RAND rant.

After hearing and seeing all the the praise the Rand McNally GPS units on here are getting I decided it was time to try one out. My experience however was not a pleasant one. I really like the look and feel of the unit, (TND 510) and the advertisement that Lifetime Maps were included sweetened the deal even a bit more. Upon opening the box I connected it to my computer right away to update the software if there was any, who knows how long it sat on the truckstop shelf. There was an update for firmware but no map updates. Actually this is where my first real gripe begins:

The "included" maps aren't really included. You have to fill out a certificate that comes with your unit to be able to receive free updates. Simple enough. But, my unit has been on the shelf for sometime and the certificate was not in the box because it was from a previous time. So after searching for this certificate I find it and print it out. Again no biggie, irritating that I had to do this when it should have been in the box to start with. I then find out that many of the people sending these things back still have not received their map updates months later.

Lets go to the maps themselves. The maps seemed pretty up to date with a few minor exceptions. The maps are supplied by NAVTEQ so accuracy is only going to be as good as they put out. I give the maps a passing grade.

Routing: This is where I throw up in my mouth a little bit. I had the unit set to avoid tolls and prefer highways. Leaving my first stop with the unit it wanted me to take a 5ton road. It actually insisted after I passed this road to make a u-turn (u-turns set to avoid) to get back to it. Why it routed like this I don't know when it was trying to get me to go through small city streets rather than use the ramp onto the freeway directly in front of me. Uh strike one. Next stop it wants me to enter a toll-way (set to avoid) make an illegal u-turn and get off on the exit I am approaching. Strike two. Next stop it tries to direct me down side streets limited to 3ton or less. I will not call this strike three because it could be bad map data. When I leave this stop it tries to put me on a section of road that trucks are prohibited on because of low bridge clearance. I call that strike three.

Actual software: The layout and options are great. That is what made me choose the Rand 510. However mine had an extreme lag when ever choosing an option or moving from screen to screen. Sometimes it would take upwards of a minute to switch screens. Route calculation times were absurd, a single route from Minneapolis, MN to Fernley, NV took nearly five minutes. Recalculation after a route deviation was much quicker but sometimes took up to a minute, this does not seem reasonable to me. I thought maybe I had a bad unit and exchanged it for another one. The second unit did seem a bit quicker but still not up to par.

This leads me to support: Mark (?) on this site was helpful in trying to resolve the few questions I asked here. This is where there support ends. Phone support: After being told that the product was only as good as the maps loaded on it I inquired about available map updates, apparently it will only let you update the maps if you have lifetime, which I have been offered but have to mail in to receive. What a PITA.

Sooo I did what any logical person would do, I returned it and got another unit with NAVTEQ maps on it....why you ask? Because if all the problems are because of poor map quality the new unit made by a different company should surely suffer the same problems. Sadly that is not what I found. The unit I now own (Garmin 560LMT dezl) does not have the quirky map routing and seems to contain sufficient weight restriction information to make a proper route. Huh I thought it was a lack of map information? I call this end of game. Garmin wins.

 

Yeah I don't get it all they have great reviews I really like the concept of it. I don't know if I got 2 bad units (they were bought and returned at the same Pilot) but I sure wasn't going to try a third. They could have been really old too? Oddly enough the things I hear people complaining about the Garmin I have encountered yet. Although I know this DEZL is a very recent one since it has TruckDown instead of NTSS on it.

 

Also with the TND 510 I could not use my fat fingers to type things out. The stylus was needed and I had to push harder than I would have liked. With the Garmin I barely have to touch with the corner of my finger and it recognizes it. Battery life on the Garmin is much better than expected. I had read the review of it on dieselboss and they said it was about 45 minutes. Fully charged in Rapid City I pulled the plug, made it well past the MN border before it conked out. That is a good five hour drive albeit the screen dimmed all the way down and muted. (Night driving.) Garmin also have very good aftermarket support for mapping, POI's.

 

Map updates - The registration card is not put in the box due to different promo's being run. What one 510 may be sold without LTM, the next month the TND is sold on a promo for LTM's. The registration card should be either at the store, usually behind the counter which the clerk forgets about or you can go online to the Rand Webpage to download it. The TND does come with the latest maps on it at the time of manufacture. If you buy it during the promo it states it takes 6-8 weeks to get the TND into the database. Then once it is in you will receive a E-Mail stating such. The next time you Dock you will see the Map update button highlighted. At this time map updates are done yearly. So, if you bought LTM's back in Dec, then yes you would have waited a few months.

TND's leave the factory with the latest version. Like any other electronic device software does get updated and it is always a good idea to update to the latest version.

Which is why I updated it immediately. And there was an update available. This how ever does not negate the fact that there is nowhere that tells you that a coupon from the retailer is required to get the maps that are being offered as a promo. Cobra and Garmin both can do it by simply checking the first useage date when it is connected to the computer.

Unless you have LTM's then it is true you will have the mapset that came on the TND when it left the factory. Part of the deal with LTM's is that you have to send in the registration card to be entered into the Database. How else will Rand know?

Again Garmin and Cobra both can tell by first useage time and date.

Where are these locations that it tried to put you on? Seeing that the 510 that you bought is probably one map set behind what is being offered right now these could have been corrected in the next map set that you would have gotten with LTM's.
The best example I can give you would be routing from 555 Maritime st. Oakland, CA to 2255 Shafter Ave. San Fransico, CA. The maps may have very well been updated since the build date of the ones I had, the problem being that I did not fork out $250 for a GPS that may not be usable for month due to very poor routing.

When you turn the TND on, none of the screens are loaded in memory. As you go to each screen depending on what screen it may take a moment or two to load into memory. The next time you go to that screen it will load faster. If you turn off the TND, this clears memory again.

I understand this argument however; the Garmin I currently have, the TomTom I had before it and the Cobra my wife uses in her car does not exhibit this issue. And I assure you those were never left on.