Garmin G1000 vs Avidyne

I am considering a Columbia 350.

What should i pick. Avidyne or garmin. Pros and cons of each.

All i have heard is…
Avidyne: easier to interpret
Garmin:more reliable

Garmin

Garmin unless you are buying a used one, then you likely have no choice.

The market has spoken. Diamond and Columbia both offered both, and both found that Garmin was about all that was ordered.

The deciding factor seems to be that the Avidyne is almost maxxed out for processing power, and has had a much worse history as far as failures and failure to restart in flight.

There is nothing really wrong with the Avidyne though. Just I would buy used if that’s what I wanted.

Have you also considered the columbia 400 ?
Fuel flow is about 6 gallons/hr more, which is somewhat offset by higher cruise speeds. Where are you based, and will you do much IFR flight ?

Columbia 400??? Fuel flow…? I’m sorry, but I thought the discussion here was about glass cockpit instrument panels… I think if he wanted to discuss airplane choice, he would’ve titled the subject something like “Columbia 350 vs 400”.

I may be wrong, but… nope! I checked - it’s about instrument panels…

G1000 would be my choice. Much better integration. The Avidyne with the dual Garmin 430’s is less intuitive to use, but does provide some added redundancy. The only annoyance with the G1000 I can think of off hand is the altitude bug (at least on the G1000 I fly) can only be set to the nearest 100 feet, while the Avidyne can be set to the nearest 10 feet, much better for approaches. I found it took much longer to learn how to use the in depth features of the Avidyne system than on the Garmin.

As far as reliability, I’m not sure either have been around long enough for a true evaluation, but I can say I have had a PFD failure/restart in the Avidyne system while taxiing on the ground, and from what I understand of the difficulties in aligning their AHRS system in flight, I’m glad I was on the ground.

As I’m sure you can tell from my bias, I have flown the Garmin system much more than the Avidyne system. Whatever you end up with, I’m sure you’ll like it. People I work with that fly an Avidyne-equipped Cirrus frequently mock the G1000 I fly (and the Cessna it’s attached to, but that’s a different story). Good luck with your choice.