garmin gps

[redbaron]

I am a stereotypical male. I don't ask directions or follow the GPS routes. I take the road thay seem right and let the GPS figure out how to get there from here.

Usually it's Google maps that I am ignoring. Sometimes waze.

 

[bpaikman]

Today I did a drive from home (Midlothian, VA) to Luray, VA. I did a review yesterday to see how long of a drive to expect using google maps and noticed a route different than I've done in the past which typically remains highway 64 to 81. I've done this route a few times in the past, last time was with my Garmin 770. I was surprised to see today that the Garmin RV 890 used the same route google maps used which took me off I-64 through Gordonsville, VA. I recently updated the maps and keep the firmware updated.

So it took the optimal route today which was impressive. Not that I cared for it, quite the winding 2 lane roads where twice a car stopped ahead of me on a 55 mph road getting my attention reminding me why I would prefer the highway which I'll take going home. But I digress...the Garmin was spot on with the routing today.

If it routed your through winding 2-lanes, and you prefer the highway, why do you say it was spot on?

 

[Neal]

If it routed your through winding 2-lanes, and you prefer the highway, why do you say it was spot on?

It followed my settings for fastest route. If I chose the option to prefer highways then I would have expected that. Moral is it picked the exact routing it should have. It is faster by 45 minutes over the highway route I'm guessing.

 

[bpaikman]

It followed my settings for fastest route. If I chose the option to prefer highways then I would have expected that. Moral is it picked the exact routing it should have. It is faster by 45 minutes over the highway route I'm guessing.

Ohhhhhh, yeah, faster isn't always better for us, too.

 

[bpaikman]

I am a stereotypical male. I don't ask directions or follow the GPS routes. I take the road thay seem right and let the GPS figure out how to get there from here.

Usually it's Google maps that I am ignoring. Sometimes waze.

I'm a planner, excessively so, but sometimes I screw up anyhow.

 

[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.