Community Forums

rream · 02-15-2021, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamJam1

Thanks. Trying to decide whether the truckers Dezl model or the RV specific would be better. Don't think I really need the RV park info as we usually plan that in advance, but you never know. Can't see spending $350 for an RV GPS when the trucker's units are available for as little as $220 (refurbished).

Don"t do it spend the money on one for RV use

CamJam1 · 02-16-2021, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rream

Don"t do it spend the money on one for RV use

I did. I got the Garmin RV780. Already found a few quirks, but I'm liking it more as I get familiar with it.

jfskeet · 02-17-2021, 08:07 AM

Do any of Garmin give you the grades though the mountains?

Bigd9 · 02-17-2021, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfskeet

Do any of Garmin give you the grades though the mountains?

I just googled this question and found

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?fa...2j07lGO7iOhTQ8

CamJam1 · 02-19-2021, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigd9

I just googled this question and found

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?fa...2j07lGO7iOhTQ8

I drove close to 200 miles yesterday along a route I travel frequently, and as I drove I was surprised to have my new RV780 alert me to upcoming grades and curves that I sort of take for granted. Not to say they were nuisance alerts-- if I didn't live here I would want to know about them-- but I just travel this route so often that I hardly think about it.

On one of the grades it also gave me the percentage of the grade as part of the alert.

I still intend to refer to the Mountain Directory when planning each trip.

Bigd9 · 02-19-2021, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamJam1

I drove close to 200 miles yesterday along a route I travel frequently, and as I drove I was surprised to have my new RV780 alert me to upcoming grades and curves that I sort of take for granted. Not to say they were nuisance alerts-- if I didn't live here I would want to know about them-- but I just travel this route so often that I hardly think about it.

On one of the grades it also gave me the percentage of the grade as part of the alert.

I still intend to refer to the Mountain Directory when planning each trip.

Ya know, my Garmin 660 started to do that on our last trip! Surprised the heck out of me.

NXR · 02-20-2021, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamJam1

One thing I never liked about the one I have is it doesn't easily give you the ability to change the route if you don't like the one it picked for you. You can change preferences to try to trick it, but you're still stuck with whatever route it picked unless you add a bunch of stops along the way to force it to where you want to go. There's nothing as simple as drag and drop to change the route like you can do in Google maps.

Time to upgrade.

Our RV 785, essentially a 780 with a built-in dashcam, has an easy-to-use Edit Route function. Hit that button and tap the place on the screen you want to go on the route and it modifies the route. I use it routinely to stay on an interstate longer than the GPS thinks I should.

Quote:

Also, I understand that Garmin RV units will prevent you from taking a certain route due to height and/or weight restrictions, which is definitely a good thing, but they don't tell you why or even where the low clearance/weight limit bridge is. Seems like this would make it hard to know if there's a valid reason for what might seem to be an out of the way route or whether it's just a bug in their data that picked a crappy route.

So we use the FMCA Campground just east of Cincinnati, OH off I-285. FMCA gives you the directions to use but try as I might, my darn RV 785 simply would not use the exit I needed to follow their directions, even when I explicitly used Edit Route to select it.

So we followed the FMCA directions anyway. As we approached an intersection we got a big warning on the screen that we were getting close to a weight-limited road of 5 tons and we're 13 tons. It tried to divert me. I ignored it. As we came up on the next intersection it did it again. I ignored it.

The warning told me which road had the weight limit and I knew we were not going to travel on it, which was a real "WTH" moment. Then I figured it out. That road was one of the intersections. Apparently Garmin thought the intersection was the problem.

One option I really wish the RV GPS units had was a "Stay on the interstate as long as possible" so it would not route us through a town just because it was a few minutes faster or a few miles shorter.

But that's why we always double-check.

Ray