Suppport Thread for the TND 500, TND 700 or future Rand McNally products.

Emulsified · Aug 26, 2010

This is for all of you who have not yet laid out your hard earned money for this device.
I'm afraid I now own a $500 paperweight and want to point out why so you can make your decisions.
First let me say the TND 700 has it's quirks, but I have faith the makers will make things better as quickly as possible.
The device is powered by a mini USB port on the side of the monitor.
The power cord plugs directly into the side and is designed so the cord sticks out better than an inch before the flexible part of the cord takes over.
This creates a very potentially damaging situation. The reinforced portion of the cord acts as a lever if even gently nudged. This in turn will break the female USB port on the monitor, rendering the device useless.
In my case, the brim of my baseball cap brushed the jack as I tossed it from my head to the dash of the truck.
The cap literally brushed the cable, but it is now broken, will no longer power up and as I said, is probably a $500 paperweight.
The proper fix would be for the manufacturer to use a typical RSC power jack or at least make the mini USB jack plug in at a 90 degree angle so the reinforced jack pointed to the rear. This would negate the leverage.
My 700 is 5 weeks old. I purchased it July 22, updated it that evening and installed it in my truck the next morning. It has not been out since then. This is not due to abuse, movement, being tossed around.
But it isn't a warrenty issue either, so I'm out of luck.
Even if it was, I would have to ship it back to the manufacturer, then have them ship it back to where I could recieve it. In my case, that's 90 days out.
Who wants to deal without their GPS for 90 days.
So keep this in mind when considering any device.
My tom tom (altho just for cars) has the proper power jack, is 3 years old and hasn't had a problem altho I've certainly bounced it around a lot over those three years.
I don't endorse the tom tom. Just pointing out the difference a simple thing like this jack makes.

mattbnr · Aug 26, 2010

ETA - based upon the posted speed limits versus your time. The slower you go, the longer the ETA. You can also adjust the ETA in Truck Tools\truck info\ETA adjustment - this is a little confusing in the wording..

increase ETA means to basically slow your speed you are traveling at. So if your ETA is 9 hours, this would adjust for example to 10 hours.

Decrease ETA would speed up your speed you are traveling at. same example... ETA 9 hours now becomes 8 hrs.

thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...

I still don't get it. i understand the part about how far vs the posted speed limit. but the whole adjusting the eta thing. basically your just moving time which isnt right. it should auto adjust your eta based off the speed of the vehicle NOT the posted speed limit. The company i run for limits the trucks to 67 mph. if im trying to get somewhere and the posted limit is 75 im running slower so my eta is gonna be higher. why cant the gps adjust this automatically? why not always figure the eta off your current speed? just seems easier to me. i mean if it knows its 1200 miles away and the posted speed limit is 75 then it will take me 16 hours according to the gps. in reality im going 67 which will take me almost 18 hours. that is 2 hours not taken into account. maybe i just dont get the whole "adjust eta" thing. maybe it needs rewritten or explained better to me. is it adjusting the time to arrive? like instead of the 16 hours i can hit higher eta until it says 18 hours?

kajidono · Aug 26, 2010

mattbnr said: ↑

I still don't get it. i understand the part about how far vs the posted speed limit. but the whole adjusting the eta thing. basically your just moving time which isnt right. it should auto adjust your eta based off the speed of the vehicle NOT the posted speed limit. The company i run for limits the trucks to 67 mph. if im trying to get somewhere and the posted limit is 75 im running slower so my eta is gonna be higher. why cant the gps adjust this automatically? why not always figure the eta off your current speed? just seems easier to me. i mean if it knows its 1200 miles away and the posted speed limit is 75 then it will take me 16 hours according to the gps. in reality im going 67 which will take me almost 18 hours. that is 2 hours not taken into account. maybe i just dont get the whole "adjust eta" thing. maybe it needs rewritten or explained better to me. is it adjusting the time to arrive? like instead of the 16 hours i can hit higher eta until it says 18 hours?
Click to expand...

I've had one that worked that way and it doesn't work out like you think. It can look at your current speed only, but then it will figure the entire route based off that speed. It won't be accurate. You could have 50 miles at 70, 100 at 50, 20 at 30, 62 at 65, and on and on. When it goes off the speed limits of the roads, it actually becomes a lot more accurate than trying to guess based only on your speed. From what I can tell, it combines your speeds with the limits along the route to get a final ETA. It's not perfect, but remember that it's still just an estimate.

They're actually working on adding in ways to adjust your max speed and the way it comes up with the ETA so it will improve as they tweak it and provide more options.

Mark Kling · Aug 27, 2010

Rand McNally Provides Free Enhancements for IntelliRoute® TND Users
Latest software enhancements include mileage exports for fuel tax reporting, multi-language capabilities, and more; Company will launch IntelliRoute® TND for iPad in Q4

Dallas, Texas, August 26, 2010  Rand McNally today introduced the very latest enhancements to its award-winning line of GPS devices at the Great American Trucking Show. Built from the ground up for the over-the-road professional truck driver, the IntelliRoute® TND comes with constant updates and upgrades.

Software Enhancements
· State-by-state mileage data reporting This feature enables drivers to export mileage information from their IntelliRoute® TND to a spreadsheet. A Rand McNally exclusive, this report function allows drivers to track toll vs. non-toll miles by state or province for IFTA Fuel Tax reporting. Drivers can review the data by quarter or by day, by state and/or province.

· Enhanced voice warning system  Providing a slew of warnings of whats around the corner or down the road, the enhanced system allows drivers to make adjustments ahead of time. While the IntelliRoute® TND has offered warnings from its inception, the enhanced warnings alert drivers to sharp curves, steep hills, speed limit changes, over speed limit indicator, state boundaries, road construction, time zone changes and on/off duty changes.

· Am I Close? feature As drivers are approaching their final destination, address ranges and street name will display on the status bar. Drivers may customize the point at which the feature will appear.
· Driver controlled auto re-route When a driver needs to pull off the road for a brief stop, or is taking a dispatcher-directed route, auto-re-route can be paused and then resumed later, reducing unnecessary voice and directions activity.

· Full-route text preview This user-requested enhancement gives a quick text display of the entire route at a highway level so that drivers know in advance which roads they will travel.

· Enhanced help & tips IntelliRoute® TND users can select a level of on-device assistance that meets their needs. Choose from FAQs, New Tips, Whats New, and Tutorial options to enhance the user experience.

· Full Spanish and French language functionality Text and verbal translations enable drivers who use English as a second language to fully utilize the product with minimal distraction.

And many more! The above-mentioned enhancements can be downloaded free of charge to registered IntelliRoute® TND owners via the IntelliRoute® TND Dock in September.

Rand McNallys IntelliRoute® TND has delivered many innovations to the truck-specific GPS market. This latest round of enhancements continues to round out the unit as a complete, critical business tool for the professional driver, said Dave Muscatel, CEO of Rand McNally.

Industry Exclusive TND Dock Tool
All of the new features can be downloaded via the IntelliRoute® TND Dock. The Dock is a built-in application that allows the IntelliRoute® TND to interact directly with Rand McNally for updates and upgrades, and for passing information via the Tell Rand feature. The user-generated Tell Rand feedback link allows Rand McNally to continuously enhance its exclusive, best-in-class Truck Data.

In addition to new features, the IntelliRoute® TND Dock offers ongoing updates: Thousands of changes to points of interest, road designations, and other up-to-the-minute information that has been programmed into the software based on the Tell Rand feature. In addition, construction updates and product news can be downloaded when the IntelliRoute® TND owners connect their units to a PC and use an internet connection to transfer information.

The ability for IntelliRoute® TND users to communicate directly with Rand McNally and our ability to respond with program enhancements has been one of the most successful aspects of our IntelliRoute® TND program, said Dave Marsh, Director of Research and Development, Rand McNally. Drivers do a tremendous job moving Americas goods every day and we appreciate their eyes and ears on the road as well.

New Media to be Available Later in the Year
Also at GATS, Rand McNally announced that it will be providing its award-winning IntelliRoute® TND truck navigation via the iPad. Available in late 2010, the application includes the key features of the IntelliRoute® TND software, ported over to work exclusively on the iPad product.

The iPad is just one more example of Rand McNallys ability to provide mapping and navigation content in a multitude of formats. Whether drivers or other consumers need an atlas for the family vacation, maps and directions via the internet for point-to-point directions, specialized trucking routes via a GPS unit, or now are looking for navigation via an iPad, Rand McNally delivers, explained Muscatel.

The IntelliRoute® TND is Trucker tested. Trucker approved. Available in truck stop and online retailers nationwide. Visit www.RandMcNally.com/truckgps for more information.

###

About Rand McNally Rand McNally is the most trusted source for maps, directions, and travel content. Rand McNally's products and services include: Interactive travel service, Tripology; Americas #1 Road Atlas; IntelliRoute® truck routing software and GPS devices; and the leading geography-based educational resources for the classroom. Consumers, businesses, truckers, and educators depend upon Rand McNally to help navigate todays world. www.RandMcNally.com
IntelliRoute and Rand McNally are registered trademarks and TND is a trademark of Rand McNally.
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Mark Kling · Aug 27, 2010

Emulsified said: ↑

This is for all of you who have not yet laid out your hard earned money for this device.
I'm afraid I now own a $500 paperweight and want to point out why so you can make your decisions.
First let me say the TND 700 has it's quirks, but I have faith the makers will make things better as quickly as possible.
The device is powered by a mini USB port on the side of the monitor.
The power cord plugs directly into the side and is designed so the cord sticks out better than an inch before the flexible part of the cord takes over.
This creates a very potentially damaging situation. The reinforced portion of the cord acts as a lever if even gently nudged. This in turn will break the female USB port on the monitor, rendering the device useless.
In my case, the brim of my baseball cap brushed the jack as I tossed it from my head to the dash of the truck.
The cap literally brushed the cable, but it is now broken, will no longer power up and as I said, is probably a $500 paperweight.
The proper fix would be for the manufacturer to use a typical RSC power jack or at least make the mini USB jack plug in at a 90 degree angle so the reinforced jack pointed to the rear. This would negate the leverage.
My 700 is 5 weeks old. I purchased it July 22, updated it that evening and installed it in my truck the next morning. It has not been out since then. This is not due to abuse, movement, being tossed around.
But it isn't a warrenty issue either, so I'm out of luck.
Even if it was, I would have to ship it back to the manufacturer, then have them ship it back to where I could recieve it. In my case, that's 90 days out.
Who wants to deal without their GPS for 90 days.
So keep this in mind when considering any device.
My tom tom (altho just for cars) has the proper power jack, is 3 years old and hasn't had a problem altho I've certainly bounced it around a lot over those three years.
I don't endorse the tom tom. Just pointing out the difference a simple thing like this jack makes.
Click to expand...

Rand has tried the 90 degree bend USB power cables. They were prone to breaking at the bend,, so they went with the straight cable.

Now as I am to understand it, the end USB on the DC plug fell apart? If so since the TND is only 5 weeks old why would you not believe it is not covered by warrenty? Have you even called Rand and talked to them?

If the DC cord is the only issue, Rand Support could just replace the DC Cord, shipping it to your house.

You are stating you will not be home in 90 days. Are you planning on stopping anytime to take a 34 hours reset? If so if you could try to pre-figure where you would be, a cable could be shipped to you.

Or is the USB port on the TND broken? And why would that not be also covered under warrenty?

You make no reference in calling to Rand Support, nor have I received an E-mail from you in regards to this.

Thanks,
Mark

Mark Kling · Aug 27, 2010

mattbnr said: ↑

I still don't get it. i understand the part about how far vs the posted speed limit. but the whole adjusting the eta thing. basically your just moving time which isnt right. it should auto adjust your eta based off the speed of the vehicle NOT the posted speed limit. The company i run for limits the trucks to 67 mph. if im trying to get somewhere and the posted limit is 75 im running slower so my eta is gonna be higher. why cant the gps adjust this automatically? why not always figure the eta off your current speed? just seems easier to me. i mean if it knows its 1200 miles away and the posted speed limit is 75 then it will take me 16 hours according to the gps. in reality im going 67 which will take me almost 18 hours. that is 2 hours not taken into account. maybe i just dont get the whole "adjust eta" thing. maybe it needs rewritten or explained better to me. is it adjusting the time to arrive? like instead of the 16 hours i can hit higher eta until it says 18 hours?
Click to expand...

Rand takes into account all speed limits on all road segments from your point a to point b on your route. This is calculated along with the speed you are physically driving in relationship to time differences.

if you slow down to a lower posted speed, the TND will sense that and in their calculations adjust your ETA.

Increasing ETA will allow you to have a longer ETA to reach your pick up/deliver location

Thanks,
Mark

kajidono · Aug 27, 2010

I'm sure there is more than one single type or manufacturer of usb cables with a 90 degree bend. What Rand did was buy the cheapest one, which is of course going to break. Instead of using a better 90, they just switched to a straight plug for no other reason than because it was cheap. Due to the design of the mini usb, stress on it, such as the kind put on it by any kind of straight plug, will break it every time. It's not a new design, everyone has figured that out by now.

Kokot · Aug 27, 2010

kajidono said: ↑

I've had one that worked that way and it doesn't work out like you think. It can look at your current speed only, but then it will figure the entire route based off that speed. It won't be accurate. You could have 50 miles at 70, 100 at 50, 20 at 30, 62 at 65, and on and on. When it goes off the speed limits of the roads, it actually becomes a lot more accurate than trying to guess based only on your speed. From what I can tell, it combines your speeds with the limits along the route to get a final ETA. It's not perfect, but remember that it's still just an estimate.

They're actually working on adding in ways to adjust your max speed and the way it comes up with the ETA so it will improve as they tweak it and provide more options.
Click to expand...

Obviously you didn't have "one that worked that way" because if you did, you wouldn't be saying this nonsense.

My gps calculates eta with precision give or take 20 minutes on 700 miles run. Everytime.
That's an acceptable error spread. TND's two hours isn't.

Even stupid and free Google navigation "guesses" with better precision.

Mark Kling · Aug 27, 2010

kajidono said: ↑

I'm sure there is more than one single type or manufacturer of usb cables with a 90 degree bend. What Rand did was buy the cheapest one, which is of course going to break. Instead of using a better 90, they just switched to a straight plug for no other reason than because it was cheap. Due to the design of the mini usb, stress on it, such as the kind put on it by any kind of straight plug, will break it every time. It's not a new design, everyone has figured that out by now.
Click to expand...

You are stating something you have no knowledge of.

1. I never stated it was a new design.

2. Rand went with straight due to the 90 degree breaking at the bend.

3. Unless you are on the team that purchases products from Rand, you are not qualified to determine what they bought or how.

4. Simply hitting the cable with a hat does not break the connector.

5. No mention of any calls to Rand Support to let them know of the issue.

6. Stress being put on the connector. Do you have a research lab that is qualified to preform engineering tests?

7. I handle per day many more connections and apply more "stress" than a hat, yet I have not had a single connector break yet.

8. In their post, you are lead to believe the cord is the issue, yet a cord could be replaced, so it would stand to reason the USB connector on the TND was damaged.

Thanks,
Mark

Mark Kling · Aug 27, 2010

Kokot said: ↑

Obviously you didn't have "one that worked that way" because if you did, you wouldn't be saying this nonsense.

My gps calculates eta with precision give or take 20 minutes on 700 miles run. Everytime.
That's an acceptable error spread. TND's two hours isn't.

Even stupid and free Google navigation "guesses" with better precision.
Click to expand...

Google does not take into account truck restrictions in routing.

You are saying on 700 mile runs the TND takes 2 hours to calculate a route?

If it takes this long, something is wrong. After 5 minutes you should be aware that it may be locked up.

Let me know what serial number your TND has and the start/end point of this route that takes two hours to calculate.

Thanks,
Mark

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