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Old 06-26-2015, 08:26 PM   #1
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I've had it with Rand McNally!

For several years I've heard complaints about Rand McNally GPS systems. You can now add me to that group. I have been using an RVND7710 for several years and it has had it'shortfalls. However, I have found that Rand McNally does listen to the reports of their errors. I have notified then several time that the Garden State Pkwy in New Jersey is not weight restricted for RVs. The GPS tries constantly to make you exit the road. I usually have to turn it off to avoid the nuisance.
Today was the last straw. Traveling across Illinois to Wisconsin I followed the instructions to I90-I94. I knew this was the way to go. However the GPS kept trying to make me get off at EVERY exit. I have no clue where I would have wound up if I had followed the instructions.
When I settled down at our CG for the night I checked all the settings thinking maybe it wasn't allowing freeways. Nope, all the settings were correct! I tried to reach Rand McNally and the recorded message said I'd have to call back during business hours mon-fri between 7am and 6pm.
No thank you!! Lesson learned.
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Old 06-26-2015, 09:50 PM   #2
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All GPS are this way. On a recent trip in a car, I had my car's GPS, iPhone with Google and roommates iPhone with Apple maps. In the past on long trips I have also had a laptop with Delorme maps and an external antenna. They all fail at different things at different times.

On the way home the car GPS which is normally the least accurate had me on the correct freeway while Google maps kept telling me to exit the freeway. Sometimes they think your on the road below a freeway, or on the freeway when your on a road below it.

I told my roommate I needed all three going so I could get the average and use that route.

Know your route and use this as just one of the tools to help, but not decide for you.

On another trip Google maps had me exit the freeway, and I did and it was right as traffic came to a dead stop and it led me around it. So it is useful, sometimes when you think it's wrong, it might be right. It's knowing when that is, is the trick.
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Old 06-27-2015, 07:12 AM   #3
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Old 06-27-2015, 07:17 AM   #4
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This is the main reason I'm still "Old School Stubby Pencil". I use the Rand McNally Motor Carriers Atlas (which I used for 20 yr driving truck) to plan and lay out our route, and then use the GPS just as a quick reference as to drive time remaining etc.
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Old 06-27-2015, 07:27 AM   #5
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We always map out our trip on paper using a mapping program like MapQuest or Streets and Trips when towing. We never just depend on the GPS. No telling where you would end just following the GPS.
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Old 06-27-2015, 07:38 AM   #6
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I like to have some idea of where I'm going and what towns/route changes are ahead so I'm good at looking over the maps before departing. The GPS usually is right but we experienced some of those erroneous directions, too. About 3 years ago going South on I-95 in NC, there was a storm and tornado right in front of us!!! Trees and debris everywhere. We took the next exit and our Garmin guided us through the countryside and got us back onto the interstate about 20 mile down. It was a miracle. It can be a real lifesaver at times.
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Old 06-27-2015, 07:55 AM   #7
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I have had 2 Garmins in 10 years and will say they have been accurate 98% of the time. I do depend on it,however I belong to AAA and always have maps with us. We try to travel on 2 lane roads more than freeways and find the Garmin invaluable. I believe Garmin uses a different map source than Rand and don't forget some of the routes are changed slightly at times and your GPS may not be updated.
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Old 06-27-2015, 07:57 AM   #8
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DW, aka navigator, always uses her iPad to verify the route that our 7710 plots out. There have been several times the GPS has wanted to take a somewhat circuitous route. She will check low clearances and reroute using the iPad. Once on the new route the GPS recalculates the new route and things are back to normal.
My opinion, you really need two sources of routing information. Google or Apple maps are excellent for looking at the overall route while the GPS is good for keeping you abreast of where your at and what is coming up. Just have that second source to verify.
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Old 06-27-2015, 08:08 AM   #9
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To add to my last post, on a trip to Alaska in 2008, we were traveling with another couple who were using a different make of a GPS. Our destination was the same but each GPS led different routes, since I was leading I decided to follow mine and as we were communicating by cb radio our traveling partners kept telling me I was going the wrong way. lomg story short don't know where theirs was taking them but Garmin was spot on.
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Old 06-27-2015, 09:48 AM   #10
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I still prefer planning my trip with a paper map. We travel often and my 2008 Rand McNally Atlas has lots of notes in the margins. I had to tape the fold with duct tape this week The GPS we use for getting to an event in a large city, finding a restaurant or campground. I still have the 3" thick Good Sam's Campground Directory in the truck. Just in case. The GPS is of some benefit but to plan out a long trip, I need to see the route and locate my self to the physical location such as North, South, East, West of where I am going and at which point am I changing direction. I need the "picture in my head".

p.s. I am chief Navigator. Bill gets to aim the truck.
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Old 06-27-2015, 09:53 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by D Lindy View Post
This is the main reason I'm still "Old School Stubby Pencil". I use the Rand McNally Motor Carriers Atlas (which I used for 20 yr driving truck) to plan and lay out our route, and then use the GPS just as a quick reference as to drive time remaining etc.
Smart.
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Old 06-27-2015, 10:06 AM   #12
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Our Garmin has been pretty spot on, but like most we check the route on a map first.
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Old 06-27-2015, 10:15 AM   #13
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So much of the time there is a logic involved. Shortest distance, shortest time, all right turns most of which we are unaware of. The old I know what I want but did I order it. Always have a ruff idea of where and how you wish to travel and the route, it helps. Nice thing about GPS you can zoom in far enough to know which turn to make and zoom out far enough to see you have the correct route.

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Old 06-27-2015, 10:15 AM   #14
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I always have my DW follow along with her iPad to make sure my RM 7720 does not send me down someplace I don't want to be. Many GPS devices use the same map supplier but different programs to decide the route depending on your profile so many times it is the basic map load that is wrong so changing GPS manufacturers gain you little unless you confirm that the new GPS uses a different map supplier. In the end you may not be improving your situation much by changing GPS manufacturers.
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