Cobra Electronics 7700 PRO GPS

Brian, thank you for the weigh station info. As for the time problems, i think i have a somewhat answer to it? I have noticed that the clock on the unit changes to the time zone that i am in. This i find to be a major problem since everything i do is based on my home terminal time zone. As for the version that i am running on my 7700 its the newest that is offered on the cobra web site that is not the version that you quoted. where can i get this version that you are talking about?

 

I have ordered the sd card map update, but am still waiting for it. Will this include the newest version of the software update too? Or is it possible to download this update? Am home only for another day and it will be over a week before i get back to get the map update as it is.

 

I have only used the Cobra one week in the truck. It made the same mistakes as the one on the Quallcom. We just returned from a vacation, and were constantly amused/frustrated by it. In Ogden it told me turn left and in the middle of the intersection changed to right turn. I deliver to Walmart stores and park my RV at the stores on vacation. The POI for them is terribly out of date. Also is there a way to mute Suzie when you pull off the road for a phone call without turning the unit off? She is as bad as a nagging wife yelling at me to make an ooh turn while trying to talk.

 

I have another question. I've had this unit from day one and although it still has a few quirks, it's far most the best I have used.

I drive a set of Super B's here in Canada and I'm not sure I have the correct settings in the "configuration settings. Could you help me out here?

My lead trailer is 32', my pup is 28' and of course I pull them both with a Pete 379. (244")

How do I set this up based on the configurations that are in the setup?

Right now I am using double trailer, but the picture doesn't show the super b setup as to my 3 axles on my lead trailer.

Thanks

 

Hi guy's,

Was looking at this unit in the truck stops. I don't use address's in the unit I have now, just to many new roads and address problems. I use LOG/LAT via the directions given me by the company.

Does the unit allow for direct entry of LOG/LAT for destination?

Thanks;

 

Well, I returned my unit today. Just not happy with it. I hate to say anything bad about the unit on this thread as Brian is gracious enough to put so much time and effort into it, but I'll list some of the reasons for the return (there are many). People deserve to know both sides. I exchanged it for the Garmin Nuvi 465T. If that also ends up being a disappointment, I'll simply return that one as well and purchase another TomTom One GPS for 1/4 of the price. That was my previous GPS and it worked great. It could be the technology just isn't there yet for truck specific GPS devices.

I've had the unit for 8 days and here are some of the things I didn't like:

- You'd think the large screen would be nice, but it isn't. First of all, it took a while to find a suitable place to mount it without obstructing my view. Even after finding a place, I still found the map hard to read. For some reason, Cobra is using the lowest quality mapping I've seen on a GPS. Street names are pixilated (sp?) and blurry. The map doesn't move in a smooth motion, rather it sort of jumps ahead every quarter to half second or so. Also, the color scheme on the map is horrible. They went a little overboard with using all the different colors. Seems like every street is a different color, different scenery has different colors....it looks like a lightbright after a 5 year old spent 3 hours on it. Colors everywhere, with no apparent meaning to them. Keep it simple! In fact, last night I was near some terrain that shows up bright white on the GPS. Using the night colors, I was still being blinded by a 7in screen on my windshield that was light up like a flashlight for about 4 miles.

- False alarms. In the 8 days I've had it, I've received 3 overweight warnings (ranging from 5T to 15T restrictions) when I was not on a weight restricted route. It also warns me about side streets with a weight restriction, yet gives no indication as to which street it is. Only gives me the distance from said road. And usually the roads are residential or dead-end streets in which I would never turn onto anyway and is not a part of my routing. I even got a warning going down the expressway about a weight restricted road. The road was not even off of an exit. It simply dead-ended at the expressway. Why do I need a warning for that??

- Absent warnings. I was near a receiver and the Cobra tried routing me onto a road. My QC directions specifically stated not to take that road or else it's a $5,000 fine. Sure enough, I look over, and there is a huge sign that says "NO TRUCKS." And this is a truck specific GPS?

- It does some really quirky things. For example, if I'm on 1st street and need to turn left onto Main street, it'll say something like "stay left onto 1st street then turn left onto Main street." When it says "stay left onto 1st street" it is talking about getting into the left turn lane. Not a huge deal, just strange. Also, if there is an exit only lane for say, I-40 E/W, and I need to go West, It'll say "keep right onto exit 123 for I-40 East" until I'm actually on the ramp where it splits, then it'll switch to "Now take I-40 West" just feet before the split. Those are just a couple quirks I came across.

- Truck specific POI's are horrid. Many medium to large truck stops are not in the system, yet it'll show really small gas stations with diesel fuel but no parking under the "truck stops" POI category. It also hasn't showed some CAT Scales and Blue Beacons that I know were close by.

- I find the computerized voice to be very poor quality. "Left" should not sound like "lighft." Sometimes left almost sounds like right. It's really weird. There are some other very basic words she could use some help with.

- Routing has been horrible. My Tom-Tom did a much better job keeping me on the expressways. This thing seems to always want to route the shortest route. As others have stated, I'd much rather stay on the expressway a few extra miles and only make one or two turns to get to my shipper / receiver.

- The red light camera thing is a joke. To their defense, red light cameras are being added so fast it's almost impossible for Cobra to keep up with. But in the 8 days I've had the unit, I went through 4 different red light cameras in 4 different towns. The Cobra warned me about 2 of them. A 50% accuracy rate so far. Pretty neat when it actually works, and I normally wouldn't fuss about it, but Cobra does advertise this as a value add in their unit. And I say it doesn't add much value at all.

- The last straw was today. I finally said "forget it." I am in Laredo, TX. I got onto I-35 northbound from exit 2 and was heading north for the Pilot off of exit 12. Instead of telling me to get off at exit 12, it was routing me all the way up to exit 18, then back south on the service road to the truck stop. What?!? That takes me 6 miles passed my destination, only to route me 6 miles back south to the truck stop, for a total of 12 extra miles for absolutely no apparent reason. That was the last straw for me. Went to the TA instead and did my exchange.

So, here's the deal. If this unit was $250 I probably would have kept it. I certainly don't expect a unit to be flawless. I know that a GPS is simply another tool for my trip planning arsenal. Believe me, if I didn't know those things, I would have gotten into all sorts of trouble over the last 8 days. But I spent close to $450 after taxes ($399 retail). For that price, I expect a pretty darn good unit. The only reason I'd ever dream of spending that much on a GPS is if it's truly truck specific. I've found that I can't trust the Cobra anymore than my 3 year old non-trucking TomTom One GPS. If I feel just as confident with a $120 non-trucking GPS as I do with a $400 supposed "truck specific" GPS, than what's the point?

I'm giving the Garmin 465T a try, but I'm beginning to think the technology just isn't there yet. If this Garmin doesn't work out, I'll be returning it and purchasing another $120 Tom-Tom, which I had been happy with up until it broke on me.