RVLife vs RV GPS?

[reubenray]

Back when I had a 41' DP I used RVLife on my Android tablet. I sold that RV about two years ago and I am thinking of getting a truck and travel trailer. I used RVLife for my campground locations and navigation.

Which would be better for finding the best campgrounds and navigation?

[B52Rnav]

I am slowly converting to RV Life for trip planning. It is effective in finding RV parks and fuel stops, for big names. I have exported routes from RV. life to my Garmin GPS. Garmin wants to break the route into segments on some criteria. That just does not work for me.

The RV Life GPS is absolutely horrible in my experience. Simple route between 2 stops on I-10 300 miles apart and RV Life GPS is giving me a route of 10 hrs. I may be doing something wrong, but at this point I will stay with my Garmin 760. YMMV.

[BayRunner]

Originally Posted by reubenray

Back when I had a 41' DP I used RVLife on my Android tablet. I sold that RV about two years ago and I am thinking of getting a truck and travel trailer. I used RVLife for my campground locations and navigation.

Which would be better for finding the best campgrounds and navigation?

I use RVLife to locate campgrounds and view their details, however I don’t care for it’s navigation. Too many times it routed me unnecessarily to further routes. So I do continue to use it for CG details, but use the Garmin 1090 for navigation.

[AZFoxes]

We have a Kenwood stereo system that has Garmin GPS/Maps built in. It also has Apple Play and the similar Android capability. We can use either but over time found we liked using the Garmin GPS/Maps for navigation better. We use RVLife for our trip planner but use other campground tools for stays. For campgrounds we use Allstays, Campendium, RV Parky, Rec.gov (and various state park sites), FreeRoam, Harvest Host, upCloseRV, and sometimes, RVLife. We have yet to find the end all-be all campground guide that meets our needs.

Originally Posted by reubenray

Back when I had a 41' DP I used RVLife on my Android tablet. I sold that RV about two years ago and I am thinking of getting a truck and travel trailer. I used RVLife for my campground locations and navigation.

Which would be better for finding the best campgrounds and navigation?

[reubenray]

Originally Posted by BayRunner

I use RVLife to locate campgrounds and view their details, however I don’t care for it’s navigation. Too many times it routed me unnecessarily to further routes. So I do continue to use it for CG details, but use the Garmin 1090 for navigation.

This has happened a time or two for me also.

[reubenray]

I was looking at the Garmin 1090 GPS and there are a lot of different versions.

What version would I want?

[johnhicks]

For several years I've run a phone app (Google, Waze etc) for road-conditions etc and my old Garmin RV-760 for navigation. At least a couple of times every year the phone has lost signal and the app has died; the Garmin never has.

[reubenray]

Originally Posted by johnhicks

For several years I've run a phone app (Google, Waze etc) for road-conditions etc and my old Garmin RV-760 for navigation. At least a couple of times every year the phone has lost signal and the app has died; the Garmin never has.

Do the Garmins require wifi?

Also do these connect to the satellites better than a tablet? My issues I had with RVLife and my tablet is sometimes I lost GPS.

[Tombsy]

Originally Posted by reubenray

Do the Garmins require wifi?

Also do these connect to the satellites better than a tablet? My issues I had with RVLife and my tablet is sometimes I lost GPS.

They don’t require wifi but can use it for updates, a lot easier than having to connect to a computer like in the past.
I would say they use more satellites for connection, I have never lost connection with any of my Garmins even in the Rockies with long sections of no cellular service.

[johnhicks]

I've never lost satellite with the Garmin except in the Mobile tunnel.

[traveldawg]

Originally Posted by reubenray

I was looking at the Garmin 1090 GPS and there are a lot of different versions.

What version would I want?

Not sure what versions there are. The 1090 is their 1090 model. There are other Garmin RV models. I use a Garmin RV 890. The 1090 just has a bigger screen.

It uses GPS; it is so much better and so much more feature rich than the RV Life app.

I am now using RV Trip Wizard to plan all my trips. But I use the Garmin GPS for each daily drive.

[Parafango]

Originally Posted by traveldawg

Not sure what versions there are. The 1090 is their 1090 model. There are other Garmin RV models. I use a Garmin RV 890. The 1090 just has a bigger screen.

It uses GPS; it is so much better and so much more feature rich than the RV Life app.

I am now using RV Trip Wizard to plan all my trips. But I use the Garmin GPS for each daily drive.

I really like the ability to estimate where the end of the days travel will be that can be done with RV Trip Wizard, but use the Garmin RV760 for route navigation. I typically plan the trip as lot of folks here do and see where the days' limit it and then use that destination in the Garmin Base Camp to set up that segment. And do the same with any remaining segments.

BTW, as you probably know, the Garmin isn't flawless. I had one trip that took me off at an exit, paralleled the main high way for 2 more exits and then got back on.. I must have been an area of construction in the past.

I chose the RV760 because the screen is big, but not so big that it blocks the windshield in my pick-up.

[wog099]

I do my planning and routing like several others, using RVLife and Campendium to research/locate campgrounds. I use Trip Wizard, Google Maps and TruckRouter to plan a route; and I use my Garmin 760 for navigation while on the road each day. I use the 760 just because that is the one I have and it still works. When it stops working I will get the current version of Garmin at that time.
Thanks,

[reubenray]

Can these RV GPS's be setup for normal (non-rv) traveling also? I just got a new truck and the navigation system is tied into OnStar.