New truckers' Garmin

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BernieD

BernieD

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Posts
5,891
Location
Goodyear, AZ
Garmin recently introduced a new model "designed" for truckers. The model Nuvi 465t is basically a 400 series Nuvi with special software and programming to accomodate truck routes and POIs. I was getting frustrated with the outdated maps on my 2610 and Rhoda (voice in the box) had died. So we sprung for the new model. The owner's manual is useless, at best, but I have had some good responses from Garmin (email, not phone) with answers to my many questions as to how to do this or that.

There are some things that the 2610 seemed easier to work with, but with time I should get more comfortable with the new layouts. The newer features on the Nuvi series are a step forward. The included traffic reporting has been very helpful negotiating all the highway construction in the Minneapolis area. Haven't had a chance to use the truck routing yet. I've described my coach and toad to the truck profile and when we leave here this coming week we'll see how it does.

I'm not sure yet whether the 465t is worth the premium over other models that can be purchased in the $200-300 range, tho it does seem to have a lot of upgrades from them. Hopefully, the truck routing alone will make it worthwhile.
 
Bernie,

Sounds interesting.  Let us know how it handles overhead clearances.  Hopefully well!  ::) ::)

ArdraF
 
ArdraF said:
Bernie,

Sounds interesting.  Let us know how it handles overhead clearances.  Hopefully well!  ::) ::)

ArdraF
Click to expand...

In setting up the profile, one of the dimensions asked for is height. It also asks for weight, width, length and whether a trailer is pulled. The route is compared to the NTTS data base and is supposed to route around low clearances and limited weight bridges and selects truck routes. Based on some of our car routings, it also seems to route around major traffic problems.
 
I saw a guy on ebay selling a 265t with truck poi's in it it would warn of low bridges and weigh stations it didn't add too much to the cost either.
 
glen54737 said:
I saw a guy on ebay selling a 265t with truck poi's in it it would warn of low bridges and weigh stations it didn't add too much to the cost either.
Click to expand...

Glen

It is a lot more than the POIs. If you get routed to one of them under a low bridge or overweight route, knowing where the truck stop is doesn't do much good.
 
In setting up the profile, one of the dimensions asked for is height. It also asks for weight, width, length and whether a trailer is pulled.
Click to expand...

That sounds downright useful!  Let us know how it works, Bernie.

ArdraF
 
Just came up with the first major negative. The SP series GPSs had a Campground subcategory under Lodging, no longer on the Nuvi. You have to hunt for campgrounds along with all the hotels/motels/beds and breakfast.
 
The POI Factory has downloadable files with lots of campgrounds that can be loaded into the Nuvi.  I have the files with Passport America and all the Good Sam parks on mine.  Also Flying J, Cracker Barrel, Walmart, etc.  You don't have to be limited to the Garmin POIs.
 
Bernie,

Yes, having campgrounds in among all the other types of lodging is a negative of the Nuvi.  As Ned mentioned, the POIs from POI Factory are great.  We have one POI that has campgrounds all around the country.  I think there's also one for public campgrounds, as well as all national parks, etc.  It's a goldmine!

ArdraF
 
I had already downloaded a half dozen POI files from POI Factory, including 1 "campground" file. It was very limited and I deleted it. I did some more thorough searching and downloaded a few more. We'll see how well they work. Sure wish the unit came with a remote.
 
Our Garmin C220 has pretty much died.  It will no longer hold a charge and since the antenna is somehow tied
into the battery it takes awhile to find our present location.  It has also made me do a circle or two before
bringing me to my destination a couple of times.

I'm seriously thinking about the new Garmin and it sounds like the campsite POI's will make it that much better.
Some of the lower priced Garmin's have some really neat features not included in the truck model like the pictured
signs over the highway and cityscapes in the background.  I feel the clearances for my 12'6" 5'er with the commercial
plates and the propane tanks is more important than the "pretty" view however.

We've had several very nice welcome messages to the forum but for some reason I am not allowed to post
follow up replies, just to let you all know I'm not intentionally ignoring you.

Tim and Gloria
2009 Chevy Siverado 2500HD
2009 Jayco Eagle 5th Wheel (29.5ORK)
 
Tim & Gloria

I'm sure Tom will be along shortly to explore your reply issue.

I haven't seen the models or screen shots of the signage or cityscape features, but I'm not sure how much that would add. The lane exit feature is very helpful and, believe it or not, I use the current speed limit readout probably more than any other feature.

I am assuming that the routing is pretty much the same across all the Nuvi models, and I kind of miss the ease of locating and routing multiple points and locations that I had on the 26xx series.
 
[quote author=timglo]We've had several very nice welcome messages to the forum but for some reason I am not allowed to post follow up replies ...[/quote]

Could you provide a little more detail on the reply issue. Do you see a Reply button above the top message on a page and below the last message on a page? If you see them, what happens when you click one of them? Do you see a message saying you're not allowed to post? I'm curious how, if you can't reply, you were able to reply to the earlier messages in this topic. Thanks for any more info you can provide to help us track down this issue.
 
When I read a message sent to me and I hit the new message button I get the
following error:

An Error Has Occurred!
You are not allowed to send personal messages.
 
One of our anti-spam measures prevents PMs from being sent by someone who hasn't posted more than a given number of public messages. Meanwhile, if the sender has enabled email, you can click the 'envelope' icon beneath their name/avatar to reply via email.

This is independent of posting public messages which, of course, you can do.
 
Ahh, now I understand.  :-[
Thank you for clearing that up for me,  I thought it was something
I was doing wrong.  I'm beginning to find my way around and there
is a wealth of information and friendly people willing to share.
 
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