Community Forums

KTYSTR · 05-10-2006, 12:37 PM

Planning to buy a Garmin c330 or Magellan Roadtech 800 for use in car and motorhome. Concerns:
1. receiving satelite signal given vertical front window...can signal also be received through fiberglass front cap>
2. Visibility of 3 1/2" screen while driving in sun...does unit need to be mounted on side driver's window or can it be mounted on dash above speedometer.
3. Will these units accept location information from my PC...either an address or lat/long info to make multi stop planning easier?

Any user information about success and problems from folks using these systems would be appreciated. Thanks

KTYSTR · 05-10-2006, 12:37 PM

Planning to buy a Garmin c330 or Magellan Roadtech 800 for use in car and motorhome. Concerns:
1. receiving satelite signal given vertical front window...can signal also be received through fiberglass front cap>
2. Visibility of 3 1/2" screen while driving in sun...does unit need to be mounted on side driver's window or can it be mounted on dash above speedometer.
3. Will these units accept location information from my PC...either an address or lat/long info to make multi stop planning easier?

Any user information about success and problems from folks using these systems would be appreciated. Thanks

Two Bit · 05-10-2006, 01:36 PM

For about $100 you can get Delorme Earthmate for your laptop and have a moving map on your laptop screen. We have it and use it on trips. I mount our laptop on a homemade stand and use an inverter to power the laptop. The software is installed on your laptop and you plug the yellow GPS antenna into your laptop with a cable. Lay the antenna on the dash or mount it with a clear view to the sky(it can see thru fiberglass or a plastic vent dome). You can see them here
http://www.delorme.com/earthmate/
By shopping the web and or ebay you can get it for $85 or $90.

zetron · 05-15-2006, 07:37 AM

I use Delorma's Street Atlas 2006 and a Garmin Etrex for which Imade a serial interface.

It works through the window and the loft in my class C.

I just programed the Street Atlas to recognize my voice so I can have hands free access while driving.

I will probably use it more in the car while in new places rather than the motorhome.

David/zetron

THutch · 06-25-2006, 03:08 PM

I have had the Garmin c320 (same as c330, but without the internal memory) for almost a year. While we do not have our motorhome, yet, I can tell you that the unit performs great. We traveled from Florida to Northern Montana and never looked at a map. Touch screen was great. Coming back, we went through Minnesota, and wanted to go to the Mall of America...one quick search of shopping and we were routed right there.

The motorhome we are buying has the Magellan Nav750 Plus installed, so I'm studying the manual now. My plan was to use the c320 if the motorhome didn't have one. In other words, the GPS was not a consideration in buying. The Garmin is easy to use and doesn't have all the extra features that can confuse. It will save a ton of locations (favorites); comes with all the points of interest (restaurants, parks, hotels, service stations, etc.) loaded.

I've moved this unit from vehicle to vehicle and it has worked great...loaned it to my son for a trip, and I had to pry it out of his hands to get it back! I even had it located under the dash pad, trying to reduce screen glare and it continued to track. Should work through the fiberglass on top. If not, an external antenna is available and the unit has a plug for it.

The only flaw that I found was the brightness of the screen. In a motorhome, I thought mounting it up high would aleviate that. Voice directions work great. Oh, one other "flaw"...campground are listed under the lodging icon, but a search for "RV" found them.

I did load POI files (I used a US WalMart Locations file) to it via USB cable, but it dumped them into favorites and the only identifying informations was Lat & Long...not very helpful for searching. It would show them on the screen, as you got near them, though. I took the same file and added them into the Streets & Trips on my laptop, and they appeared on the US map as whatever color flag I assigned to them. So then I figured loading all the POI's to the laptop, and do evening route planning and use the Garmin to execute the plan.

Hope this helps!

PDB · 06-26-2006, 07:46 AM

I have the TomTom 700 and it works fine. It sits on top of the dash above the radio. Sun is not a prob. Biggest prob is that it tends to "walk". So, we put a patch of that rubber shelf lining that you use to grip and unscrew lids underneath the Tom. That stops it from wiggling around.
It has the windshield mount but I find that too far away.
Paul

Romer1 · 06-26-2006, 10:12 AM

I use an older Garmin GPSV, mounted with industrial grade Velcro at edge of dash in my Adventurer. Works fine and is easy to see.

Bill Davis · 06-26-2006, 02:01 PM

We are using a Garmin c330 in a Class A motorhome. It sits on the dashboard about 12 inches back from the windshield. No problems with reception. Garmin makes an external antenna for use with the c330 if needed.