Bill,

 

No, I didn't really feel like it was worth the extra $1k for the touch screen.  But I did opt for the engine monitor board, gps, and ADS-B.  While the engine monitor provides redundancy, I really like the aural warnings it provides.  So, I don't have to fly with one eye on the EM-2 and one looking for traffic.  My purchasing logic was to go with the "big screen" so that I wouldn't need a second screen.  So far, it appears this will work out just fine.  I'll be using ForeFlight on a iPad for moving map, flight planning, weather, etc.  It would have been helpful to have the extra serial ports a second screen would provide as the AF-5800 is limited to four.  Five serial ports would have been optimum, but a work-around was done to make this work.  I hope to fly it for the first time this weekend.

 

I didn't weigh the two units, but I would guess the AFS is about 5# lighter than the BMA.  AFS gave a 30% rebate on the old BMA unit, and I didn't even have to ask.  Great customer service too!  I highly recommend AFS.  If interested, call and ask for Trisha Blank. 

 

Mark