mandy2008 Report post Posted July 20, 2017 Wanting new GPS. Which one would you choose and why? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jleamont Report post Posted July 20, 2017 many, many discussions on this topic, above is one on one. Garmin would be my #1 choice, followed by Magellan. Rand doesn't stand behind their products. I have had good luck with Garmin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rfsod48 Report post Posted July 20, 2017 I have had both, currently have RM. I think Garmin is easier to work with and when I need a new one I will probably go back to them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huffypuff Report post Posted July 20, 2017 To my surprise my Rand McNally is working after the last online update. I don't know for how long but it fine for now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cwswine Report post Posted July 20, 2017 We have both a built in McNally and portable Garmin in our coach and if the Mcnally and the Gamin disagree we ALWAYS follow the Garmin. If there is time we will also verify the route against Waze. The Garmin has been spot in in the last 20,000 miles of RVing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted July 20, 2017 I would choose Google Maps and/or WAZE. The stand alone GPS units are so far out of date they are just shy of being a joke. Some do offer (or can be had through an add-on) large vehicle add-ons but I can't find enough value in these add-ons to justify free vs. $700. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted July 21, 2017 We have used CoPilot for several years and it works great. I don't recommend the "RV" version they came out with lately but the car version does a good job and it is customizable for a RV. I have it on a 10" tablet and the phones. https://copilotgps.com/en-us/car-navigation/ A good feature is you can down load the maps when you have wifi and it doesn't use data. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhinderber Report post Posted July 21, 2017 Do any of these programs have clearance indicators I drove a truck for 3 yrs "(05/08)none of the GPS had clearance markers I had a map book with a list of all low clearance spots in the US and CAD the routes had bridge max weights. My TREK 12' and 16000lb so not a big problem for me. Some bus conversions and custom RVs' could get capped on clearance under 13'6" i Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 21, 2017 Google Maps are GREAT.. provided you have Internet ? We definitely use Google a lot, but, it's always need to have a backup redundant system.. and Garmin is very good.. If you haven't tried Android Auto.. give it a test drive.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted July 21, 2017 Quote Google Maps are GREAT.. provided you have Internet ? That's simply not true. If your plans call for you traveling where you think your phone might lose internet you simply download the map area before you go and you will have mapping the entire route. This can also be done to save what tiny bit of data the program uses while traveling as you can download the data while on WiFi or a home connection. You will lose the live traffic data but if if you are in an area without a cellular connection I doubt traffic is going to be an issue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 21, 2017 Bill, I really appreciate Google Maps.... thanks, however, YES, you're absolutely correct.. except that in order to download the maps, you have to have INTERNET access...I'm talking about cases where you don't have that option.... Have you tried using the INTERNET in National Park? It doesn't work very well..... especially Death Valley, Grand Canyon or Yellowstone... Satellite systems are completely independent. and operate from at least 24 satellites working anywhere in the world 24 hours per day. Garmin is a lot more reliable than Google Maps. Procedure below for downloading Google Maps...psst, you can't always download every area you planned or unplanned location in advance..it's not that easy. Besides, since we're on Google Project Fi...we pay $10 per GB for all downloads, so, the Garmin is the least expenses option. Download an area to use offline On your phone or tablet, open the Google Maps app . Make sure you're connected to the Internet and signed in to Google Maps. Search for a place, like San Francisco . At the bottom, tap the name or address of the place. ... Select Download . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayne77590 Report post Posted July 21, 2017 11 hours ago, rhinderber said: Do any of these programs have clearance indicators I drove a truck for 3 yrs "(05/08)none of the GPS had clearance markers I had a map book with a list of all low clearance spots in the US and CAD the routes had bridge max weights. My TREK 12' and 16000lb so not a big problem for me. Some bus conversions and custom RVs' could get capped on clearance under 13'6" My Garman 760 LMT gives me low clearances. However, my height is 12'4" (No roof AC's, Basement AC) so not much of a problem on major highways. However, I always, always look at the yellow signs, doesn't matter what the sign is I just pay attention to them. I also look at the marking on the bridge for clearance. So I'm doing a triple check. Here is one source of POI's that can be downloaded. Here are some other Garman POI's not free though. Just be aware that the current yellow sign on the side of the road is your best source. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted July 21, 2017 MWeiner, you can download an entire State, a couple of States or 1/2 the Country if you think you will not have an internet connection again for many, many days (almost impossible). Once the data is on your phone it's always there and always available. It is, of course, limited by the amount of storage capacity available on your phone. There's really no reason to not use Google Maps if data is your only concern. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
five Report post Posted July 21, 2017 Hard to beat a Garman with free lifetime updates...I buy mine at Sams. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted July 22, 2017 Hard to figure why people still buy stand alone GPS map programs/devices. I get as good servise out of CO-Pilot on a bigger display for way less money. I can also use the tablet for outher things besides GPS. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted July 22, 2017 At $10.00 per gig, I'd wait till I got to McDonalds to download anything of size. LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted July 22, 2017 23 minutes ago, kaypsmith said: At $10.00 per gig, I'd wait till I got to McDonalds to download anything of size. LOL That is the beauty of CO-Pilot you download the maps when you have wifi and then you don't us much data on the road. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jleamont Report post Posted July 22, 2017 I use google maps, print the directions. Once off the highway I use google earth to take a peek at what I'm getting myself into. Especially if there are rivers or railroads, then I zoom in on the height signs. DW uses truckers Atlas, FMCA atlas and "the next exit" book. She's old school and prefers paper books. Between the two of us we got it covered. The map pockets behind the coach seats are full Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 22, 2017 1 hour ago, kaypsmith said: At $10.00 per gig, I'd wait till I got to McDonalds to download anything of size. LOL Yeah, it's not for everyone.... We use it sparingly... And a lot of Wi-Fi... however, we get a direct refund each month for data we don't use.. kind of balances out when we go off the grid. We only pay for what we actually use, no roll over minutes.. or useless promotions like that. I think if I were to go out more.. like 6 months or more, I might be tempted to get a flat rate service. I had the unlimited data plan on T-MOBILE.. didn't use it to justify paying almost $180 per month.. Either way, you pay for your data. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 22, 2017 6 minutes ago, jleamont said: I use google maps, print the directions. Once off the highway I use google earth to take a peek at what I'm getting myself into. Especially if there are rivers or railroads, then I zoom in on the height signs. DW uses truckers Atlas, FMCA atlas and "the next exit" book. She's old school and prefers paper books. Between the two of us we got it covered. The map pockets behind the coach seats are full YES... I agree completely...We still use maps and get them from AAA... Maps are GREAT to show you an entire area as an overview... You can't easily get that from Google or Garmin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted July 22, 2017 I took a couple of trips and watched the amount of data used by Google Maps and WAZE. A 250 mile trip with Google Maps used about 8Mb and WAZE used about 15Mb. That's not going to make a dent in anyone data plan. How many days per year do you actually drive your RV. Even when we were doing the RV vendor circuit I only had about 60 driving days per year. So far this year I have only had 16 driving days so far. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 22, 2017 7 hours ago, BillAdams said: I took a couple of trips and watched the amount of data used by Google Maps and WAZE. A 250 mile trip with Google Maps used about 8Mb and WAZE used about 15Mb. That's not going to make a dent in anyone data plan. How many days per year do you actually drive your RV. Even when we were doing the RV vendor circuit I only had about 60 driving days per year. So far this year I have only had 16 driving days so far. Bill, that's a very good question, thanks for asking. We've had our Roadtrek RS Adventurous since the beginning of May this year and have taken three trips and have already been out 15 days... We're going again in early August for another five days and in late September we're going for two months...so, yes, we travel. The whole reason I wanted a smaller more mobile rig was so fuel consumption would NOT be an issue. Ironically, I'm going to be MORE CONCERNED about data consumption and here's why.. on one of our trips, we decided to stream a movie... I was told that the streaming would not take that much data, but, I was surprised to discover that the 2 1/2 movie we watched was four GBs...we could have gone out for dinner and the movie for the price of the HD movie download and the streaming...like $46... yikes. I called and complained about that and they gave me a $20 credit.. It's not that I don't appreciate streaming, Google Play or maps, but, if I'm going to be data dependent on the road, I'd rather have the unlimited plan again.. much the same as a you have? Didn't you say you had unlimited? I'm not against the unlimited plans as long as I'm using them.... kinda hate to pay for something we're not using. I realize that Maps and Waze don't use as much as streaming movies, but, we go through 15 MB.. really fast just doing normal browsing. As far as connection, there's been too many times when we're out in an area and there's NO INTERNET....and we hadn't planned on this. That's when a stand alone Garmin really comes in handy. When we purchased our vehicle, used, it had a really poor radio navigation system.. with a horrible back up camera that made it impossible to see out the rear of the coach...so, I replaced all of this with an upgraded system and navigation... I sort of figured that this was all part of the purchase price... since we acquired the vehicle for a really good price it seemed reasonable to me. I've already figured out that if we need to make the jump to Verizon our phones can do it... SO, if that has to be done, we'll switch... Haven't decided that is necessary yet. The problem with Google Project Fi is that there's no upper limit on data, so, it's $10 per GB.. if we used $15 GBs between two phones, that would be $150 for data plus our $75 per month....don't want that. The more we travel, the closer I'll get to making the leap to Verizon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted July 22, 2017 Keep in mind that your total days away from home does not add to your data used with Google Maps or WAZE but only the few hours that you drive on the few days that you drive to get from point A to point B. 250 miles and 8Mb of data is somewhere near nothing when compared to your 10GB plan. You would use substantially less if you downloaded the route on a free connection before you started but it's such little data that I (me, me along, don't care what you think) would consider it to be inconsequential in the whole scheme of things. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NanMWright Report post Posted July 22, 2017 Garmin seems to have dropped the recommended 760LMT and is now selling a 770LMT-S. Has anyone tried this? Is it an upgrade? I need to get a new GPS for travel full time, and I'd like to stick with Garmin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whiteeagle Report post Posted July 23, 2017 Per the original question, and that of NanMWright, and running the risk of a few telling me why I didn't do what they think I should have, my answer to your question would be that.. yes I had the RMN 7710 for a few years and it gave me so much trouble and the two repairs RMN made didn't last so I got rid of it. I bought the COPilot RV app and didn't like it 4 months ago. I bought the newest Garmin 7760 and it's doing fine.. not perfect but fine... and relatively easy to use. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
