Whats the BEST GPS?

Dieselboss · Mar 19, 2015

Hurst said: ↑

I dont compare.. but I have purchased and tried all of the name brands at one point. I prefer the Garmin primarily for its interface and calculation speed. No other reason. I dont use a GPS for my primary navigation... I mainly use it to look for 'local' routes.. though I may not follow it excluviely if I see a better way when looking at google satellite view.. Garmin doesnt seem to calculate traffic lights into its route.

Also.. as far comparing them and making the blanket statement I did... I did use the word 'Typically'... Not 'Exactly'. They all route similar. Garmin seems to have what I can only best describe as a learning mode. As Often I will leave the option for Tolls on.. yet take a different route I know to avoid certain tolls.. later Garmin will use the same route once I avoid the first exit to the toll road. RM, Cobra and PCM would not do this when I had them.

For me its just a matter of personal preference.

Hurst
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Agreed. Good info!

robertsat2029 · Mar 26, 2015

well I can say I finally got hired by a trucking company its a flatbed company Southeast region for USA and after talking with the company I asked them about GPS and only regarding to inner city with the trucks size the GPS unit that will take that in consideration for terms and they said that is good recommendation for a new driver and said off the record there reviews based on drivers feedback was the rand McNally had the best ability for that so I went ahead and purchased the 730 the brand new version best buy price match it and I paid about 340. I used a internet ad and price match was great. I start work in April. Be safe all.

zoekatya · Mar 29, 2015

MsJamie said: ↑

See #9...

OP: There is no "best" GPS. For every person who says that a brand/model is the "best", you'll find someone who says that it's complete crap.

Here's the industry's dirty little secret... they're all pretty much the same as far as basic GPS functions go. They all use the same base maps (from NAVTEQ), with each company doing its own "tweaks" (usually Points Of Interest [POIs]). They are all comparable in performance.

The main difference between them is in the User Interface (UI); how you (the user) operate the GPS. The menu system is VERY different between the brands. The feature sets are different. I happen to love Garmin's "Voice Command" feature; I have it in my car GPS.

In short, buy on looks, features, and price. If you're a company driver, you couldn't care less if your GPS tracks your IFTA miles, but it could be a game changer if you run under your own authority.

And remember, the GPS is just a tool; don't follow it blindly...
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They might all use Navteq maps but the routing is different. My Rand McNally vs Co-Pilot app has completely different routing. Co-Pilot by far has the best routing in a consumer Navigation I've found.

zoekatya · Mar 29, 2015

My Rand McNally vs Copilot vs Smart Truck Route app, and the company quelcomm all have different routing so this is simply not true. Try them yourself.

zoekatya · Mar 29, 2015

Hurst said: ↑

As far as routing goes,.. they ALL use the same national database. I have yet to see one route better then any other.

To pick and choose the right GPS for you,.. you need to find one that has features that you may come to need while out on the road. Sitting on the side of the road in the middle of no where with a flat tire or blown radiator hose, who would you call? A good GPS will have truck specific POI's that you can call in an emergency. It should break them down into different categories. What interface is most comfortable and appealing to you. How fast can it recalculate a 1000 mi trip if you miss a turn? How user friendly is it? Those are the things you need to consider when buying a GPS.

Hurst
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My Rand McNally vs Copilot vs Smart Truck Route app, and the company quelcomm all have different routing so this is simply not true. Try them yourself.

zoekatya · Mar 29, 2015

Dieselboss said: ↑

Just a clarification here. Some use the same "base map" provider. Like Rand and Garmin (and most of the others) use the base maps from HERE/Navteq. But they do NOT use the same routing engine.

Base maps = the raw maps, street names, address numbers, etc. (If different brands are using the same release date from the same provider, then the base will be identical)

Routing engine = which of the above roads to take and under what circumstances. (there are vast differences in the routing decisions between brands using different routing engines.) Example - PC Miler/ Copilot and Garmin and Rand use entirely different routing engines from each other.
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You are correct. I have found the Copilot has the best routing out of all the systems I've tried.

zoekatya · Mar 29, 2015

snowwy said: ↑

i'm going to have to disagree with you hurst.

i used the rand for 2 weeks. traded it in for pcmiler (copilot) and have never looked back.

for instance, las vegas to phoenix. rand will route you down through flagstaff. it SCREAMS at you for taking the 93.
the first trip. i decided the heck with the 17. and took the 89. down into prescott. when i got close to town. there was a right hand bend, to which there's a sign pointing to the 17. that you don't see till after the bend. rand never directed me on that 17, it took me into town. (prescott) and ran me around in circles through one neighborhood after another. i had to use google on the phone to get me out of town and to the 17.

the reason i followed rand. is becuase i like to have a toy that's going to get me there without the hassles of directions and maps and what not. you could say i was testing the waters with rand. so i was thinking it knew another way to the 17 by going through town.

IT FAILED MISERABLY.

with copilot, i don't have to worry about where or how it takes me. the darn thing just gets me there. and does a darn good job too.
it's nice to have a toy, that i can input an address. and just FOLLOW IT BLINDLY. basically speaking.

i think i can count the number of times on 2 fingers, that it actually took me to a bad street. in the 4 years i've been using it.

i'm also not driving 2,000 extra miles every month.
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This is my experience too. I can not say enough good things about Copilots routing.

icsheeple · Mar 29, 2015

I prefer the Garmin. I see Rand McNally just came out with a gps with integrated dash cam. Can't wait till Garmin makes one to compete. That would be a great unit.

I'm currently running a car Garmin, next to a rand tnd520, and a Mio Mivue dash cam.

MsJamie · Mar 30, 2015

I'll keep mine separate, thanks.

I have a Garmin Dash Cam 20, the one with the GPS chip. I absolutely love it. Worth every penny ($199 at Amazon).

Saving my points for the Dezl 770.

icsheeple · Mar 30, 2015

The only thing I hate about my dash cam is it seems to have a Y2K glitch. It saves in file names from 1-9999 then doesn't seem to start overwriting correctly. I constantly have to reformat the card to set a fresh memory bank. It has a reformat function from the display, but still annoying.

Garmin is hands down the best I've used so far. The maps are robust and more detailed. Tactile feedback response of the touch screen is amazing compared to the RM. That dang RM has a terrible touch screen feedback.

The one thing these GPS are missing is a setting to change the calculated ETA. You should be able to specify your own rate per mile. I drive slow and with fuel stops and breaks I do about 50-54mph average. I know, that's super trucker speeds, but what can I say....

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