[JulietBravo]

I recently used a 496 cross country from Kalispell, MT to Georgia, and let me tell you, it was amazing! Both the 396 and 496 support all the basics with xm stuff. The xm weather is amazing! Flying along and looking at winds aloft trying to get the best GS, or looking 200nm ahead to see what cloud tops were at so we knew whether to go around the system now or later. Had current TAFs, METARs, could even see where the cold front was at the moment, all the basics. The one thing I did enjoy from the 396 was the Taxi diagram and AOPA directory the 496 includes. At some of the major airports we went into, it was nice not getting lost on the ground and not having to ask for progressive. It was also nice looking at the directory ahead of time and looking up information on the different FBOs on the field, services provided, and we picked our hotel out before we even landed. Just little things like that went a long way!