My review of the RM TND 710

I tried the TND 510 and wasn't all that impressed with it. During the week long trial, I compared it to a Nuvi 1300, which is a 4 wheeler GPS. I'll mark the comparisons and differences below:

Both gave me the same routing. The difference came with making local deliveries off of truck restricted roads. The TND 510 would not calculate a route because of this. I had to reset the profile back to car for it to work.

Both GPS's gave me the same POI.

Both GPS's gave me a DTG, ETA, TOD, elevation, etc.

Pros about the TND 610 vs the Nuvi 1300:

The TND 510 alerted me about bridges.

The TND 510 will aslo help keep track of your HOS, but you don't really need this feature if you have a EOBR. I could see that very useful if you run paper.

Cons about the TND 510:

Speed limits were rarely correct. It was very annoying to have the GPS alert me that I was speeding when I wasn't.

You cannot change a route once a route is calculated.

I'd rate the TND 510 about a 5.

The Nuvi 1300 I currently use I rate at about a 8.

I must add that you should never completely rely on a GPS for trip planning, no matter what the GPS is. GPS's should only be used for redundancy. With a good trip plan, a GPS should show you what you already know.

 

Speed limits are always a "work-in-progress".
With all of these states constantly changing I can't honestly see how each and every GPS vendor keeps up.
I have been told that speed limits are updated when updated maps come out.

The biggest issue I noticed (TND) with speed errors was basically in Ohio.

Otherwise, I have never had either of my TND units lockup nor have I had any issues
with some of the power problems out there.

The best thing is that the TND was designed from the ground up and not a converted unit from a regular car design.
Rand really does do their best here to make it right for truckers...

 

Yeah, I-80/90 was off. I didn't like it much as I like my GPS's to be quiet. There were some features on the TND 510 I really liked, but IMO it wasn't worth the price tag. I'll wait for the price to come down more before I buy another one.

Maybe I'm cheap, but I just don't justify spending that kind of money when a 4 wheeler GPS + the Rand McNaly road atlas does just as good.

 

Of course you can modify or silence the speed alerts....

Price?
Well I know they have had some price drops the last time I was at the Pilot (and likely others).
One thing I like about the TND is that it keeps track of ALL miles in each state. (Toll vs non-Toll) and when you connect it up to the TND Dock software (Free) it will download and XLS spreadsheet showing all miles driven.

It's great for an Independent like me for IFTA....I use that to cross check my own miles to make sure I accurately report them.

But, it also has the 'cool' factor too

 

Thanks,
Mark

 

You cannot compare a Car GPS to a Truck GPS. A world of difference in the way they will route you.

Not entirely true. I got the same routing from both GPS units. There have been times when the TND 510 was more accurate, but other times when the Nuvi 1300 was more accurate. That being said, I don't rely on a GPS for navigation. I use it for redundancy only. It basically tells me what I already know. In this case, a 4 wheeler GPS doesn't make a difference over a truck specific one.

 

A car gps will never take into account - height, width, weight, if STAA or not based upon length of trailer and width of trailer, HazMat.

The routing based upon the above can be very different and you can get a ticket using a car GPS if it routes you on non-truck legal roads.

Thanks,
Mark

 

By definition, the TND, or any other brand of truck-route GPS should NOT use any truck restricted roads to get to a destination while in truck mode. However, can you give an example of an address where it refused to calculate a route at all? I have tested it extensively in New York City and elsewhere to addresses that are off the truck route and it will calculate a route using truck roads until the last block or so when it has to use the non-legal road to complete the end of the trip. But it does pop up a red error at the bottom stating that the road was restricted once you get to it.

And again, in NYC testing (because that area is a nightmare for commercial vehicles, we test a lot there) the Nuvi 1300 would have gotten me on the evening news in about 3 minutes had I followed it. The truck routing of the TND gave dramatically different routing than the Nuvi series tests (except for their Dezl 560 model which is more truck specific.)

We, however, do NOT see that the speed limits are "rarely correct" in our tests. We set the speeding alert to 5 miles over the posted speed and I have found that it is correct in the majority of areas. There are exceptions that can be noted for correction using the tell-Rand screen, but our tests do not concur with it being "rarely correct."

You can change the route once it is entered by several methods (add an address, add a POI, or go to the multi-stop screen and arrange them there, or touch a spot or a road on the map and alter it that way.)

Correct. I take that philosophy one step further - you should never COMPLETELY rely on anything.

 

Well i'm on my second 710 in less than 7 months the first one, the sound quit working after 4 months , then it would freeze up ,would not turn off or nothing . Bought a second one to replace the one i was sending back, and behold the second one decided it didn't want to work after 10 days. Cant get the pos to turn on for nothing , so im exchanging it today on the way out of town for a cobra gps , the rm gps is a colossal pos i'll never buy another one again .and when the original one comes back from being repaired or replaced, its getting sold fast!!!!

 

Leave off for about 12 hours, then charge on AC for 3. Press the reset and it should be fine.

What is the serial number on the back?

Thanks,
mark