Looking for a Good GPS

Matt_Colie wrote:


Little dashboard stand-alones are nice to guide a driver, but are almost useless for real planning.
Laptop navigators are great for planning, but are hard for a driver to deal with when underway.

Matt

My experience with GPS navigation is limited but enough to know I would never trust one to plan my route but they seem great to provide guidance once the route is planned.

Is there a way to easily plan the route on a computer then transfer it to the standalone?

Based upon the manufacture specs, the max height should be 11' 5'' and we have 16 gallon propane tank. The GPS unit I have allows POIs to be loaded and I'm thinking I will purchase the POI form http://www.lowclearances.com web site. In addition, I will purchase a good Trucker Atlas and see how it goes. I appreciate all of your feedback. My first trip is this weekend.

KRex-Tampa wrote:

Matt_Colie wrote:
I have had name tags that said (Matt - Navigator) and I can tell you that nobody can actually give you a good answer until you tell us what you are driving and what you plan to do with it.

Little dashboard stand-alones are nice to guide a driver, but are almost useless for real planning.
Laptop navigators are great for planning, but are hard for a driver to deal with when underway.
Smartphone apps are kind of like little stand alones, unless you forget to download and store the maps before you lose cell service, then they are not good for much.

Matt

The primary purpose if to use while driving from place to place, not planning. We usually plan our destinations, not routes when we traveled in the car. We have a Garmin (not RV specific) that we have been very pleased with. I'm just concerned that driving a 31' class C following Car instructions could take me down some roads I would not want to be on with the larger vehicle. :-) Low hanging bridges is also a concern. We have a smart phone and use that as well.

Actually, your 31' Class C is probably only about 12' or less in height. Your only issue is probably you don't want to get into a situation where you would have to back up for any distance.

The Rand RV GPS has some features, like locating a close RV park, that we don't use anyway. The main features we purchased ours for was extra blanket of protection for height (we are 13'5"), length, and the fact we carry 60lbs of propane.

You may be better off to stick with what you are using, or any other high quality regular GPS with free lifetime map updates, and just purchase/use a Trucker's Atlas.

We have had great results with our Garmin 760LMT in 6,000 miles of travel since Nov 1st, 2014. Best results is to look on a map to find the most favorable route that you wish to take prior to your days journey. If the GPS sends you to a city or on a route that does not sound familiar to what you have looked at on the map, you will be better able to make a decision as to what route is best.

I have found that if my choice route and the Garmin's route become different, I stick with the route that I charted when looking at the map prior to my trip. On occasions when those routes differ, the Garmin will promptly recalculate a new route which I have found to be the my preferred route that I planned from viewing the maps.

The Garmin 760LMT has been a wonderful tool to assist us with our travels. The only functions I would like to see added are: Elevation and compass direction.

Lakeside

Matt_Colie wrote:
I have had name tags that said (Matt - Navigator) and I can tell you that nobody can actually give you a good answer until you tell us what you are driving and what you plan to do with it.

Little dashboard stand-alones are nice to guide a driver, but are almost useless for real planning.
Laptop navigators are great for planning, but are hard for a driver to deal with when underway.
Smartphone apps are kind of like little stand alones, unless you forget to download and store the maps before you lose cell service, then they are not good for much.

Matt

The primary purpose if to use while driving from place to place, not planning. We usually plan our destinations, not routes when we traveled in the car. We have a Garmin (not RV specific) that we have been very pleased with. I'm just concerned that driving a 31' class C following Car instructions could take me down some roads I would not want to be on with the larger vehicle. :-) Low hanging bridges is also a concern. We have a smart phone and use that as well.

I have had name tags that said (Matt - Navigator) and I can tell you that nobody can actually give you a good answer until you tell us what you are driving and what you plan to do with it.

Little dashboard stand-alones are nice to guide a driver, but are almost useless for real planning.
Laptop navigators are great for planning, but are hard for a driver to deal with when underway.
Smartphone apps are kind of like little stand alones, unless you forget to download and store the maps before you lose cell service, then they are not good for much.

Matt

This will be our third year with the R-M 7710. No problems over about 12K miles.

My Garmin used to keep trying to put us on roads that didn't really exist.

I know there are a lot of negative posts, but I have used my Rand-McNalley 7725 (Good Sam) for two years and 8,000 miles and never had a problem. I like the ease of entering locations, the low tunnel warnings and the large easy-to-read display. Destinations are entered differently than in the Garmin I use in my car. Now that i am used to the RM I like it better than the Garmin.

ever think of a used smartphone?

cheaper and more versatile.

From another forum

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1360205-gps-for-rvs.html