New GPS - Love It

[arcticfox2005]

Last spring we were in the Cabelas store in Sidney, NE and I paused to look at the new 7" Garmin GPS - bad mistake!

I bought one from Amazon (model 2757LM) and besides having the huge screen, there is one feature that is really great. It is called UP AHEAD and here's how it works. On my old Nuvi, when you did a search for gas stations for example, it gave you a long list. However, a lot of them were either behind you or many miles off to the right or left. With UP AHEAD, the list you get is just what it says - you only get locations that are up ahead of you based on your direction of travel. Great feature.

Also, I have used for a long time a website called POI Factory and downloaded custom POIs to my Nuvi. But, there were numerous errors as to the actual locations - you got to where something was supposed to be and it was not there! With my new unit, I have decided to rely on the factory POIs, and with the easy to use Search feature, I don't think I will ever need custom POIs again.

If you are thinking of a new GPS, look at the 2757 - after all, it's only money ($219).

Bill

 

[troyi]

They also make the 760LMT which is designed for RV'ers.  A bit more expensive but far better than the Camping World Rand McNally GPS.

 

[MikeFromMesa]

They also make the 760LMT which is designed for RV'ers.  A bit more expensive but far better than the Camping World Rand McNally GPS.

Just out of curiosity, what makes it better than the CampingWorld RM GPS?

I have the RM 7720, which is not the same as the CampingWorld version, but fairly similar. I bought it instead of the Garmin unit because the Garmin was just so expensive, so I am curious as to what makes the Garmin a better GPS than the Rand McNally. I have actually been fairly happy with the 7720 but do wonder why the Garmin was more expensive.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

I bought a Garmin Nuvi 42LM works awesome and really good at navigating me to my spot, home or other wise. I still got my older Garmin GPS V which still works very well but the screen is much smaller and my eyes are getting older and tired.

 

[99WinAdventurer37G]

Just out of curiosity, what makes it better than the CampingWorld RM GPS?

I have the RM 7720, which is not the same as the CampingWorld version, but fairly similar. I bought it instead of the Garmin unit because the Garmin was just so expensive, so I am curious as to what makes the Garmin a better GPS than the Rand McNally. I have actually been fairly happy with the 7720 but do wonder why the Garmin was more expensive.

R
The RM GPS has to be the worst GPS made.  It trys to route you back on the route it chose for you instead of the best route for your current location.  I ran both the RM and the TomTom.  RM consistently ran you longer and chose worse routes than the TomTom.  So;
1.) Longer routes
2.) Worse routes
3.) Even updated it tells you to exit at the wrong place.  One toll booth operator told me, we changed those exits 2 years ago.  This was a $10 50 mile little yuk yuk.

RM makes the best Atlas in my humble opinion, but out of the four different GPS's I've used, hands down, RM makes the worst GPS I've ever used.  And their four times the price of the cheaper TomTom that gives much better directions.  The Garmin is far and away better than the RM, I just prefer the UI of the TomTom, personal preference. 

As you can see from the picture, RM wants me to go twice as far, as it consistently wants you back on it's original route, instead of the best route which in this case the TT came up with, which I'm sure the G would have chosen the same route as the TT, I only do two side by side at a time.  The G and the TT usually pick the same route.

 

[MikeFromMesa]

R
The RM GPS has to be the worst GPS made.  It trys to route you back on the route it chose for you instead of the best route for your current location.  I ran both the RM and the TomTom.  RM consistently ran you longer and chose worse routes than the TomTom.  So;
1.) Longer routes
2.) Worse routes
3.) Even updated it tells you to exit at the wrong place.  One toll booth operator told me, we changed those exits 2 years ago.  This was a $10 50 mile little yuk yuk.

RM makes the best Atlas in my humble opinion, but out of the four different GPS's I've used, hands down, RM makes the worst GPS I've ever used.  And their four times the price of the cheaper TomTom that gives much better directions.  The Garmin is far and away better than the RM, I just prefer the UI of the TomTom, personal preference. 

As you can see from the picture, RM wants me to go twice as far, as it consistently wants you back on it's original route, instead of the best route which in this case the TT came up with, which I'm sure the G would have chosen the same route as the TT, I only do two side by side at a time.  The G and the TT usually pick the same route.

I actually have the 7720 and have been fairly happy with it. Generally I have not had the issues you are mentioning and mostly agree with the suggested routing. I also have a Garmin (for my auto) and it has consistently given me problems.

My wife and I took a trip in our RV years ago with that Garmin and it was constantly telling me to take roads that did not exist (turn right in 100 feet - when there was no road there), turn into people's driveways to take a shorter route and to exit from the Interstate only to tell me to take the entrance back onto the Interstate. If often told me to turn left across permanent concrete barriers to get to my location. I always kept the maps updated so I am not sure why all of that happened. I bought the Rand McNally because I was not happy enough with the Garmin to spend the extra money. There is much that I don't care for about the GPS but I am fairly happy with the routing and the campground information which I have found to be more accurate than the stuff I downloaded from POIFactory.

I have never tried the Tom Tom although I have read good things about it. Is your Tom Tom an RV GPS? Could it be that the RM was trying to route you around some place RVs are not supposed to go like restricted tunnels and the Tom Tom was not doing that? Just asking.

 

[Oscar Mike]

I am another who uses the RM 7720. I have had a few problems with the GPS taking me (or trying to take me) places I know is wrong, but that is less than 1%-2% of the time. Mostly the RM 7720 does a pretty good job. Of course I am like most folks who travel with maps, GPS, a computer for Google Maps, and other navigating resources so I do not rely only upon the GPS. I usually know when Samantha (RM 7720) is leading me astray and so I go the route I know is correct and Samantha usually catches up after a few seconds.

RM came out with the 7730...I don't think there is anything major in ways of improvement over the 7720 to warrant the purchase. 

 

[Ned]

Many GPS routing problems can be solved by setting Quickest and not Shortest route.  Shortest will often send you down an off ramp and back on the on ramp because the exit is on a curve.

 

[Oscar Mike]

Many GPS routing problems can be solved by setting Quickest and not Shortest route.  Shortest will often send you down an off ramp and back on the on ramp because the exit is on a curve.

I learned that with my 7720.

 

[MikeFromMesa]

Many GPS routing problems can be solved by setting Quickest and not Shortest route.  Shortest will often send you down an off ramp and back on the on ramp because the exit is on a curve.

I have always kept my GPS machines (both of them) on quickest because I don't want to be sent through the middle of cities just to save 5 miles and lose 30 minutes. But I still had my Garmin telling me to take off-ramps and then telling me to get back on them. When I called Garmin tech support they told me the issue was bad data in the map files (which they get from the government) momentarily causing routing glitches. I don't know but I just try to exercise common sense.

On one trip near Taos, NM the GPS routed me off the main road onto a secondary road. I followed the instructions until I got to an old wooden bridge barely wide enough for the RV which then led to a dirt road. That was the Garmin's idea of fastest so I looked for some place to turn around (not easy because the road was narrow and I was towing) and went back to the main road.

On another trip in that same area, this time in our Jeep, the road took me down the side of a steep mountain on a bad gravel road full of potholes. Since we were in our Jeep we just took the road. The GPS then took me on an old, broken asphalt road which was blocked by concrete barriers. The barriers were not new and looked like they had been there for at least 20 years and the road beyond was totally unusable by anything other than a Jeep, but that was the Garmin's idea of fastest. I have not had any of these problems (so far) with the Rand McNally.

 

[ArdraF]

We've updated our Garmin maps several times and I have to say the routing is much improved over the last 10-15 years.  There used to be place near Mt. Lassen where it always wanted to route us straight down the side of a mountain, across a gulley, and straight up the other side - on a "road" that looked like it never existed.  We commented last month when we went by that place that the Garmin properly took us on the road that has been there for at least 30 years.  The mapping can't be perfect (what is?) and the Garmin does pretty well nowadays.  Considering what it has to do, getting corrections must be a monumental task.

ArdraF

 

[Ned]

Garmin, like most of the other GPS manufacturers, gets their map data from a 3rd party and are subject to the same errors.  Even DeLorme, that does their own maps, has some errors, but I've found they do accept user corrections and fix their maps eventually.

 

[elliott-maine]

We bought the had good luck with it.when we bought our 5th wheel, and with two exceptions, we've had good luck with it.  Our former GPS was a TomTom, but at the time we bought the RM, they did not make an RV model.  To me, the TomTom is the more attractive unit as they update maps several times a year and provide updates to the unit frequently.

 

[Sr Fox]

I have used an app called Sygic on my 7" tablet for a couple of years from Puerto Vallarta, Mx and area to the GA and this year all the way to BC in Canada.  Love it.

 

[kenb1023]

I have used the RM Good Sam 7725, Tom Tom 720, Delorme Atlas for Laptops and Have extensive used the Never Lost system in the Hertz rentals.  They all have their issues.  The Never Lost is the worst and I stopped getting my rentals with it and just travel with my Tom Tom.  When I make my travel plans I will compare the RM or Tom Tom to the Delorme routes.  About 30% of the time they come up with different routes.  The RM is really good at avoiding tunnels and low bridges that my RV will not fit through.  Delorme and Tom Tom do not do that.  They all have their Pros and Cons.  Bottom line is always check the suggested route with an up to date paper map and make yourself familiar with the route.  I realize that sometimes this may not be practical especially whenyou do it on the fly but even the GPS manufactures tell you that you should do this.  These are machines with a program made by people so there will be errors from time to time. 
When I got stuck in TX during the bad snow/ice storm last December I decided to get off the interstate and use back roads to get around the traffic jam from spun out trucks.  I was in my Jeep at the time.  I trekked down the side roads until I could see the interstate was clear then proceeded to find a way back on.  It was late at night and very dark on the country roads.  Snow was covering the roads so everything was just white.  Tom Tom told me that the on ramp was to my right in one mile.  I foolowed the route and the curves indicated by Tom Tom matched.  When I got to the spot that Tom Tom said there was an on ramp all I could see was a trail of white.  It looked like a snow covered road that had not been plowed so with the Jeep in 4 wheel drive I went down what I thought was an on ramp.  Well guess what, there was no on ramp or road.  I was going through a muddy clearing in the trees but did end up on the interstate.  If I was in anything other than my Jeep I would have been stuck for good. 

 

[HappyWanderer]

I think Ken hit the nail on the head; blindly following a GPS is never a good idea. Being told to jump off the highway when you know (or should know) that your exit isn?t for another hundred miles should raise a red flag.

Sounds like a Readers Digest story in the making.

 

[kenb1023]

It really looked like there was a road there.  I don't know if it was under construction or it was there and it was taken out.  My first big clue was when I got half way to the interstate there was a small bush in the center of it.  That is when I knew there was an oh oh going on.  I just hope no one else saw my tracks and tried to do the same thing.  Some spots were very muddy under the snow.  The entire trip was an adventure.  OKC  to Houston normally takes me 7 hours.  This trip was over 16 hours.  I was never so glad to get to my hotel that night.

 

[thomasamski]

I learned early on that no GPS is totally accurate. I've had them take me into bad neighborhoods, dead end streets, etc. I use Garman, but always keep an Atlas nearby.

 

[Sr Fox]

I noticed that the Sygic app also has a truck version of the app.  I costs 139 USD with updates for 3 years but there is a trial period.  I have nothing but good to say about the std car app I have been using for years. What I like the most is the ability to use a tablet (Android or IOS).  We use it on our 7 inch Android and plan to use the 10 inch next year.

 

[hunter41]

I can tell you some real horror stories of following a Garmin GPS in our MH.
1. routed us thru a gated community instead of a left turn in Las Cruces, NM
2. sent us left off I75 south for 4 miles when location was right off I75. Had to drive 7 miles to find turn around of 2 lane road.

and many more examples. I don't trust GPS now.

Ask RV park for any known GPS problems finding RV park now. Look up route of Google maps on i-phone if I don't know route.