I am also in the market and have decided on the anywheremap. I have been able to go to the marv golden store and actually look at the 296,396,496 and avmap 600c, 2000c and the avmap ekp-iv and here is what I think.

if you want to do weather rule out the avmap and the lowrance models because they do not have that ability. If you care about screen size the avmap is the same price as the 296 and a little more than the 2000c but the screen size is great. If you care about "clunkiness" the avmap is pretty thick and slightly awkward and the garmins are like small little bricks, the avmap is real nice, as thick as a pda and measures around 7"x4"

The garmin is fully integrated with its own antenna (has external if you need it) and can run on its own battery which is nice, no wires hanging all over the cockpit. The 2000c you need to plug in an antenna and deal with the cord. the avmap needs both power, and an external antenna so two cords to deal with.

Picture. The garmin looks incredible, and is by far the best picture. The avmap looks great also and is right up there with the garmin. The 2000c has great color and is very bright, although the "graphics" are more atariesque looking and not that appealing to the eye when compared side by side with the garmin.

as far as functions (not counting xm weather) they are all completely on par with eachother and neither one really has a feature that the other does not.

my personal choice was in this order.

1. avmap ekp- I liked the screen size and ease of use
2. garmin 296- great display, no wires everywhere
3. lowrance 2000c- large display, graphical presentation not great

but the overall choice I went with is the anywheremap. The reason I chose the anywhere map is the yearly cost is the lowest as far as updates go, in the event of a problem with the pda, you can replace that and not the whole unit, and the same goes with the gps antenna and the software, it is never completely obsolete. It also is feature packed with the same and a few more features than the others, I like the "taxi express" feauture which shows your position overlayed on an airport diagram with taxi and runway markings for ease of taxiing in an unfamiliar airport. It also has "pocket plates" which is a nice feauture with gives you part 91 approved approach plates which also overlays your airplane on the chart and tracks your progess.

ok that is enough about all of that, just my 2 cents