete package for the price (once you get the bugs worked out and learn shortcuts to troubleshoot). If it weren't for the pocket plates, I would have thrown it out the window long ago in exchange for a Garmin 496. I'm guessing that's what the Garmin 596 is going to be, a 496 with plates, but that's my speculation. If that is what Garmin does, I would advise buying the Garmin over the CV because of Garmin's reliability. However, that's not to say that Garmin has not had their own share of problems with the 396 and 496 wx system as well, just not as many.

Regarding Victor Airways, you are correct, it does not recognize them. However, I've never minded it much, because I always find out what my waypoints are for a trip anyway by using any of the available free on-line flight planning programs, like AOPA or Duats, printing them out and carrying with me. The only time it's a hassle is when ATC gives you an amendment and it's difficult to find in the charts 4 hours into a trip! So yes, it's more trouble to program a long flightplan using airways, but . . . it kind of is what it is.

Hope I didn't muddy the waters more!
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LovelyWendie