Best Navigation system for RV'ers?

[nadsab]

What's the best?

We generally travel in and through remote areas such as state and national forest campgrounds and rec areas.

Plus I like to do some hiking on foot trails...

[rbutton]

I have both a Samsung III phone and the 7" tablet. I tried the tablet and it is a large display but my phone works so well that I tend to use it instead. Your right about the tablet though as my wife uses it while traveling to watch for stuff along the way.

Ralph

[SkiMore]

rbutton: Do you use the android version of copilot? If yes, you could get an android tablet (7" to 10") with GPS and get a big display.

[rbutton]

if you have a smartphone I really like the CoPilot app. It allows for travel via car, RV, motorcycle, or by foot - with 3D maps!
I tried it on at a location I knew had too sharp a turn for an RV so programmed it for a destination by car and it took me on the quick route to the tight turn which was also uphill.
Then programmed it as driving an RV and it presented a route that took a bit longer but all the turns were easily done in a RV.
So rather than have more stuff to hook up in the RV I use my cell phone with CoPilot to point me in the direction I need to go.
I used the standard version but recently switched to premium version as it announces POI locations I programmed for - rest area's, gas stations, and Wally World locations next to the highway.

[DaHose]

Most tablets do not have true GPS built into them, so they use what is called A-GPS to find their location. They are less accurate and without phone signal they cannot work at all. When they do have phone signal, all of them can do turn-by-turn voice with Google maps or their OEM nav. software.

If you look around on ebay, there are a number of tablets intended for navigation. They have true GPS built in and come with software already loaded that includes maps of your region. You can also update them easily. If my smart phone doesn't prove to be enough for travelling in the rig, I will be purchasing a tablet for sure.

Jose

[atreis]

Point to note: For road travel, I prefer a dedicated GPS. (I use a 5 year old TomTom, but with new maps.) But smart phones are advancing rapidly in terms of capabilities in this area. Just to be accurate:

pnichols wrote:

Regarding use of iPhones/iPads instead of specialized navigation systems, I have a couple of questions that have never been answered to my satisfaction:

1) Do iPhones/iPads have voices to help guide you along a route or do they only "visually show you" the route by looking on their screens?

I don't know about the iPhone/iPad.

(At least) the last two versions of Android and the latest update to Google's Maps app provide both capabilities.

In this respect, my Android phone does better than my old GPS. My old GPS doesn't pronounce street names or provide lane guidance. (It's not really a fair comparison though, given the age of the unit. 🙂 )

pnichols wrote:

2) Can iPhones/iPads navigate for you completely independent of the cellular system ... for use out in the middle of nowhere?

As above, I've no idea about the Apple products, however Android does provide this capability. The issue here is that you have to cause the correct maps to be stored locally in advance, which is inconvenient and largely why I still prefer my dedicated GPS for driving.

For backpacking trips, one generally plans out the complete route well in advance of the trip, so downloading the maps in advance works out fine.

[DaHose]

Believe it or not, modern smartphones have true GPS receivers that are quite good. I am just starting in with motorhome ownership, but I use my Motorola Atrix all over the State as my primary GPS. You can get software like Backpacker GPS to blaze trails off-grid and map anywhere you don't get full data signals. You can also get software that will allow you to cache maps on the memory card and you are ready to go anywhere. Many new phones have HDMI output, so you can setup a larger LCD and view your phone on that. If you already have a good smartphone, it's a great low-cost option.

Jose

[pnichols]

nadsab wrote:
By POI - I assume you mean Point of Interest?

For your map books have you ever used the Delorme atlases?

Which model number of the Garmin do you use?

Yes ... I meant Points of Interest. I currently have over 800,000 POI's in my RV's Garmin navigator ... and it still has a lot of it's built-in memory left. I don't even need it's card slot yet to add more memory. For instance, one of my POI files is freshwater bodies of water for the entire U.S. - even including desert ponds that dry up part of the year.

I've never tried Delorme atlases, but I wonder if Delorme atlases include such things as these - that Benchmark maps do include:

- Complete roadway maps overlayed over topography maps
- Jeep roads, including high clearance warnings as appropriate
- Bodies of water that are dried up a lot of the year
- Washes with water in them only during the wet season
- Mud flats
- The names of just about every canyon in every mountain range
- Aqueducts
- Many of the springs in the wilderness
- Mines sites out in the middle of nowhere
- The names of just about every mountain ridge in every mountain range
- Obscure tourist attractions such as rock art sites, pony express stations, overlooks, old ranch sites, geology sites, old trails, etc.
- Steep grade warnings on wilderness roads
- Etc.

The Garmin model I have is an LM3550: It's touch screen is now glass and takes only light finger touches or swipes just like iPhones/iPads, it has finger tip zoom and scrolling just like iPhone/iPads, it has instant ON/OFF, it's built-in speaker is a loud/clear actually usable one in it's dashmount base, it's new V3.0 operating system has many changes to facilitate faster access to menus and many navigation features have been redone and added. My LM3550 now has an option to overlay all of it's roads onto an actually somewhat clear, accurate, and usable topo map background.

Regarding use of iPhones/iPads instead of specialized navigation systems, I have a couple of questions that have never been answered to my satisfaction:

1) Do iPhones/iPads have voices to help guide you along a route or do they only "visually show you" the route by looking on their screens?

2) Can iPhones/iPads navigate for you completely independent of the cellular system ... for use out in the middle of nowhere?

The laptop/GPS-receiver approach also looks like a navigation system with great potential, assuming you use it with a very compact laptop that the RV's passenger can use on their lap when traveling (in small RV's where there's not enough room for the laptop to be on a bracket for the driver to access) and that you can get "Benchmark-class" map bases from somewhere into your laptop that will work well in conjunction with the GPS system feeding your laptop. I considered this approach to navigation years ago but couldn't find any maps to use it with that were as good offroad as the Garmin map system - for use onroad and in cities the laptop/GPS method appeared OK, however.

[Matt_Colie]

nadsab wrote:
OK if I use our laptop, what would be a good GPS card for use with Street Alas, Strips & Treets or Coopilot? We have a USB 3 port and an SD port on laptop...

Nadsab,

SA will work with almost any usbGPS that is made. S&T is picky and may say it will but not with many - even the MS box. CoPilot I have so little time on that I cannot tell you, but I know it will read NMEA into a usb port.

Matt

[PatrickA51]

I have a Garmin system but I also have a Good Road Map. Some times the GPS has a tendency to send you to the wrong places and routes. I know don't ask!

[Chandler1]

I bought a Dezl 760LMT. 7" touch screen and has an input for camera. I added a rear facing security camera and you can switch back and forth using the touch screen.

[eric1514]

Here's some reading on RV specific GPSs

GPS Comparo

Eric

[atreis]

Road: I use a TomTom. From everything I've heard, Garmin are good too.

Hiking (US): I use my phone and BackCountry Navigator Pro. (The phone is a Sony, running Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, and has built-in GPS. It can also triangulate between towers if there are towers within receiving distance, which can sometimes help in dense forests or other places where GPS signals are week but which have cell coverage. For power, I use a solar charger, and an extra battery pack. It works well enough for 3-4 day backpacking trips, and I didn't have to buy another (expensive) device.)

Hiking (Canada): Haven't found a good solution aside from a compass and paper maps or print-outs (from TopoRama) done before setting out. (The Canada maps available for BackCountry Navigator require a data connection, which is a non-starter. A handheld Garmin would work here, but costs...)

[Dakzuki]

We use a Garmin GPS in conjunction with an iPhone (google maps) and Gazetteer for planning. For hiking a hand held and compass is the deal.

The iPhone is good for planning fuel stops using Gasbuddy and Google maps for ingress egress when towing.

[nadsab]

pnichols wrote:
nadsab,

By the way ... you have an excellent RV for the type of camping you prefer!

We use a late model high end five inch Garmin vehicle navigator on the dash of our RV. I say "late model high end" because they do make continual improvements in their line and lower models in their line do have irritating usability negatives because of technology differences. We have had earlier, lesser, models and our latest one really is a breath of fresh air to use. We keep it updated continually and it's solid state memory can hold all of North America plus hundreds of thousands of custom POI's on tap. The particular model we have can now be bought for way less than we paid for it last fall.

That being said, we also use several (an entire book is required for each state) outstanding map books along with the Garmin. These map books show extreme detail, especially outside cities in the countryside for each state - including obscure camp grounds and points of interest. We rockhound a lot in remote places beyond campgrounds - we often camp way out there too - so we use all three on concert ... the Garmin, the map books, and ultra-detailed specialized rockhound map guides.

Other posters above have mentioned that most vehicle navigators probably won't work for pedestrian use due to battery life ... which is true for most models. However, our Garmin vehicle navigator does have a superb instant-on/instant-off sleep feature that extends it's battery life to many days ... supposedly so you can merely switch it on to check you position then switch it back off to proceed when walking/hiking. We haven't used it this way yet, though.

Here's a link to those great map books - like anything worth it's salt they're not inexpensive:

http://www.benchmarkmaps.com/

Thanks that's why we bought the Four winds, it can get into some really tight spaces.

By POI - I assume you mean Point of Interest?

For your map books have you ever used the Delorme atlases?

Which model number of the Garmin do you use?