Automotive GPS Systems

3 comments

1. 

   Joe says:

   August 14, 2010 at 11:46 pm (UTC -6)

   Review by Joe for Rand McNally 528881469 7-inch Intelliroute TND 700 Truck GPS
   Rating:
   Well as one of the first to get this I figured I’d give a review. The screen is great. It’s pretty clear and seems tough enough not to need a screen protector. The plastic that was on the screen out-of-the-box left glue residue which was a pain to remove. It comes with a stylus that works great but navigating around with your finger is easy and works just fine. I usually just have to tap it with the back of my finger. When you get it, charge it for a few hours before you use it at all. I’m not sure if my over sized good laptop even was charging it. So use the wall outlet. It comes with nice cables for both wall outlet and 12 volt, as well as a good usb cable. The supplied mount is excellent and easy to use. No tools required. The screen part snaps into another flat part on the mount and you have to make sure it’s clicked in all the way or it will drop out.. AFTER IT IS FULLY CHARGED, plug it in the pc and get your first free lifetime update. The software loads fine and tries to start up each time you use the computer. I stopped that and made a shortcut to start it myself. There are no options I saw to disable it from auto starting… I used ccleaner/tools/startup to disable it. The program DOES use a lot of resources when running, but you only need to update once in a while.
   
   My first drive with it was Tampa to El Paso. It saves my height, width, weight and hazmat class. I was hauling hazmat. It gave a killer route that would have saved time but I had to alter it for the company fuel stops and routes. It tells you everything you need to know. Where travel centers are and what they have, scales and weigh stations and much more which can all be symbols on the map if you wish. YAY now i don’t have to buy an iphone. Some stuff in the manual says parts are for future use so I’m guessing the updates are going to give even more. You can manually adjust the zoom. The automatic screen zooming works great. One time it was dark and cloudy with a cool looking sky and I looked at my screen and saw the exact same thing as I approached a ramp. You can save all your addresses and stops and put notes in them for phone numbers and gate codes etc. Then make groups (folders) for your addresses so you can find them even quicker. I sat there for 9 hours like a jerk and typed in all the company terminals and drop yards. It was fun. I’m saving each new stop now with notes too.
   
   Once the GPS kinda got confused and mixed up my current rout with a completed one. It may have been my fault but I don’t think so. I just restarted it real quick and it worked fine again.
   
   I also used it in my car. It’s easy to switch between truck and car mode. I drive a medium large car and the 7 inch unit was a bit to big and did obstruct my view a little.
   
   The voice is fine and easy to adjust. The thing is nice and it works good. The traffic and road updates for life. I don’t have to use internet or buy a netbook (with gps) and software… I’m happy I got it. I don’t get lost anymore.
   
   I like the TND 700. I’d just like to tell Rand Mcnally that since we spent as much on this as for a laptop, please make this the best and keep updates and innovations coming to us for the next few years at least. I’m kinda expecting you to make the software on the unit and on the TND DOCK (pc software) a bit better. I’d also like to be able to set up routes INTERSTATE to INTERSTATE to INTERSTATE to FINAL in order to comply with company route solutions. Sometimes we can’t take all those better routes the unit suggests. You can make this worthy of five stars with just a little more effort. Well, I gotta haul A$$. Joe

2. 

   A. O Sandness says:

   August 15, 2010 at 12:21 am (UTC -6)

   Review by A. O Sandness for Rand McNally 528881469 7-inch Intelliroute TND 700 Truck GPS
   Rating:
   This is a great truck GPS. I’ve tried others and nothing seems to come close to the Rand McNally TND-700.

   Excellent screen size and resolution. The audio is loud enough to be heard over road noise and the purr of my Kenworth/Cat engine. I’ve used it for the last 8,000 miles or so and it has only glitched once. Just restarted it and it picked up on my route right where it should have. The exit lane screen has been spot on every time and gives me plenty of time to get my rig into the appropriate lane safely. I also love the multi-stop route planning and use it a lot. Updated regularly, it has shown me all the construction zones and has a feature to allow me to detour around them. Creating Groups and storing locations in them is a breeze so I can separate warehouse from store locations, etc.

   I’m running an HP Pavilion laptop with Windows 7 OS for the dock and update. The USB port DOES charge the GPS, at least with my laptop, despite the warning in a previous review. Even if it didn’t, the supplied 12-volt and AC chargers take care of getting the battery up to speed.

   My complaints are relatively minor:

   Battery life when it is unplugged isn’t great. However, since I use it plugged in in the cab 95% of the time, it doesn’t create too much of a problem.

   The announcement of state borders coming up is nice but it doesn’t tell you (or show you on the map display) what state you are in and/or going into. Again, a minor issue because I know where I am but all my other GPS units had this feature. For $500 smackers, I don’t expect this kind of slip-up.

   There is a Micro SD slot on the unit and I bought a card for it. Unfortunately, the manual has absolutely no information on using it. The only reference is on the page showing the physical features of the unit, showing the position of the slot. Annoying.

   Clean up the minor issues and this unit rates a solid 5.

   Rand McNally 528881469 7-inch Intelliroute TND 700 Truck GPS

3. 

   Dclownfish03 says:

   August 15, 2010 at 12:35 am (UTC -6)

   Review by Dclownfish03 for Rand McNally 528881469 7-inch Intelliroute TND 700 Truck GPS
   Rating:
   My brother is a trucker and pre-ordered this. He was out on the road when it arrived, so he asked me to charge it, update it, and play with it. FUN! I am not a trucker, but from what I hear from my brother, the tools on this device are awesome. It looks like it would be very helpful for him. The thing is huge, a 7″ screen! Overall, this seems to be a great tool.

   My problem with it is that it cannot update. I have a brand new computer running Windows 7 64 bit. It’s a Dell Studio XPS 8100 (i5 processor). After reading on forums and contacting Rand McNally, I have learned that Windows 7 does not send enough power to the USB ports to allow the TND 700 to go into “connected” mode when it’s plugged in to a computer. Supposedly this is a problem that occurs mostly with laptops and some Dell systems (“Dell Latitude or Inspiron PC (it may occur on other models as well)”). Rand McNally send a very helpful email with some solutions to the problem, though it sounds like they are still unsure of all fixes or what causes the problem. I am disappointed that a brand new device does not work with a brand new operating system, though that seems to be the nature of all things now-a-days. I am hoping that it will update on my brother’s XP laptop. we’ll see when he gets back home.