GPS Recommendations

If you elect to purchase a garmin, check into http://www.poi-factory.com/ for some great points of interest add ons.

I'm looking at the 5" Garmin
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B077ZH31S6/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A13BNE3P7C8THK&psc=1
It appears that the only difference is the size of the screen, other than that it has everything that the 770 has (I only mention the 770 because it seems to be mentioned most often here)  has anyone used this? If so, thoughts? Pros? Cons?
I originally was looking at Rand McNally but the Amazon reviews were awful.

RVMommato6 said:

I'm looking at the 5" Garmin
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B077ZH31S6/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A13BNE3P7C8THK&psc=1
It appears that the only difference is the size of the screen, other than that it has everything that the 770 has (I only mention the 770 because it seems to be mentioned most often here)  has anyone used this? If so, thoughts? Pros? Cons?
I originally was looking at Rand McNally but the Amazon reviews were awful.

Click to expand...

That looks interesting, subscribing to learn more as well.

RVMommato6 said:

I'm looking at the 5" Garmin
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B077ZH31S6/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A13BNE3P7C8THK&psc=1
It appears that the only difference is the size of the screen, other than that it has everything that the 770 has (I only mention the 770 because it seems to be mentioned most often here)  has anyone used this? If so, thoughts? Pros? Cons?
I originally was looking at Rand McNally but the Amazon reviews were awful.

Click to expand...

That one looks nice, but do note that it's for trucks, not RVs.  Routing and size restrictions will be fine, but you'll be missing RV-related POIs.  You'll get the truck stops and such, but not the campgrounds and other RV stuff.  You should be able to load POI databases from online sources using Garmin's POI loader, but I suspect a few other features may also be different.

We are really pleased with our RV660 LMT.  https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-RV-660LMT-6-Inch-Navigator/dp/B00YY3UBV2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1534251840&sr=8-2&keywords=garmin+660+rv+gps&dpID=41BU04-SD4L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srchI love the interface and some of the features.  Just went on an 11 day trip to multiple destinations.  Had it all mapped out in Basecamp and uploaded to the device.  It was so nice to just hop in and tell it to take us to the next destination with everything already pre-loaded. 

I REALLY like the "up ahead" feature, which shows you how far to the next gas, rest area and campground.  That's been very handy!

I just picked up an RV 770 and, though I've not used it with the RV yet, I have explored the features and driven around with it in a car. A feature (new to me) is the ability to move your course line in order to make routing changes. Just for exploration, I told it to take me to Nashville, TN, and it routed me on I-70 (I'm in Denver area) to St. Louis, then I-64 and such. But at Kansas City it showed straight through town on I-70, which I know from experience is a less than desirable route, so I zoomed in (pinch and spread fingers) and dragged the route line down to the 470 bypass where, after recalculating, it showed the complete bypass route, just with that one drag. It's a wonderful feature.

There are other features new to me, though I suspect that many come with most of the newer Garmins (my dezl 560 is several years old). And the campground listing is overwhelming in the Denver area -- it showed several campgrounds I didn't know about (I do use Allstays) while not missing any that I did know about. And I love that large screen.

After I've used it on a trip I'll likely post more here, but that's at least a month away.

Larry N. said:

I just picked up an RV 770 and, though I've not used it with the RV yet, I have explored the features and driven around with it in a car. A feature (new to me) is the ability to move your course line in order to make routing changes. Just for exploration, I told it to take me to Nashville, TN, and it routed me on I-70 (I'm in Denver area) to St. Louis, then I-64 and such. But at Kansas City it showed straight through town on I-70, which I know from experience is a less than desirable route, so I zoomed in (pinch and spread fingers) and dragged the route line down to the 470 bypass where, after recalculating, it showed the complete bypass route, just with that one drag. It's a wonderful feature.

There are other features new to me, though I suspect that many come with most of the newer Garmins (my dezl 560 is several years old). And the campground listing is overwhelming in the Denver area -- it showed several campgrounds I didn't know about (I do use Allstays) while not missing any that I did know about. And I love that large screen.

After I've used it on a trip I'll likely post more here, but that's at least a month away.

Click to expand...

Larry - I was fascinated by all the features now available on the 770 when I got mine and still say it's the best GPS I've ever had in that respect. But until they get the positioning fixed, I can't say it's the best unit I've ever owned all around. I really don't like getting sent on wild goose chases eight miles out of my way on roads not meant for RV's. And when speaking to Garmin about it, I was told it must be user error because their products don't make mistakes like that. Okay, you tell me how it was user error when I was sitting in a parking lot at the entrance to a street ready to make a left turn and drive one block to the entrance to an interstate highway when the Garmin recalculated and told me to turn right instead, and then took me on an eight mile, out of the way journey on roads not meant for my coach, only to take me to the next interstate entrance. The same thing happened to me last year. While sitting at a red light in a left turn lane ready to turn into my destination, a Cracker Barrel, the Garmin recalculated and told me to drive straight instead. I stupidly followed it and took four miles of roads not meant for an RV my height, scraping tree branches on the roof before it led me back to the same intersection I had been sitting at, but from a different direction so I could make a right turn into the same parking lot. The only thing I could think of was that the unit thought I had already missed the left turn and recalculated, assuming I needed to get back to where I wanted to go because I was already too far. What it didn't realize was that I was sitting in the correct left turn lane all the while.

Garmin refuses to admit their product can make a mistake, even after something like this was explained to them. They told me to update my firmware, software and maps and use their FAQ's for additional information. I told them I already had done all that and determined my settings were completely accurate and correct for my vehicle, so something else must be wrong. They said there was nothing wrong with the unit or its positioning and it HAD to be something I was doing wrong because their products don't make mistakes.

I have sworn by Garmin for the past 15 years and have had several models of their GPS units. I have always thought they were the best out there when comparing them to Magellan and Tom Tom. But when they refuse to admit they have a problem with one of their models and try to blame it on the user when the user did nothing wrong, it kind of takes away any warm and fuzzy feelings I had for them in the past. I'll continue to use the 770 because it really is a great unit with a lot of features. But I won't trust it or listen to it when it tells me to take wrong turns when I know for a fact that they are wrong. The scary part is when it tells you to do something and you really don't know if it's right or wrong.

Sounds as if you ran into a zealot in the support group- not nice to deal with people like that. I've had deviations like that on every GPS I've had, though they're not frequent, starting with the Streetpilot 2730. What you're describing doesn't sound good, though, and I hope I don't encounter that as badly. But thanks for the alert.

We've had the Garmin Nuvi 2757 for a couple of years now and still love it.  This model is far superior to the previous Garmins we've owned (maybe six?) and I love the 7-inch screen.  It's so much easier to see than the smaller ones!  It's especially nice when it goes to a split screen and you can see both sides.  The verbal instructions also are better.  None of them is perfect but we have fewer mistakes with this one than earlier versions.

Regarding that crazy routing mentioned above by John, we had a 100-mile detour from Maryland into Washington DC  a couple of years ago because we had it set to avoid toll roads.  We had taken the same route earlier, but the return had a bridge with a toll booth.  Once I realized the problem and removed the toll limitation it put us right back on the reverse of the route taken previously.  You can set some GPSs to avoid left turns and it will take you ten miles in a huge loop to force all right turns!

Changing a route also is easier.  Just go to the point you want to go to and mark it as a waypoint.  That forces a route change.  I use that with the new loop road on the west side of Phoenix, otherwise it routes us straight through downtown.

ArdraF

I'm finally able to use the RV-770 LMT on a trip, and I keep discovering nice things about it. After 700+ miles, I find that it's much easier to use than my dezl 560 LMT, and the touch screen allows me not only to input start and end points, but to also drag the route to VIA points (I used that to get a bypass around Kansas City) when setting up a route. While under way, the tool icon (wrench) in the bottom corner brings up a choice of tools that allow one-touch access, such as "up ahead" that brings up (on one side) the next gas station, next rest area, and next campground (this can be reconfigured with other choices), with a touch allowing expansion of the list. A touch on many displayed "fields" on the screen brings up a menu of choices to replace that item with something else (a couple bring up other display stuff, such as trip data). There are icons on the main map display that show locations of campgounds, gas stations and rest areas, too.

The voice directions are improved too, with statements such as, "Turn left at the traffic light" (when that makes sense) in addition to the actual street name on the display, and, "Stay in any of the left three lanes" at a potential turn spot, when any of those lanes will serve to keep you on the route, but double check because once it told me any of the "four" when it was actually any of the "three" -- there are bound to be database mistakes, just as with any GPS.

And these are just scratching the surface of the improvements over the dezl unit. That's in addition to the 7" screen instead of a 5" screen -- love it so far. Someone who actually uses this must have designed the interface.

I purchased a Rand McNally RV GPS that is built on an Android tablet platform. It allows one to input your RV specifications (including the height), and after trying it in Oregon this year, it navigated us away from tunnels and bridges that were too low for our fiver.


Because it is built on a tablet platform, I was able to also load Wayz, Google Maps, and other programs that are useful for the road. It knows the speed limits that it displays on the screen as you drive, gives you optional warnings if you go too fast, and has three trip recorders that give lots of information on your trip including top speed, average speed, fuel consumption, and many others. Not cheap though, it was about $425.

Glad I saw this thread. I've been looking at a new GPS. Between the 5ver and my bucket truck for work having the clearances and weight restrictions would be very cool. Nothing worse that having to turn a 30,000 lb truck around in a tight area.

samthetramp said:

...Nothing worse that having to turn a 30,000 lb truck around in a tight area.

Click to expand...

How about having to turn around a 50,000 lb class A RV with toad? First disconnect the toad...

So have any of y'all using the 660RV LMT had problems with the unit not giving out accurate directions before? Looking to buy and don't need that hassle. I've had 3 low bridge issues in the last month using one for a passenger vehicle. I'm done with that.

samthetramp said:

So have any of y'all using the 660RV LMT had problems with the unit not giving out accurate directions before? Looking to buy and don't need that hassle. I've had 3 low bridge issues in the last month using one for a passenger vehicle. I'm done with that.

Click to expand...

Sam, I don't have the 660, I have the 770, and yes, I have had problems with it sending me on the wrong route. Bridges and clearances haven't been a problem; just the fact that the thing doesn't know where I'm at and thinks I've already missed a turn, so it sends me on a wild goose chase. See my previous posts for a better description.

But the thing that bothered me the most about this happening to me twice on two trips was calling Garmin and being told it was a user error because their equipment doesn't make mistakes. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

  I've had a Gamin RV-760 since it first came on the market back in 2013.

  The device has done very well. No wild goose chases that weren't pilot error or map errors.

  It's essential to have height, length and weight considered. Think about how many miles you're willing to back up to turn around when a car gps directs you to cross the Sabine River on TX-63/LA-8 or what happens when it directs you through the Bankhead Tunnel at Mobile, plus of course many other restrictions.

  I plan my routes using Basecamp and hardly ever just let the gps choose. The gps will tend to use known RV (or truck) friendly routes; for example, it'll choose US-301 over CR-471 in Florida even though CR-471 is a straighter and shorter route. Also, I like to become very familiar with the intended route.

  As for map errors, all gps devices including google maps contain map errors in respect to the roads themselves or locations of businesses etc. Humans designate mapped roads as superhighways to jeep trails and humans place POIs sometimes in the wrong place because humans make mistakes. All gps makers provide a way to report map errors; I and other locals have had Garmin get a couple of map errors corrected over the years. So when you discover a map error, and you will, report it.

  One thing I've noticed over the years that I think results in detours is that crossovers often aren't shown on divided highways so if you need to get to a business on the left side of the highway the gps wants to take you all the way to the next official crossroad where you can turn around and that may be miles, while there's a crossover right there.

John Stevens I saw your post about the CS at Garmin and that's just plain wrong on their part. I haven't had to deal with them in that regard yet.

I also drive a bucket truck for work and when chasing storms it'd be nice to know about bridge clearances and weights in advance. Basically I'm looking for a blend of the Desl and the RV in one GPS. Guess I'll see which one fits my needs the best and go from there.

Johnhicks thanks for that info.

I find what works for me is to have two GPS units set up while RVing.

I currently use a Garmin RV660 and a Rand Mc Nally RVND 7735.
They find different stuff and I have often found having both to be very useful.

But they work differently and it takes a little time to get used to the Ranh McNally after being more used to the Garmins.

-Don-  Auburn, CA