Rand McNally RV GPS

I bought the RVND-7715. I set the height of my RV in at 12 feet (just to be sure to give extra clearance to my 9' RV). It was routing me onto a highway with a 7'10" height restriction with the height set at 12 feet. I contacted Rand McNally and got a stock response and no answer as to why or what to do about it. The GPS went back to the store the next day!

I never plan a trip without doing it on the computer first but there are times when I would like to stray from the route while on the trip, and want a GPS that will not get me into trouble. The Rand was not the one.

I work directly with Rand McNally on the GPS unit and have contacted them to get some answers regarding these issues. Please PM me if you have additional details to share. Thanks.

First you need to plan with a real map, than use the GPS for and approximate route.

Rand McNally used to have an excellent mapping program for your computer called TripMaker. They stopped supporting this back in 2002 but I still like it better than any other option out there. I wish they would update and release that program as I think it would give Streets and Trips a real run for the money.

We have the 7710. Sometimes, it gives you the shortest route that takes you through some unusual places. It has settings that come keep you from doing that.

In preferences, you can set a preference for fastest route or shortest route. The only way to find out how much longer it will take to get there via the shortest route is to compare (i.e., do not use the "quick route" function as this only calculates and displays the preference you have set up. After gps calculates both routes, you can select either fastest or shortest. That does not impact the preference you have set.

Unfortunately, the logic is flawed in the calculation of times for shortest routes. It will often route you through city streets with lots of traffic and traffic lights rather than routing you via a 65 mph bypass that is just 4 miles longer.

A map and step by step routing is essential, and you can't do that effectively when driving.

My preference is now faster-this keeps me on bypasses, but unfortunately almost always on interstates. Usually the evening before travel I look at the planned fastest route, note the travel time, and, if i don't like the route, I force a stopover (via) at a town a little more than half way down the road i think i want to go on instead. Recalculate route with via. Using fastest route again. Hopefully this will show total fastest time taking that scenic route through the via, but sometimes it sends me down the highway then back to the via, even though there are no low bridges or weight restrictions on the road to the via.

revump wrote:
We have the 7710. Sometimes, it gives you the shortest route that takes you through some unusual places. It has settings that come keep you from doing that.

I too use MS Streets & Trips to plan and modify (much easier than GPS to track & change) my trips then upload it to my Garman GPS. Just learned from this forum how to upload MS to GPS and it was GREAT this summer.

Dave

ALWAYS check your route against a paper map! GPS is great, but they ALL do some really stupid things at times!

Their best function is to get you back to your RV, motel, or whatever! Go exploring, and you can get "home".

mpierce wrote:
ALWAYS check your route against a paper map! GPS is great, but they ALL do some really stupid things at times!

Their best function is to get you back to your RV, motel, or whatever! Go exploring, and you can get "home".

mine came in very handy this past summer when I had to find a specific restaurant in one of those areas with all the winding streets, etc. In fact the wife, who usually disagrees with everything I say, do, or buy, said that we wouldn't have found it without the GPS.
bumpy