What GPS to do you use?

[star1k]

I got 2 apps for my phone - TruckMap and Hammer. Seems like decent GPS apps and are free.
Looks like the Garmin brand is the best ( from what I researched), but does it worth spending 700+ bucks for that?

 

[ToddandLiz]

For three years we have been using the RVLife GPS app on an iPhone.
In our rig the dash between the driver and passenger has an area where the phone can sit. It faces the driver and usually the voice prompts through the sound system are all we need. But when going through an urban area or area with many turns, the passenger will pick up the phone to look further ahead and act as navigator.
In these 3 years I think we had one time that we decided that the GPS was wrong. But there have been…ummm…a couple/few times where I didn’t listen and we ended up taking in some extra sights not in the original plan.

This is exactly what we've been looking for! Thanks!

 

[AbdRahim]

Garmin 780

 

[Tnedator]

1095. Doesn't create blind spots, or not much of one. I had a RV770 previously, and prefer the larger size and improved functionality of the newer model.

 

[Tnedator]

For three years we have been using the RVLife GPS app on an iPhone.
In our rig the dash between the driver and passenger has an area where the phone can sit. It faces the driver and usually the voice prompts through the sound system are all we need. But when going through an urban area or area with many turns, the passenger will pick up the phone to look further ahead and act as navigator.
In these 3 years I think we had one time that we decided that the GPS was wrong. But there have been…ummm…a couple/few times where I didn’t listen and we ended up taking in some extra sights not in the original plan.

We've run RV Life a few times on my wife's phone to compare to Garmin. While generally it's been good, there have been some times RV Life app has given some really squirly routing. Case in point. From my house to Memphis, there is a four lane non-divided highway that crosses under a state highway/future interstate and just past that you can turn onto a two lane road that goes to Memphis and gets heavy 18 wheeler traffic.

Rather than routing me the 35 miles on the four lane highway to the two lane highway, RV Life wants me to take a small windy road 30 miles in the wrong direction, to get on the two lane divided highway, and then come down on it about 25 miles, to then get off at the exit where the four lane highway goes under it, to get on the same two lane road to Memphis.

That's the type of weirdness I've seen with RV Life. They are supposed to be using a trucker routing software under the hood, but not sure why it does stuff like that. Maybe I need to contact them with that example and see what they say.

 

[LMHS]

I use CoPilot with a cheap tablet with GPS and a 7" screen. I can easily move it from vehicle to vehicle. I tried the RV Life one but it lost it's mind somewhere around the OK/AR state line on I-40. It kept trying to route us off the Interstate when our next stop was on I-40. When we stopped, I opened up CoPilot and haven't looked back.

I prefer to run US Hwys rather than Interstate Hwys. CoPilot is working well for that. I pre-plan my trips and routes so all I really need is "turn here" type directions. I know too many people who got into trouble blindly following their GPS.

 

[Joe Hogan]

GPS routing can be bizarre at times. Here in Florida, the Ford will tell you to get off and back on a toll road for some odd reason, or send you into cash lanes while we have transponders.
The days of getting in and confidently entering a destination into the GPS are still far off into the future, especially for a large vehicle like a RV.

On the other hand, when the Tesla tries to send me on what I think is an inefficient routing, I triple check all the maps on the routing, looking for road closures, construction, backups.

The Tesla GPS is real time traffic and is ignored at your peril. Don't ask how I know, 3 hrs of my life I'll never get back.

 

[star1k]

Thank you, everyone, for your comments. We got ourselves Garmin 1095.
So far so good made only 2 trips with that, so too early to tell how well I will like it, however, there are a few things to mention: my car does not have a 12 v cigarette outlet, so had to buy a 110 v to 12 v adapter.
We got 10 in screen - it is large and I can read everything, but, I think it is a little too big.
One time it lost GPS signal( i suspect) and was trying to reroute me. next day driving the same route was perfectly fine...

 

[RetiredAt49]

Newbie here - Just purchased our first RV, a 2022 Holiday Rambler Vacationeer 35K. So I bought the Garmin 1095 for the coach... with as much window space that our Class A has available - I can position the Garmin where it feels natural and not creating a potential blind spot. Also I only have a TMPS screen taking up other window space - on Bam BAM, it has a camera screen for the 3 units built into the driver's console so we don't have to have that taking up dash space.

Besides having ample dash space for the large screen, I chose this one because in my daily driver I have 3 large digital screens - two of which are touch responsive-so I have been spoiled anyway, the other tool I subscribed to is RV Life Pro - Trip Wizard for planning our weekend get aways... it is so easy to plan your route, download the file and then upload the route into the Garmin...

I will say if I was pulling a 5er or TT and in a HD pickup, I would probably go with the smaller screens.

 

[Admiral Jarok]

Hello, new RVer here.
Looking for advice on the GPS unit.
I see there are GPS for trucks and GPS for RV also apps ( truck map). Which one do you like better? Is there a difference?
My truck came with standard google maps which can not be configured for commercial trucks ( which all dualies in NY )
Thanks

Ive been a Garmin guy my whole life. Love the hardware/software. Right now I have a Garmin Tread and love it.