Thanks for the replies. Here is an email I wrote to Sporty's customer service and their reply - for the sake of the JC knowledge database.
By the way, I was more specific in my question to Sporty's than in my original post; I'm sure that helped! I sent the email to Garmin, as well, but they might as well not have a sales email address because they never responded.
_________________________
Hello,
I have some questions for which I have had a lot of
trouble finding the answers. I live in Portugal but
travel often to the United States and would like to
purchase the GPSMAP 196 to use in both places for its
aviation and street navigation features.
1. If I purchase either the Americas or Atlantic
version of the unit, is the base map of the same
quality for all areas worldwide? For example, if I
purchase the Atlantic version, is the base map detail
for North America of a lesser quality?
2. What do I need to purchase in order to use the
GPSMAP 196 with equally good results in both Europe
and the United States for aviation and street
navigation?
3. What do I need to do to the unit each time I travel
between Europe and the US to make it usable as I've
described above?
Thank you in advance for your answers to my questions!
___________
Reply from Sporty's:
Thank you for your e-mail reply. The base map included with the Garmin GPSMAP 196 is not a detailed worldwide database. It is more detailed specific for the area the database covers (i.e. Americas - North, South, and Central America). There is the MapSource World map software available that will give you the basemap detail in a world-wide format. This is not an item we stock, however, it may be special ordered. The cost for this software would be $116.65 plus shipping and handling. There is also a $15.00 fee for all special ordered items and a 50% restocking fee for returns of special ordered items.
Once you have purchased aviation database updates for the Americas database and Atlantic International database you may switch the aviation information between the two.
For more detailed street information for the United States we recomend the 7138A Auto Kit ($299.99). This kit includes the MapSource City Select US CD with full coverage. This will provide you with complete street-level detail for the entire United States. There is also a Mapsource European City Select CD available for the street-level information in Europe. This item is also something that we do not stock but can bve ordered as a special order. The cost for this item would be $349.99 plus shipping and handling. The special order fees would also apply to the purchase of this item.
You may also find a little more information on these products by logging on to Garmin's website at
www.garmin.com. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.