Garmin, Magellan, or other? December 02, 2017, 11:41:37 am Starting to do some research on a new portable navigation device and wanted to get the opinions of forum members. What's your favorite device, and why?
Re: Garmin, Magellan, or other? Reply #1 – December 02, 2017, 12:05:07 pm Garmin Dezlcam because it was free. 😋. That said, big rig specific and a built in camera are nice.
Re: Garmin, Magellan, or other? Reply #2 – December 02, 2017, 03:11:13 pm In my Lazy Daze I used an iPad Mini running Apple Maps, Google Maps, or Garmin U.S.A. Now that I have a Ford F-150 pickup with an 8" touchscreen in the dash, I let my iPhone connect to the truck's screen with Apple CarPlay, and I navigate with Apple Maps and Siri voice commands. 2 Likes
Re: Garmin, Magellan, or other? Reply #3 – December 02, 2017, 04:10:02 pm HiLola, I am a fan of multiple dedicated devices rather than a single device that does many things. I have a Garmin 5" in my TOAD and a Garmin Nuvi 7" in my RV. Last summer, I was discussing this with someone who was using his smart phone and the Garmin app for navigation. He wanted to know if there was a difference between the app and the dedicated device. We were in Wyoming. We set up a few tasks - find a route to McKenzie Bridge in Oregon, avoid tolls on the way, find services along our route, find services at our destination and so on. With every problem, my dedicated device found the result more quickly than his app. In some cases, his was unable to find the objective.That being said, I probably skewed the results. I knew my device and its capabilities very well, and I proposed tests that I knew my device could solve. Still, it performing faster than his app was a bit of a surprise. The conclusion I drew was that, if you want to minimize costs, or you want to avoid having multiple devices rattling around, an app and a smart phone, iPad, tablet, or similar is a better choice than a dedicated device. If you want to maximize performance, a dedicated device is probably the better choice.As to which dedicated device, over the years I have tried early Garmins, TomToms, Magellan devices and newer Garmins. I am now a pretty solid fan of Garmin hardware. I think their mounting hardware could be more varied, as theirs is mostly geared to a windshield mount or a beanbag mount on the dash. I won't have anything in the windshield area, so my devices are tucked down and to the side, easily visible but out of the way. In some cases I have had to modify their mounting systems to make that work. Five years ago, Garmin update software was terrible, but recently it seems to be ok.Above all, remember that a GPS is a tool that tells you where you are on the face of the earth. Any GPS will do a good job of this. Picking a route, finding a service, restaurant, supermarket, ATM, hospital, etc., is not a function of the GPS. It is a software application that uses a data base of maps, services, facilities, etc., then working with your location as received from the GPS part of the device, it routes you to a selected destination. If the map used is out of date, the routing selected may not work. Remember a post a few weeks ago about a trucker attempting to descend Shafer Trail near Moab, because his GPS told him to go that way? Well, that is due to a software problem combined with poor judgment on his part. So, pick a device or an app from an established firm with a decent reputation that allows frequent, free updates to their software and maps, do the periodic updates, and use your own common sense if the GPS seems to be sending you someplace screwy.Ken F in NM 2 Likes
Re: Garmin, Magellan, or other? Reply #4 – December 02, 2017, 04:39:32 pm I stopped using the old Magellan and Garmin a few years ago. Now I rely on iPhone and iPad with a variety of mapping apps. The one I rely on with the Lazy Daze is CoPilot. It uses TomTom maps I think, which are downloaded for offline use and it permits me to set routing suitable for a truck. I used to use Navigon, a Garmin app, but found CoPilot to have an interface easier to understand when driving. I couple that with All Stays, which besides campground information includes fuel, L.P, data from the Mountain Directory (which I also have in pdf format. As well we use inRoute, an app that does a good job of showing weather forecasts along a route you plan. When not in the LD we do a lot of touring using Apple Maps, which I think for my money are actually surpassing Google maps for usability, and Waze when navigating the urban jungle.
Re: Garmin, Magellan, or other? Reply #5 – December 02, 2017, 05:39:49 pm I recently upgraded to a Garmin 7xx series for a RV with life time maps and traffic. I also use WAZE when on the road. Before I hit the road I have a Rand McNally 50 state book map I use for general planning and to get the a big picture of the area. I can not give you the exact model of the Garmin because it is in the RV along with the Rand McNally book. To second what Ken said I have noticed the Garmin is quicker to update than the phone using WAZE. The Garmin allows you to enter the size of the RV and will warn you of known issues, (low clearance bridges, narrow roads, tunnels that don't allow propane containers and the like). It also will show the grade of a hill. I never got the positive grade vs negative grade straight because it seemed to switch - though that may have been me. It is easy enough to know if your going up or down. It is nice to know the percent of grade.In WVa I-64 closely followed a local road, WVa 20. The Garmin became very confused and almost useless as it could not pinpoint which road I was on. I think many civilian GPS units might of had a problem with the two roads though as in places the interstate is above just barely to the side of the road. This could happen a lot in WVa, but not many other places.A gripe I have with the Garmin, it did not come with a cable that would down load the traffic. It relies on data from your mobil phone via a blue tooth link. If I have my phone bluetooth on and I am towing the car I can not receive phone calls as the car steals the signal. The Garmin life time traffic feature is not a big deal for me because I think WAZE is superior for that kind of information but if you tow a newer car that uses bluetooth it is something to be aware of.
Re: Garmin, Magellan, or other? Reply #6 – December 03, 2017, 01:25:27 am "If I have my phone bluetooth on and I am towing the car I can not receive phone calls as the car steals the signal... if you tow a newer car that uses bluetooth it is something to be aware of."Yes. I had the same problem when towing my Forester behind my Lazy Daze. I could hear the phone ring, but I could't talk to or hear the caller because the car intercepted the call via Bluetooth. My solution was to permanently un-pair the phone from the car... but of course that meant I couldn't use the phone hands-free in the car.The alternative would have been to turn off the phone's Bluetooth capability when towing, but that would have meant I couldn't use Bluetooth for other things... and I'd have had to remember to turn it off and then back on every time I towed. I really don't need any more items on my checklist!(Nowadays I only have one vehicle--my pickup--so the problem doesn't arise.)
Re: Garmin, Magellan, or other? Reply #7 – December 03, 2017, 07:57:20 am I recently bought another Magellan when a Copilot upgrade made it unusable on my Asus 7" tablet. Shame 'cause I really liked Copilot and had been using it for years. I looked at and actually bought a Rand McNally 7" at Walmart but when I opened the box and saw how weak the magnet mount was I brought it back and got a Magellan.All that said if Walmart had a Garmin RV in the store I would have bought it.
Re: Garmin, Magellan, or other? Reply #8 – December 03, 2017, 08:41:57 am We use a Garmin Dezl (trucker GPS) combined with scanning Google Maps satellite view before heading out on a route we're not familiar with. We never rely solely on a route the GPS plots, unless we have driven that route before. We also carry a motor carriers' atlas to check unfamiliar routes and a fairly recent "Next Exit" book to plan fuel and rest stops.The Dezl and the RV GPS models are physically the same units, the only difference (according to Garmin technical support) is the POI database - Dezl will have more trucking-related data and RV more campgrounds.We do run the Waze app on one of our phones as well, but only for hazard/etc. alerts. We have found Waze does not know about road closures, etc., that Google Maps does, even though Waze is owned by Google.
Re: Garmin, Magellan, or other? Reply #9 – December 03, 2017, 09:40:12 am Over the years I've used many different brands of GPS's. I traveled for business. In my work group there were about 15 or so of us. There was no prefect solution. After I retired I gave all my business GPS systems to family members. Today I use a Garmin 770LMT. It's identical to the truck version. This unit has all the various places and stops an Rv or truck will need or use. You can put in the size (height, width, and length ) and weight of the RV/truck . It will plan the route with that information. See link for more information....RV 770 LMT-S | RV GPS | Garmin All brands have a system that the user must get used to. For example the time it takes to point out the next turn or off ramp. IMHO the downside to a Garmin (all units) its the amount of time it takes to update the maps. The reason I don't use a smartphone is cell coverage and data cost. A dedicated GPS system will work anyplace.
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Topic: Garmin, Magellan, or other? (Read 194 times)
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