garmin gps

[MapNerd]

I personally don’t understand spending so much money on these things. 2 years and 20,000 miles of full time RVing using TruckMap for iOS (Free) and RVLife ($30/year) and I have never been put in a bad situation.

RVLife is also compatible with CarPlay & Android Auto making that a great choice for 5ers with a CarPlay & Android Auto enabled infortainment system.

The both do offline routing as well and we’ve driven hours through AZ with zero service and zero problems.

To each their own though. If you like what you have and it gets you where your going safely, you do you.

 

[bpaikman]

I personally don’t understand spending so much money on these things. 2 years and 20,000 miles of full time RVing using TruckMap for iOS (Free) and RVLife ($30/year) and I have never been put in a bad situation.

RVLife is also compatible with CarPlay & Android Auto making that a great choice for 5ers with a CarPlay & Android Auto enabled infortainment system.

The both do offline routing as well and we’ve driven hours through AZ with zero service and zero problems.

To each their own though. If you like what you have and it gets you where your going safely, you do you.

Yeahhhh I was thinking along same lines. Somewhere in storage we have an RV GPS - good sam I think - That that we picked up years ago and I have no idea what model it is. I do recall that it was important that I connected to my desktop computer before every trip and be sure it's updated. These days I hardly touch my desktop anymore, and everything is Bluetooth and wifi for me. I'm still keeping an eye out for that GPS - when I find it.
But meanwhile we just completed a 3000-mile trip using apps on my giant ipad, which is bigger than any gps.
But I still like the idea of a dedicated gps, stuck on the wall or someplace, doing nothing but guiding us.

 

[FL-JOE]

I kind of am with John on this one. When we began our full time adventure I purchased a new Rand McNally RV GPS. It was a good unit most of that first year or so, until it guided us to a 11.5' overpass in the State of Washington. That was when I purchased a commercial Trucker's Atlas and began checking routes in advance. Over the next couple of years it made a few additional mistakes but I had planned ahead and recognized them so it didn't get us into trouble towing.

Now I run a regular auto GPS (free lifetime updates) through my info screen (carplay). I don't depend on it for turn-by-turn directions because I still review my route in advance and check by using my commercial atlas. I don't think there is anything wrong with using a more expensive RV or Truckers GPS, but I also don't think you should depend on them 100% for all your navigational needs.

 

[Neal]

@MapNerd, I'm a bit shocked. I'd fully expect MapWife to be doing celestial navigation in the MapCoach.

 

[Jim]

I personally don’t understand spending so much money on these things. 2 years and 20,000 miles of full time RVing using TruckMap for iOS (Free) and RVLife ($30/year) and I have never been put in a bad situation.

I just installed this app and it looks pretty good on first view. I'll test it out for awhile and report back! I mean, if a member like "map"nerd recommends it, what could go wrong?

 

[MapNerd]

@MapNerd, I'm a bit shocked. I'd fully expect MapWife to be doing celestial navigation in the MapCoach.

MapWife's compass only points towards Orlando at all times.

 

[MapNerd]

I kind of am with John on this one. When we began our full time adventure I purchased a new Rand McNally RV GPS. It was a good unit most of that first year or so, until it guided us to a 11.5' overpass in the State of Washington. That was when I purchased a commercial Trucker's Atlas and began checking routes in advance. Over the next couple of years it made a few additional mistakes but I had planned ahead and recognized them so it didn't get us into trouble towing.

Now I run a regular auto GPS (free lifetime updates) through my info screen (carplay). I don't depend on it for turn-by-turn directions because I still review my route in advance and check by using my commercial atlas. I don't think there is anything wrong with using a more expensive RV or Truckers GPS, but I also don't think you should depend on them 100% for all your navigational needs.

Both TruckMap and RVLife do allow you to put in your rigs height, weight and length and route you according to those restrictions. The only thing annoying about TruckMap is that since its designed for use by OTR truckers, you sometimes get alerts during a trip asking if a weigh station you are approaching is open. The alert doesn't block the screen, but it can be annoying if you are passing a lot of weigh stations. The other annoying thing is sometimes when setting up a trip, it will say that they found a load for you nearby. Just dismiss it.

 

[Neal]

I'm not sure what other apps do but one other benny of the Garmin RV 890 is TRAFFIC. It will offer to reroute you when required. You can have it prompt or automatically do this (I have mine prompt). This has saved me multiple times in the past few months already, hours of travel time.

 

[MapNerd]

I personally don’t understand spending so much money on these things. 2 years and 20,000 miles of full time RVing using TruckMap for iOS (Free) and RVLife ($30/year) and I have never been put in a bad situation.

RVLife is also compatible with CarPlay & Android Auto making that a great choice for 5ers with a CarPlay & Android Auto enabled infortainment system.

The both do offline routing as well and we’ve driven hours through AZ with zero service and zero problems.

To each their own though. If you like what you have and it gets you where your going safely, you do you.

Before anyone goes taking my advice, which is usually a sign of poor judgement, I should make one correction. MapWife reminded me of one occasion where we found ourselves in a less than ideal situation with TruckMap. We turned down a two-lane road and there had recently been a bridge constructed on the road, construction ballasts and everything still up but pushed to the side and the bridge clearly open to traffic.; Unfortunately that bridge had a 12-ton weight limit.

Thankfully, we were not towing that day for some reason. Sometimes we don't tow if the trip is relatively short. I ended up having to slowly reverse about a half mile down the street as there was no room to turn around until I got to an area where the road widened enough that I could do the old Austin Powers shuffle...

I gave TruckMap a pass because it was clearly new construction. No other issues with the app that I can think of. I only recently started using RVLife because I was already paying for it and wondered if the experience was any better. Seems about the same to me, except RVLife seems to know of all the campgrounds by name negating the need to input an address, but doesn't know of all the fuel stops but can find them by address. TruckMap on the other hand, seems to not know of the campgrounds by name but can find them by address, but knows of all the Fuel Stops by name.

 

[Neal]

And that reminds me of another benny, Garmin RV 890 can tell you the truck stops between current location and destination so you can fuel plan, i.e. find that best TSD refuel point. RV 770 couldn't do this. Gas stations are one thing, truck stops are a huge win for this device.

And yes, the Garmin RV devices also have full databases of campgrounds, etc. which is nice. For those using the RV 890 you don't need to go into categories such as Address to input an address. Recently I discovered just entering it in the top right search box works great.

 

[MapNerd]

Yeah, neither TruckMap or RVLife seem to do traffic-based re-routing, though they do both reroute based on route deviation (eg. you missed a turn). I think I actually know why this. Behind the scenes, TruckMap, RVLife and Sygic (forgot about that one) are all most likely using routing services from Esri/ArcGIS - which is one of the few that actually supports robust routing restrictions. Under the hood, it's the same data from HERE/NAVTEQ that Garmins use - Garmin just built their own routing services instead of using the ones from Esri/ArcGIS.

Garmin building their own routing service on top of that data allows them to tightly control their experience and cost. Whereas by using the Esri/ArcGIS routing services, you are subject to their cost model which is pay-by-the-route. So, if you have to pay n-dollars to Esri/ArcGIS for every route generated and then the user misses five turns and you have to reroute them 5 times, or they run into traffic 2 times and you have to reroute them, that multiplies the cost of a generating the route for a single trip by the number of times you had to re-route the user. At scale, that can really eat into your limited profits.

So there are certainly benefits to each.

 

[GlampDaddy]

I'm using the RV 890, but with backup from RV Life, Waze, and paper maps. Don't forget about paper maps!

 

[STANDERSON]

We have a Garmin. Excellent but not perfect. We ended up in a gas station where it took 4 people to back us out of. Two worked for beer, one for bourbon.

 

[taf45377]

I use a Garmin RV660 which I have had for a while. It has served me well.

 

[FL-JOE]

A GPS unit showing me where the truck stops are for fuel wouldn't be much benefit for me anymore. I plan my fuel stops in advance for the next days travel based on the TSD app (Open Roads). Even with that I double check the prices in the morning because they change constantly.

Google maps and a couple others I use through carplay give me advance warning when traffic is slowing or stopping ahead. I can make a decision then, depending on how long the delay is indicated, on getting off for a possible detour or sticking with my original route. In about 80% of these cases on the interstate it has worked better just to stick it out on the original route, fuel wise and time wise.

 

[Jim]

Sometimes I wonder what happened to the people who asked me for directions. . .

 

[Joe Hogan]

Garmin GPS strikes again. Arriving at St Augustine RV Resort the GPS insisted to take us down a closed, dead end road. Leaving this morning the GPS tried the same bait.
This park has been revamped a number of years ago and closed off the old entrance.
GPS has not been updated since the new road was cut. A Real PITA at the end of a trip.
Luckily I was aware of the change from other research and did not take the bait.
Bad Garmin,,,

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Garmin GPS strikes again. Arriving at St Augustine RV Resort the GPS insisted to take us down a closed, dead end road. Leaving this morning the GPS tried the same bait.
This park has been revamped a number of years ago and closed off the old entrance.
GPS has not been updated since the new road was cut. A Real PITA at the end of a trip.
Luckily I was aware of the change from other research and did not take the bait.
Bad Garmin,,,

Personally I would blame the lack of reporting on the person that closed the entrance! Maybe the other units out there have the same problem!

 

[Neal]

Garmin GPS strikes again. Arriving at St Augustine RV Resort the GPS insisted to take us down a closed, dead end road. Leaving this morning the GPS tried the same bait.
This park has been revamped a number of years ago and closed off the old entrance.
GPS has not been updated since the new road was cut. A Real PITA at the end of a trip.
Luckily I was aware of the change from other research and did not take the bait.
Bad Garmin,,,

1) Is the GPS paired to your phone for live traffic info and also road closures? It will offer re-routes as needed. You need to have the Garmin Drive app installed

‎Garmin Drive™

‎The Garmin Drive™ app is a simple and convenient app solution for the latest Garmin automotive navigators and dash cams. Visit garmin.com/driveapp for a list of compatible devices. For compatible navigators, the Garmin Drive app provides real-time information for traffic, parking, advanced weathe…

apps.apple.com

2) Make sure to read campground instructions as some will tell you not to follow the GPS as it will take you down the wrong path to enter the CG.

 

[sheridany]

Garmin GPS strikes again. Arriving at St Augustine RV Resort the GPS insisted to take us down a closed, dead end road. Leaving this morning the GPS tried the same bait.
This park has been revamped a number of years ago and closed off the old entrance.
GPS has not been updated since the new road was cut. A Real PITA at the end of a trip.
Luckily I was aware of the change from other research and did not take the bait.
Bad Garmin,,,

You know the old saying. Trust but verify.