Rand McNallyTripmaker for RV

Ricoh

Past Ontario Chapter Leader
I just got off their site and the RVND 5510 by Rand McNally seems like a great product. It is specially for rv use. Has anyone bought one or heard anything about them?

Rick
 

kb0zke

Well-known member
I saw their ad in Trailer Life, too, and checked it out on the Web. I was going to ask the same question, but you beat me to it. Since you asked a week ago, and no one has answered, I'm guessing that they are still too new for anyone to have enough experience with them to give a decent review.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
We bought this before our trip from Dallas, TX to Durango, CO. It did well to navigate us in a safe way and alert us to some road construction. We were able to tell it our height and length and weight, so it is supposed to navigate you only where you will "fit". I think it even avoided downtown Dallas on our return, which was not the case with our Garmin. I think with a PC you can access some additional features, which we haven't been able to figure out on our Mac. So far I love the screen size, the voice commands, and the display zooms to "as seen from the road" for exits and turns, which helps you tell where you are going, especially when there are options in front of you). We also like the warnings it gives for the changing speed limits. Texas seems to have a lot on the State Highways, as every 50 miles there is a new town with speed limits going from 70 to 35 as you get into the town. It can also warn you as you exceed the speed limit, or any speed you set.

Another benefit, no more disgruntled tone of voice saying, "Recalculating!" It does, of course, recalculate as you deviate from the path. But it doesn't fuss, like the Garmin.

We needed to make a fuel stop and pulled off the highway into a fuel station. Directly in front of us was a dirt road, heading off into the distance. The RVND immediately alerted us, "Warning! Your route will take you on dirt roads for about 15 miles." Yay! good to know!

Erika
 

jayc

Legendary Member
I gave my Garmin a "time out" after he took me into downtown Chicago and tried to send me under a low bridge. After turning him off for ten or fifteen minutes, he was okay for the rest of the trip.
 

2psnapod2

Texas-South Chapter Leaders-Retired
Since we are buying these VERY expensive trucks with built in GPS systems in them already, why cant we get a system that works with what we already have?
 
I just got this gps about a month ago, it is great especially with the 5 inch screen. Another feature is it shows your altitude. I would recommend this unit. Thanks Ed
 

gasman

Camp Socializer
I looked at the Rand McNally but then purchased the Magellan. It has a 7" screen which makes it very easy to read. It was designed in conjunction with Good Sam. Many of the features on both units are very similar.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I have been using IGO 8 for 4 years and just got an upgraded 5" unit for the car using IGO and its so basic that I would definitly not use it pulling the RV. I have been looking for an MS compatible GPS Software that will work much better.

I have a feeling that the designers make these units too user friendly, and we are slowly loosing some very important calibrations, I would definitly not buy a build in unit to haul an RV. We need the heavy truck configurations.
 

rollyc

Member
iv had one a couple months now traveling thru mi. wisconsin iowa and back to ne. dont like the toll warning. blocks out the screen and is hard to get off even when its not on your route. shut mine off. the toll warning. has height and weight restrictions but dont know if iv had cause to use that function. is slow to start up and at that time buttons dont respond. i know at least a couple times it took us clear out of the way to come back to something when i found out there was a straighter path to it, but i think most gps will do that some. i heard magellan is comeing out with a rv gps. i have a auto magellan and like it. some features are better on the rand mcnally 5510 but i would check into the magellan first.
 

rollyc

Member
if you are interrested in staying at campgrounds other than commercial the rand 5510 has all the gov. campgrounds. i would be interested in the magellan rv gps when someone gets one.
 

DougLynne

retired Alberta Chapter Leaders
One thing I would want to be able to do is load additional Points of Interest which I can do currently with my Garmin. I go to a site for POI's and get the Good Sam, and KOA campgrounds and more..../Doug
 

JohnHD

Member
Hi DougLynne,

I like you have had a Garmin for several years, but it was for an Auto, I bought a new Garmin this summer the 3790 with all of the bells and whisles, but it froze up on me about 2 weeks ago and Costco refunded my money no problem. Now I have a Rand McNally 7710, it takes into consideration the size and height of your trailer, there are several features that I like, but more that I do not like. The box information says that you can load more POI's but there website has little or no support. And for me, I am touring the US and it does not have the POI's that and RV'er may want to see. It gets you to the address, gas, etc, but if you are interested in Museums, Historical sites, etc, they are not there.

I am going back to Garmin and have ordered a Garmin 560LMT for trucks and I know how to add other POI's with out any problems. So I will post more information on the new Garmin after I get it and start using it. Good Luck.
 

TXBobcat

Fulltime
I have the Garmin 465t for Truckers. I don't use it in the trucker mode. It made a route 20mi out of the way because of the Truck restrictions.

Also if you use a Garmin and use the MapSource, it is not being updated any longer. They are going to an App called Base Camp. I have downloaded Base Camp and I don't like it. It uses a database for all your waypoints, routes and you can't save it in separate files. I read their forum and they are not concerned whether we like the Base Camp or not, that is what they are going to use with the Garmin units.

If you want to use your PC and want a MS app you might look at MS Streets & Trips. You can purchase the software with or without a GPS Dongle to plug into your USB port. I use S&T to make my main routes. I have used it for years at the company where I use to work.

One thing I dislike about the GPS units. There is no way to know which one you will like until you lay out a large amount and have used it for a while. I like the way many of you are talking about the RAND unit. If I had another option when I bought my Garmin and know what I know now I would not have bought it.

In another thread the APP for the iPhone Allstays Camp & RV looks good. It has clearances included. I would like to see some of the capabilities on a regular GPS.

BC
 

lmcclure

1st Tennessee Member#1084
We tried the Magellan and took it back, I just got the new Rand Mcnally 7710 with the 7" screen and it is great. You enter your info and then you can put in the address of GPS coord. and off you go. I like the 7710 much better.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
Do most of these new GPS's have capability to list DIESEL fuel stations, instead of a vague "all fuel stations" nearby, as my current Garmin does?
 

KiwiRVer

Active Member
I purchased the RVND a year ago when they first came out and used it for a couple of weeks before sending it back. It had some nice features especially low bridges but I just found it annoying to use compared my TomTom. These were the notes I made at the time:

Voices are crude and often unintelligible
Final turn instructions often came after you have made the turn
No ability to set scale e.g. yards instead of feet
Maps are poor with very poor turn indication
Claims 14 milion points of interest but many are duplicated and does not
have any where near the type of useful POIs that other GPS have
Quick stop POIs are not changeable. Only one of the 6 is of any use to me.
Frequently locked up and will not go back - have to return to main menu
and start again or in some cases restart the whole unit.

This may have been an early version and they may have improved it since but this was certainly my experience. The fact that I could return it was a point in their favour so perhaps you could try it also.
 

JonV

Well-known member
We've had 4 different Garmins before purchasing a RVND7710 and currently still have 2 of them, both with 5" displays.

The RVND arrived shortly before we left home for Florida in December. I have only 2 complaints about the RVND. The first being that I find the menu system to be unnecessarily complex and the second being that the screen can be very difficult to read in bright sunlight.

Additional POI files can be added quickly and easily using the included RVND Dock software. I added the Passport America (Garmin) POI file and was happy to file it will even announce a PA park if you're in the vicinity. ie "Pasport America Park Nearby".

In spite of the 2 annoyances I mentioned initially I do like the unit and will continue to use it.
 
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