TripMaker vs Garmin GPS

[bsjones11]

I am looking at the new Rand McNally TripMaker RVND 7710 to replace my Garmin 765T. It has a lot of great features. Does anyone have firsthand experience with the 7710 and how it has worked for them on trips?

It seems the Garmin truck versions have lots of options for RV's, but more so for the truckers and some of which you have to use even if you are not a truck. I like Garmin products but really like the features i see in the Tripmaker.

Would like to hear from someone who actually has a rvnd 5510 or 7710 to see how it has been on their trips.

[hermanmullins]

While everyone is talking GPSs does anybody know about Garmin's 2455LMT?

[Guest BillAdams]

Lots of bad reviews on the Tripmaker unit. Do a search on some the RV related forums.

[travelingsages]

The Geeks on Tour did a review of the Rand McNally GPS and while it has some nice features the GPS can take a full minute to calculate your route. It is extremely slow.

[dnelson60559]

I purchased the 7710 in August after attending their seminar at the Madison Rally - the unit was shipped in October.

I do not know about the "bad reviews" mentioned by Bill.

I have not used the unit on any real trips yet, just from my dealership out to my campground at Woodhaven Lakes (about a two hour drive). I have also used the 7710 in my cars for about a week just getting used to it.

I also have a Nuvi 750 that I like quite a bit.

When I attended the seminar, I thought to myself, "ANOTHER gps unit - what makes theirs so special?". About five minutes into the seminar, I realized that this unit was built from the ground up for RVs (Motor Homes as well as trailers).

After using the unit in my car, traveling routes that I use everyday, I can say that I like the 7710; The warning about going too fast, sharp curve ahead, and predictive traffic - I found this quite useful. In a car, the seven inch display takes up a lot of space, but in my 2006 Cayman, that is not a problem.

I had purchased an external antenna for my Nuvi 750 and the external jack on the 7710 is different so I was concerned. Rand McNally tech support indicated that I probably would not need the external antenna but I was skeptical. After my "trip" in the RV, I was convinced that I did not need the external antenna because I never lost satellite reception.

I needed to contact Tech Support a couple of times (user error on my part) and they were always professional, helpful, and patient with me.

My wife and I really like the 7 inch screen - the 750 is 4.3 inches.

I looked at the check lists (setting up camp, taking down camp) and they are quite useful - not everything I need but they are customizable.

I spoke with a friend of mine who is a retired over the road trucker and he did not like the Rand McNally trucker unit at all! He said it would take too long to recalculate (sometimes more than ten minutes), suggest routes that he knew were wrong for his rig. For the recalculate "problem", I can say that the 7710 recalculates quickly (seconds).

I hope this helps and if you have any specific questions I can answer, please let me know.

[geeksontour]

We were beta testers for the Tripmaker 7710. Rand McNally is still improving the software based on input from users. That is one of the things we like about it. It is not without flaws, but nothing we have used is.

Find our articles and the review HERE.

[johnfv2]

When they get the unit to accept Bluetooth so I can use my cell hands free I may look at it.

I had purchased the 5000 series unit prior to this new one coming out and sent it back as it

didn't have Bluetooth nor could u ad your own way-points. Now they have fixed the way-point

problem with the new unit but haven't addressed the Bluetooth problem. Also they have too

much junk it the units that you can't get rid of. I've been Motor Homing for quite a few years

and I don't really need any of their checklists and such. I'd like to get rid of their POIs as I'd

never use them. Guess I'll stay with my Garmin as the only thing I'd like is a bigger screen.

Their unit does have some items in it that I like such as setting up the unit for my particular rig.

[BirettCPA]

As they improve the product, do they send out the updates or are we stuck with the current version?

I have been and still use 3 Lowrance iWay 500-C's, permanently installed to my radios to get the music I have stored on the 10GB MP3 player. What a way to go. I think I could travel for a week without repeating a song.

Only thing I do not like is that the message keeps coming up to update the "Map Data" but unfortunately there are no updates available. What a shame.

Quite interested in the larger screen but will have to be convinced that it works as well as advertised. Apparently not!

Would also like to have an MP3 player built in. You need the connection anyway and I don't want another appendage hanging off the radio

[gryhester]

I don't know about the Roadmaster TripMaker, But i do have a Garmin Nuvi 465t. It is the worst GPS in my opinion. Even though I have the Lifetime Update program, it still does not know the latest information on highways. It sent me down a dead end. It seems to send me on the roundabout route when in truck mode. Its search program is not up to date on businesses. I always have a watchful eye when it sends me to a destination.

[rpklingberg]

I bought the Magellan with the Good Sam listings etc. And it is a Great GPS I own several others and this has them all beat hands down. Wide 7 inch screen great mount, even sticks to a textured dash and Fast and accurate with exit now and thousands of parks full info. For my money its the best RV GPS out there.

[dnelson60559]

RM has several updates (according to their website):

1) Tell Rand - If you find something incorrect (GPS says speed limit is 40 but the signs say 45) - you enter that information into the unit and, the next time you connect to your internet connected PC, it gets sent and then reviewed - if the GPS needs to be updated, everyone will get those updates for free.

2) Normal maintenance updates are free

3) Map updates cost money.

[CharlesDauster]

We have a Garmin GPS. It has tried to send us down roads not adequate for our Motorhome. I always recon my route the day before on my Good Sam map. The trucker friendly, thus RV friendly, routes are outlined in Green. Very handy.

[JacknKay]

I bought the Magellan with the Good Sam listings etc. And it is a Great GPS I own several others and this has them all beat hands down. Wide 7 inch screen great mount, even sticks to a textured dash and Fast and accurate with exit now and thousands of parks full info. For my money its the best RV GPS out there.

I have the Magellan RV9145-LM on my short list with the Rand McNally RVND 7710. Both have 7" screens. I can get lifetime updates with either one. The Magellan has Good Sam parks, the the Rand will have Woodall's, in April. Others have said that the RM is difficult to see in the bright light. Not sure if this is an issue or not.

I have a Magellan Maestro 4040 is's old and I would need to send it somewhere to get firmware and map updates. I can't seem to make up my mind which would be the best for me. They are the same price at CW or Amazon.

If you have either of these, do you have glare issues is sunlight?

As an aside: I have an iPad and when I was in Palm Springs last week, I tried using it outdoors and it was impossible to see the screen. Even under and awning at Max brigthness. What a shock! I had heard this, but never experienced it.

[Longcove]

Hi: Just joined the Forum after finding some of the posts useful.

I bought a Rand McNally 7710 a week ago in Camping World, St Augustine and used it on the way north to Nova Scotia. I'm very pleased with it. I've seen many negative comments but when you analyze them they are mostly the result of failure to understand what GPS's do. They are not a substitute for brains and paper maps. It worked flawlessly but it does require setting intermediate points if you want 'your' route rather than hers. The screen is a bit hard to see in bright sunlight but the mount works well and adjusted to give the best compromise. The sucker never fell of the dashboard.

When we chose 'our' route to the endpoint, Hilda (what do you call yours?) caught on quickly and recalculated within a few seconds.

One difficulty is the computer generated female voice which can really mangle many words. It would be good to have a wider choice of 'people.' Male voices are no good for Hilda - She who must be obeyed - can only be female! One thing I didn't like was being told to "slide right in 200 yards" or whatever. Often the sliding wasn't required. Sliding is a term with which I am unfamiliar!

A major failing, which some think is a problem with the GPS are inaccurate lat/longs for campgrounds. Two of ours were spot on while others were wrong by a few miles. I'm not sure how lat/long info is obtained. Is it worked out from street address or do CG owners enter the info into a database? Street address entry always worked accurately. Certainly the 7710 isn't responsible and I'm not sure if Rand is either.

Speed limits were usually quite accurate but on several occasions had not been updated to reflect changed signage. I don't know whether Rand is better or worse than other manufacturers in this. I was running the latest updates.

The 'manual' is sketchy but the unit was almost completely intuitive provided one remembers that it is merely a computer and requires logic. My wife who is computer literate learned how to make it work within minutes. I'm not the navigator.

I was disappointed that the traffic info doesn't work yet. Other manufacturers already have this. This is a real nuisance on the I95 where one spends a lot of time recalculating and finding parallel roads!

The Dock software could be more useful. I haven't found out if it automatically starts if I connect the GPS. I expected an icon on the desktop. It seems merely to be a downloader.

I can't provide any comparison to other manufacturers but I imagine all have good points and bad. The Rand certainly picks up satellites very fast, much faster than my Llowrance handheld.

I look forward to finding out some hints and tips from users.

So here is my brief assessment for what it is worth. The bottom line is that I thought the features in the Rand were more useful than in other manufacturers. You pays your money and takes your choice.

Donald

[hermanmullins]

I had a Garmin 330, up graded to a Nuvi 2455. It got stolen from my truck. Found a 530 at a Garage Sale ($20.00). Found a Nuvi 1300 on craigslist ($50.00).

Two months later the police called, "We found your Garmin Nuvi 2455 can we deliver it this afternoon?" There is no way I can get lost now.

Herman

[dickandlois]

The biggest issue I have is that GPS software is set up to plot the shortest Rt.

I set my system for preferred routing and try to miss going right through the middle of a large metropolitan area.

It does take me a few tries to get the route set up, but it generally saves me time and fuel taking the long way around.

We travel the same roads in many cases and making a file of routes that I can load saves time. We can then change the file and not use the GPS navigation feature, just follow the little arrow, that shows the next exit coming up or town that might make a good pit stop.

The other item I use is, if we find a nice spot. I save the GPS coordinates in a file and give it a label that lets us use it again if in the area, without spending time looking for it and programing it in. Just pull up the point and ask it to rout me from present location. Have to remember to remind the system to use preferred routes.

We are still learning how to use many of the features and I often have to review some of them.

Rich.

[lylefikse]

We have the 5510 and used it for a 5000 mile trip west from Iowa to Washington State, down the coast to southern California for the winter. Then home this spring to Iowa the southern route. Although this is our first GPS we love it. It did take us down a dirt road in Oregon we didn't belong on. We sent the Info in and hope the software will be updated. Have had some trouble with the docking software when trying to update. The website wanted to update our software and then it would lock up. I would buy it again.

[bizsmith@yahoo.com]

I use DeLorme software on a laptop and have for a number of years before you could even buy a GPS. I can pick the exact route I want to take and review the trip the day before checking the route with paper maps and a truckers atlas. I can mark rest areas and fuel stops. Almost no surprises and I have a 13 inch screen. Bigger if I chose a bigger laptop.

I have not been too impressed with the RM tripmaker.

My copilot always uses paper maps. No matter whose GPS you use they can take you where you don't want to be. The story here in Minnesota is of the woman who followed the GPS on to a snowmobile trail. It took three days to get her car out of that fix.

[-Gramps-]

I have a Garmin....Nuvi XXX...can't remember the number, but it doesn't say street names. I also have a Delorme that I could install on my Win7 tablet. I have a Droid phone with Google Navigation. It works better than the Garmin which cost too much to upgrade.

I also have a Rand McNally 5510. Actually, I should say my wife owns it. It gave us some touch screen problems until I upgraded the firmware a few days ago...we have only had it three weeks. My wife loves it...she calls it "the Bomb" she calls our dog that too. Never called me the bomb. Anyway she has figured that thing out for everything...campground ratings, finding rv friendly gas stations, you name it.

I had no problems docking it...thought the RM software was much more intuitive than the Garmin software version I was using.

In her opinion it is worth every penny it cost.

[smokeater75]

My wife and I have just finished a 6000 mi. trip using the new 7710 as well as our 5yr. old Garmin Nuvi 660. I have nothing but good things to say about the 7710, it worked fine has a lot of good features and most of the time it was as fast as my 660 or faster. I honestly don't know if a lot of changes were made to the 7710 I bought in Feb. of this year compared to earlier models but the unit works just fine.

I would not hesitate to buy one if I were in the market for a gps. Smokeater75.