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I have two, and have had experience with 4 total. Every single one has advantages and none have been 100% correct.

I have one that is part of the Pioneer dash mounted radio/aux input/XM satellite/GPS unit. It is a very expensive unit with a fold out display. Works nice, but has tried to route me onto secondary roads when the interstate was the best way. I have a Garmin Nuvi. Easy to use, generally accurate, but has also tried to take me from the interstate.

In the past I used a Magellin which was a pain to input addresses, and a Garmin I used in the plane also. I liked that because I could overlay XM weather along the route. No sense getting the bus dirty if it was just a shower, right?

I have seen others, specifically those designed solely for truckers. I can see that as a huge benefit.

The bottom line however is prior to any trip I “flight plan” and do a Google map, I look at the details, especially the city streets taking advantage of the satellite views to insure I have room to turn and possibly park when we are not going to a campground. I also do my pre-trip planning to look for competitive fuel prices along the route plus get a sense of where rest areas are located. The Nuvi has warnings about traffic jams and will detour me so that is a plus, and as much as I dislike it the CB is still a good tool to warn of surprise traffic jams.

Usually when I start a trip I use the GPS only to count down the miles to go since my trip planning at my desk has already made me familiar with my route. Of course 23 years of driving our coaches around the country helps also because I now rarely need to look at maps or the GPS for a lot of our trips.

[Ed]

I’m using the Garmin Nuvi 465 trucker GPS. Works well like most Garmin products and has the truckstop data base.

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Is what I have. It is the newer model to the previous RVND 7710.

It is the 7 inch screen version. I have it attached by rubber suction cup to the windshield, using an extendable arm to bring the screen close enough to me to be able to view it.

Have used it now for about 3K miles and it has worked well for me.

This GPS is made for RV’s and allows you to input your coach length, height and weight.

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I’m not so sure you need to buy a GPS any
more. I have a standard ipad with 3g (its the original) and it has a map app
that is accurate down to about four feet. I tour with it all the time and have
had zero problems finding any address in the country. I too suction mine to the
windshield at eye level to the left of me ( a nice big read out). With this set up you can take the
ipad in with you to the motel, your house or restaurant and do your route planning there.
Then you can add different app’s as you need them: Iexit, RV Dash, truck stops
apps (some tell you clearences too) , real time weather apps, RV dump sites, there’s an app for everything that
you need to run down the road! They even have an app for professionally logging
your driving (I’ve got that one too). Most app’s are free or cost a few dollars and all this info is on one portable device…ya got to love it!

Cheers,

Fred

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I’ve used many and currently use the Rand McNally 7710. It didn’t fali me once routing me from Florida to Alaska. I have it conveniently mounted to my dash.

I agree that the navigation programs that come with our smart phones are great. If you know exactly where you going they do well. I don’t see them as useful when you want to search for places along or at the end of a route.

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[Paul]

I have been reviewing the Rand McNally 7720. It seems like it is the way to go. My concern is though. Can you put the height of 13’6″ in the RV info section?? I was told that…this height is what seperates it from the Trucker version.

Also I was curious to know about the “predicted traffic” feature. Is there a way to get “real Time” traffic on the unit. I am sure the predicted traffic is a cool feature…but I think having more real time traffic is more useful.

Does anyone know approx how much data usage the unit uses when retrieving all the weather overlay maps?

Can someone who has the unit confirm this please?

Thanks again for all the input on this. Big Help!!

Paul

CaptVelocity

[Bob]

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