GPS

I have had great luck with my Garmin but it is almost 13 years old so I am currently trying my ipad mini with Motion X. Not enough use to make a judgment but so far I like it. One added bonus is I can move the ipad into my rzr and it will give me topographical maps with waypoint and tracking options.

Garmin RV 760 LTM this dude even tells you which lane to be in for exits. Love mine

Tom/Barb wrote:
We Do. This
No more telling us to take a dirt road.

I use that also, but it requires a continuous internet connection to show maps as you move. The OP is going to Alaska.

msmith1199 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:
We Do. This
No more telling us to take a dirt road.

I use that also, but it requires a continuous internet connection to show maps as you move. The OP is going to Alaska.

I thought you could use a hot spot or whatever the little box my grand kids used to use to get movies on their smart phones is called. Of course going through Canada they will be without cell service at times, but there are not many intersections at those times.

Bought a Garmin 760LMT just prior to leaving for Orlando in Jan. Worked wonderfully. Fast boot up. Accessed the sat signals very quickly. I took it off the stand and used it as a tablet to get to my cousin's house and back,. The internal battery lasts about 1.5 hours so i turned the unit off when I arrived at my cousin's house. I have no complaints whatsoever with this unit. Still have a Garnin Street Pilot 2730 in the truck. I really like the 7 inch screen of the 760.

Garmin safely,
Alex

deandec wrote:
I use Sygic on my three Android devices.

No broadband data required.

One reasonably low fee creates three GPS machines (2 phones 1 Tablet) with 5" or larger screens.

Co-Pilot App is quite often used as well by others.

My first Garmin cost $650 and was obsolete in 5 years.

My phone app updates frequently both maps and software at no charge.

Paid the $20 fee 4 years ago and have had reliable service ever since on several different Android devices.

Dean post makes the most sense to me. After researching what the next GPS unit would be and reading about the problems with the RV specific GPS's the Rand and Garmin and looking at another $400 unit that would be obsolete in 5 years I decided to by the Copilot app for $6.99 for my I phone. It is RV specific in that you can input height to avoid low bridges and also tunnels that do not allow propane. The phone has a built in GPS so it uses no data. I have been using it since Now 2014 and it was the best $6.99 I ever spent. The maps are constantly being up dated, every 2 years I will get a new free phone anyways with a 2 year contract so I don't have to worry about a malfunction in the GPS like batteries going dead or the charging connection not working, like on my previous Garmin's. When you think of the cost that most of us have spent over the last 10 years on the trucking or RV units these apps make a lot of sense.

NMace wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:
We Do. This
No more telling us to take a dirt road.

I use that also, but it requires a continuous internet connection to show maps as you move. The OP is going to Alaska.

I thought you could use a hot spot or whatever the little box my grand kids used to use to get movies on their smart phones is called. Of course going through Canada they will be without cell service at times, but there are not many intersections at those times.

You can have a hot spot and all the electronic gadgets in the world, but if you're driving in remote areas of Canada or Alaska you won't have cell tower coverage and then you have no maps on your phone. I think there may be some GPS programs available for smart phones where you can download maps for the area you are in and then it may work when you don't have cell coverage, but I am not familiar with any of those programs.

We have the Garmin RV760 and love the multiple profiles allowing us to switch from mh to toad and back again with the appropriate routing. The trip planner, traffic cams and even what lane to be in plus any weather alerts are major bonuses. The additional POI files you can load up makes it really helpful (love the odd-ball attractions POI).

Dale.Traveling wrote:
I'm going to be living on the edge this year and use a tablet with CoPilot GPS app. Aways wanted a bigger GPS for the coach but the high cost of a large screen wasn't something I could budget to replace something that was working. The tablet was a Christmas present and the app I think $9. Comes with maps so I don't need consistant internet service. If it doesn't work out I have a nice tablet to play with at the camp site.

X2

After having tried the dedicated RV specific Magellan, I decided to use my iPad Air (in my RV and iPhone 6 plus in my Jeep toad) with CoPilot. CoPilot has great POI and RV support and is much better for other ancillary lookups if needed. I had to buy a tablet mount but it was well worth it.

Msmith,

Please allow me to expand on my responses:

I prefer Garmin, whichever Amazon has on sale with lifetime maps of the appropriate sized screen.

But there is a real application for the tablets, properly mounted (again Amazon).

I have found where you do not have cellular telephone service there are few highway intersections, and thus little to no need to turn or need direction. Cell service gaps are almost always in low population areas, with fewer people there are less roads, less roads equals fewer turns or highway changes. There are places in Canada where your next prompt is 800 miles away. Even with my limited capacity, I do not need constant reinforcement. I usually can remember a turn every 16 hours or so.

I apologize for asking you to interpret my shorthand.