GTN650 or 750?

I’m well versed in the world of the GTN650 as it has been the main platform for almost half of my small amount of hours. It makes up for roughly 75 hours of my flight time, where the other half has mostly been spent in the G1000 series cockpits. I have a little bit of training with the 430, but that really is only about 3 hours in total if I remember correctly. So having a decent screen has been most of my experience in flying.

I had seen most of the guys use the two or three panel combo of the G3X or some other vendor in conjunction with a GTN650. I had contemplated for a while, why don’t I just use a GTN750 instead? I could get my approach plates on the moving map which would make flying IFR even that much easier, rather than having to look down at ForeFlight and see where I was in relation to the approach chart there.

I decided to specifically look up that topic as I imagined that there were quite a few people who had made that comparison, considering they are very similar platforms. Garmin actually made a really good write up entitled Stay in Touch with GTN: Differences Between GTN 650 and GTN 750

In this article they discuss the main issue I had with the GTN650, which was the ability for it to display both NAV and COMM radios frequencies, where the GTN650 only displays one set at a time and you have to toggle between them using the push functionality of the knobs on the bottom right. Many a time I’ve forgotten to check the NAV frequency and put it to the active when loading and activating an approach. I would prefer that to not be a problem, granted that should just be a habit change for me to push that nob to check it, but it’s just easier to look over and see it without having to take your hands off of the controls and push the knob especially if you are in real IFR conditions and possibly getting close to task saturation already.

I do like the feature provided in the GTN750 platform of having the approach chart on the moving map. Granted, this isn’t super critical if you load the full approach as it will show you the entire path you should fly on the map. I still like to have the chart up to reference items, though if you are coming in on the approach from the top of the chart, it will display upside down, which probably won’t benefit me in the long run LOL

I also like that the GTN750 integrates natively with the audio panel if you have their specific model installed. I prefer simplicity and if I can get one panel to run the entire plane with another panel in the middle for all of the navigation, weather, and approach information, that would be best.

On top of these differences, which really aren’t that many, the cost is one thing that is helping me make this decision. The GTN750 is $5,500 more than the GTN650, where a G3X is only $3900 in total. And going back to my mantra of simplicity is better, I can control everything through the G3X, whereas the GTN750 would only be able to control the transponder and the audio panel. I want my secondary NAV/COMM, engine instruments, as well as my autopilot integrated as well.

Now to just plan out how I’m going to put these three panels together. I really like Good Plane Living’s idea so that I can have the same control instruments on both the pilot and passenger side, with the engine and navigation/weather related information on the middle panel. The only thing I might skip is having the physical autopilot controls on the panel. Something similar to what you see below just without the autopilot.

Or, possibly this scenario to give me more room below the middle panel. I like the idea of having that storage in the front middle console for things like sunglasses, wallet (which I hate having in my pocket so it usually comes out with I drive/fly) and then have the center console for things like maps, audio panel hookups, manuals, etc. I think I like this option better.