A friend of mine has the 396 and stated that its screen brightness was 75% greater than the 296. Only reporting what he told me and if true that's pretty significant. I have heard some complain about the brightness of the 296 screen and it looks like Garmin addressed it in the 396.
I've recently had the chance to play with a 396 for a few hours. They are a completely different animal from the 196 and 296, so much nicer. The screen is crisp and bright, the response is fast, and navigating the units features is still very simple and straight forward. Oh, and the XM thing ain't too shabby! :P
