Best GPS for Interstates that didn’t come with one?

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by WillieJ

....

One of the frustrations I have experienced is when zoomed in looking for some secondary road, when you zoom out for big picture perspective, not only do you lose detail, the secondary road disappears. This is especially vexing when on a motorcycle.

Labels can do the same, even when you have opted for maximum detail in Garmin.

This is *SUCH* good news. You know what they say: Life is all about expectation management. Obviously I can't set my expectations too high on this purchase.

Even if they all suck, I still need a set of off-line maps for when I disappear into a cell hole and it's not practical for me to pull over and fiddle with trying to amplify or direction-ify a cell signal. So I suppose I should just pick a Garmin and live with it.

[KJRitchie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxvJbQDtSpE

[InterBlog]

I had to run around to various meetings and destinations in greater Houston yesterday, and in a departure from my normal decades-long procedure, which involves keeping all the maps in my head (my undergrad degree is in geology - Maps R Us), I used the Google app instead.

I largely felt like I was traveling with a drunk aunt in the passenger seat. Every five minutes, it spouted some new nonsense. The offenses were varied. Sometimes it referred to freeways using the antiquated, pre-controlled-access naming scheme that no visitor would ever be able to associate with modern-day interstate highway nomenclature. There was no way to determine whether route suggestions were based on justifiable decisions (wrecks; congestion) or if it was just trying on a route for size.

Most disturbingly, the app is not programmed to be self-refining - it obviously doesn't have the capacity to update itself by learning. IH-45 the Gulf Freeway was recently widened and slightly re-routed through the southeastern side of Harris County. Using published statistics, I estimate that at least 8 million drivers have transited that corridor since the new mainlanes opened. And yet Google still expects the former roadway trace, throwing all kinds of error messages in response to the new one. It basically thinks that [8 million - n] sets of trip statistics are wrong, and it is right (with n being the number of drivers whose data Google is not tapping into... the resulting number is still very large). This is not very sophisticated programming - it should be able to integrate the avalanche of data and conclude, "Hey, all these drivers are indicating that the lanes shifted - let me update my database." But it doesn't.

FWIW.

[KJRitchie]

None of these GPS devices are perfect. My wife is navigationally impaired and I keep telling her don't give up all control to Apple Maps or Google Maps because there may be times it doesn't match the real world, but she can't read a map especially when the top of the map is north and we are going south yet she can run rings around me at Sudoku, word puzzles, puzzles etc.

Funny how all these companies are trying to develop driverless cars. Guess I'm old fashioned.

Kelvin

[InterBlog]

Yes, BUT, money has to be talking really loudly in these business decisions. Obviously the Google app is free - therefore not much investment is being made in it. A driverless car would have to have the most advanced, carefully-curated spatial database ever created by mankind, or else it simply wouldn't be viable. So my guess is that the manufacturers are keeping that top-shelf data very close to the chest.

[InterBlog]

Plunge taken, Garmin 770 LMT RV via Amazon Prime. In a few days, the testing and the cursing will begin.


Rationale:

-- We have two iPads, unfortunately neither of which are GPS- and cell-enabled, so using CoPilot would have required us to buy a third... not going to do that.

-- After trying out a few store models of GPSs, I decided I do need the 7 inch screen because I have such poor eyesight. Other users may not have a problem with a smaller GPS screen.

-- I was unsuccessful in locating any 7 inch Garmin model at a sale price. Fry’s Electronics currently advertises a Garmin 70 LMT (aka DriveSmart) on clearance for $260 and I would have gone for that deal, but our local store sold out before I could snag one. That left the entry level price for Garmin 7 inch models at around $340. Well, logically, if I’m going to spend at least $340, then I might as well go all the way and get the RV-specific model for $399. Even if I only use the RV-specific features, such as campground locator, a handful of times, it probably justifies the extra $60.

There are glitches reported on Amazon with that model, but upon re-reading the reviews, it seems like Garmin is working to straighten out the new issue bugs with firmware updates and workarounds. I hope.

[M and R]

You may enjoy lane change instructions programed on the RV model .5 miles before the turn. Much better than the standard model.

[turk123]

Google maps is more powerful than most know. It does have on the fly update of traffic conditions and will route you around it. The roadways are updated more frequently in most areas. The interface is very nice also. The road signs are very accurately displayed and you do not have to look at the screen to get Turning prompts. RV info on the new garmin might be worthwhile. Anxiously awaiting a good review

[InterBlog]

As I mentioned, life is all about expectation management. I now have this babbling electronic idiot sitting on my dash.

On the positive side, the display screen is remarkable in its quality and clarity and general ergonomics – there is nothing I would change about that part of it. As night falls, the background automatically turns black so that it doesn’t blind the driver.

On the negative side, the thing can’t find its a** with both hands. My first destination last night was a local shopping complex that has been present in its current form for 15 years. The address was clear and the complex is located on an arterial roadway, so it was not obscure. Even as I arrived at my destination (under my own direction), the Garmin kept telling me “wrong way”.

I was immediately concerned about the routing priorities with this model. A number of the online reviewers panned it for this reason. One guy stated that he had to dial down his stated rig weight to 7,500 pounds in order to get it to choose routes that made sense because it was being overly conservative given its “uncertainty” with RV-appropriateness of roads. Well, I *started off* with mine programmed for 7,500 pounds and it still refused to route me down a 5-lane state highway that is second in size only to the Gulf Freeway. It preferred instead to send me a few miles out of my way to an alternate route that included the Gulf Freeway itself. I didn’t have the live traffic feature activated (it requires cell phone linking) so it was not making that decision based on congestion – it was basing it on an inappropriately-conservative assumption about the roads, which strongly suggests that it has no actual road data even in this heavily-urbanized area. If I can’t find a workaround for that limitation, I’ll be returning the unit and getting one of the ones designed for cars.

[Bill M.]

Probably no need to return it. Can't you set it to be just a car?

I have a 4 year old TomTom RV model that I would replace in kind but they discontinued it. I keep it set for the trailer but often switch the setup back to just a car and compare the routes. The unit has been a love/hate affair the whole time I have used it. I doubt if you re going to find one any better that what you have purchased.

I think part of the problem is that the map system that gas's are built on is ancient in itself.

[TayaraTravel]

I have yet to try out the GPS (built in to Fusion) in my 2017. But I am very experienced with Garmin for motorcycling and Garmin's BaseCamp map software. I suggest you investigate the routing options, possibly buried in the GPS Settings menu, and turn off automatic avoidances. I routinely turn off "avoid dirt roads" for example, because road surfaces change and the database lags behind reality. Choose "Fastest Time" for the routing algorithm and it generally keeps you on major roads.

You mentioned disappearing labels. There should be a "show detail" setting that governs the GPS decluttering algorithm. I usually set it to max detail, but turn off options to show gas stations etc (which occlude the roads).

Each GPS model is different (even from Garmin) so you have to experiment with yours.

If this is a brand new unit, it may have a stale map database (sitting in a warehouse prior to sale). See if you can update the maps to the latest.

I have found Garmin's maps to be about as good as Google's, but both have errors. Each gives a slightly different view of the problematic areas, so I use both to resolve questions (while at rest). Once on the road, treat the GPS as a knowledgeable but imperfect friend. Trust, but verify.

[thiel]

Got mine yesterday.

Tries to route me on roads where trailers are forbidden.

Hmmmmmm.....

[Mollysdad]

With all it's warts I still think GPS is a miracle.
I remember maps. Buying them in a gas station then trying to orient them to suit my needs. Then I'd pull out the wrong side of the gas station and be lost.
When I travelled a lot the GPS saved me often looking for a hotel that was in a new development that wouldn't be on a paper map.
We always laughed when we all had GPS and they all routed us a different way, then Mapquest added another variation.
My Garmin has some quirks. It doesn't like you to make left turns into destinations, so it will argue that you need to turn right when you can see your destination straight ahead.
Mine sometimes tells me to exit and then tells me to get right back on. Huh?

I didn't like driving through San Francisco. So from the airport, I'd go south, take the 92 bridge across the bay and then north into Oakland. OMG! The entire way, until I was within 10 miles of Oakland my Garmin was insisting I turn around and go back 40 miles through San Francisco. My new one has a "detour" function, but the old one I wanted to shout, "Give up already. I'm not turning around!"

When you think about the millions of calculations that little box is doing per second to triangulate the position on the Earth's surface from a time beep of 3 to 12 satellites, and get within 10', yes, it's a miracle.

[InterBlog]

OK, I am now thoroughly convinced that the logic programming in this Garmin RV model is just plain defective (as several Amazon reviewers have claimed). It's not simply imprecise - I think it's defective. I'm going to walk you through some of my evidence using examples. Bear in mind that I programmed this Garmin as a 7,500 lb. RV, 23 feet long and 9.5 feet high - a van, in other words. Not a Class A or anything close to it.

Example 1, pics below text.

Here I am on Bay Area Blvd. in the southeastern portion of the City of Houston, adjacent to its municipal boundary with the City of Webster. My destination is marked with the checkered flag, and is just off Bay Area Blvd. about 2 miles east of my position.

But Garmin doesn't want me to get there directly by continuing eastward on the road I'm already on (Bay Area Blvd.) - it wants me to detour several miles through the City of Webster AND the City of Nassau Bay. Notice how it blanked out the trace of Bay Area Blvd. itself, as if it doesn't want me to consider that route. But it left a telltale line of gas station icons visible.



OK, so I'm not falling for that. I continue eastward on Bay Area Blvd. without Garmin's suggested wild goose chase, and upon acknowledging my choice, look what it recommends next - that rather than getting to the destination directly, I do a loop-de-loop at the end of the route. The loop-de-loop, too, suggests that I go quite some distance out of my way, only to end up back on Bay Area Blvd. at the precise point I'd already crossed before doing the loop-de-loop. Duh! And this particular loop-de-loop would be very challenging to execute in a larger RV.



Example 2:

I just needed to get 1.9 miles from my house to my gym - that's all. As soon as I emerge from our subdivision, it's a direct route on one road. But this is what Garmin suggested. Rather than going straight down State Highway 96 which is a four-lane divided limited access highway (i.e., huge), it suggested this (again, the checkered flag on this display is the destination):



Once again, rather than falling for that, I decided to stay on the road that I was already on. Upon acknowledging my choice, it proceeded to suggest that I *go past my destination*, go several more miles out of my way, and ultimately do three right turns instead of one left turn between two major arterials (a left turn which has a protected arrow on a divided highway).

Bear in mind that, on this pic below, my rig is actually positioned on top of the destination checkered flag, and the road represented by the white arrow (the first suggested right turn) is an under-developed narrow two-lane road. FM 646 is also a narrow 2-lane at this location. I would not be happy about doing three right turns in a larger RV as represented by this sequence. IMO that would be more dangerous than simply making a protected left at the destination.



Again, I entered a profile for a 23-foot RV. Even if I had a 40-foot diesel pusher, none of the Garmin-produced suggestions above would make a lick of sense. Rather than picking RV-suitable routes, it's arguably picking longer, more complex, more dangerous routes. And it has done so *every time* that I have used it.

Bottom line: Be very afraid of this Garmin model. I switched my unit over to "car" mode last night and will test that next. If I don't see major improvements, it's getting shipped back to its Amazon vendor.

[LB_3]

It looks like it's designing a route where you don't have to make a left turn into your destination. Putting it in car mode should fix the problem.

[Bill M.]

Get out of Houston and try it again. Route yourself to Custer State Park and see what happens.

I have a similar problem with my TomTom in Montreal. In the RV mode we went about 10 miles on 3 freeways to get to a restaurant .8 miles from the motel. But in the car mode it just routed me the wrong way down a one way street. Must not be just me. I went around that route 3 times before I was convinced it would not work. One car in front of me turned the wrong way and almost had a wreck. So not just my unit, I presume.
Never used a Garmin. I am following closely because I am about to purchase a new unit.

[Lotus54]

I have not had any such issues on my RV 660 LMT

The only thing I saw as the little speed limit signs they show were way off in Idaho and Montana. I did not try changing to car if that would fix.


But I did change mine back to car- since I haven't really seen it say anything I was worried about for RVs.

mark

[InterBlog]

Thus far, I'm getting greater coherency by operating in "car" mode.

For all the problems with it in "RV" mode, I have to re-emphasize, OMG that screen is gorgeous. Even with full sun beating down on the dash and with me wearing very heavy prescription polarized sunglasses, I can still read the screen perfectly. I can't do that with our external camera monitor and it isn't just a matter of relative brightness - it is also polarized, so that when I look at it with my glasses, I'm seeing almost crossed nicols. Meaning, I'm seeing black even though the screen is on. With the Garmin, somebody obviously put serious thought into avoiding that kind of scenario.

This pic doesn't do it justice. In real life it looks better to my eyes.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Thus far, I'm getting greater coherency by operating in "car" mode.

For all the problems with it in "RV" mode, I have to re-emphasize, OMG that screen is gorgeous. Even with full sun beating down on the dash and with me wearing very heavy prescription polarized sunglasses, I can still read the screen perfectly. I can't do that with our external camera monitor and it isn't just a matter of relative brightness - it is also polarized, so that when I look at it with my glasses, I'm seeing almost crossed nicols. Meaning, I'm seeing black even though the screen is on. With the Garmin, somebody obviously put serious thought into avoiding that kind of scenario......

I have had similar experience with using RV vehicle option on both my Kenwood/Garmin and in the iPhone Copilot app. For a van the size of our Interstates it would appear that using the Car option is the best choice.

[FlyFishinRVr]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

For a van the size of our Interstates it would appear that using the Car option is the best choice.

The only problem with doing that is it will route you on roads with weight restrictions.....not that anyone really follows them. Just the other day I noticed a primary street in my town had a weight limit sign posted that read 3 tons. That would eliminate anything over a large pickup truck, but hundreds of delivery trucks, dump trucks, and even semi's travel that road weekly......