Support Thread for the TND 500, TND 700 or future Rand McNally products. (part two)

I don't understand why my GPS changed my route all of sudden when I was already an hour enroute?

I chose my destination and clicked on "Show two routes based on my preferences "
I chose the one I wanted and it set me on that path exactly how I wanted to go.. I didn't have to "detour" anything or make any changes . I went about half the distance and I suddenly see that my route changed on me!? WTF!?



I did not stop anywhere or do anything to cause it to change on its own...(.I've seen it where a rest area pull off can occasionally change it ). But not in this case. I never pulled off anywhere.

Anyone else ever experience this phenomenon ?

I have a RM 730

 

I do not know how to find the version # of the maps I have on the unit but I did update it within the last 3 months.

Please note that I AM NOT bashing the TND in any way. What I say below is honest feedback from a person that has been using moving map GPS since the early 90s when you had to have a laptop with an external GPS unit in order to get it done. If i recall correctly it was RM software that i was using at the time. I do know that when I started it was the very first version they released. Later came an upgrade where a small yellow GPS unit/antenna powered by an internal battery was offered and you could then do away with the other GPS unit you were using. Of course the internal battery was a fiasco so i did a field upgrade to replace the stupid internal battery with a power cord to provide the correct voltage to the unit. (Probably voided the warranty... LOL) Back then no GPS actually had usable road maps, mostly all they gave you was lat/lon numbers and had a port for connection to something (a laptop for example) that could then use that information to create a location on something looking pretty much like an actual road map. I have owned many different brands and models of stand alone GPS units over the years, probably 40-50 in total.

Now about my TND...

The first and most critical issue I have with this unit is trying to keep it charged.

I have a dedicated plug wired into a constant hot at the fuse box. The unit would run for awhile then shut off. Even leaving it pluged in and turned off overnight the next morning it would have maybe 20-30% charge.

I looked at the tiny contacts on the back of the unit and they appear dirty. It is impossible to give them a good cleaning because they are at the bottom of a small hole in the plastic case.

Fortunately RM provided an alternative port on the unit itself. I plugged into that and there was a small improvement.

I replaced the factory provided charger with one rated 3.1 amps that has an integral amp meter. Now the unit stays charged to 100% all the time. But only when plugged directly into the unit, not the base. So much for the cool quick remove, no wires to mess with mounting base feature.

In MHO the pin contacts on the back of the unit is a poor design in that it is not able to be successfully cleaned. Not MHO but obvious fact is that the charger is not up to the task it was provided to do.

Next issue is volume. Not having a db meter I can not say quantifiably that the max volume level of the TND is only 25% that of the Garmin but I can tell you that unless I am stopped with the engine shut off there is no hope of me ever hearing anything the TND has to say. As opposed to the Garmin I own (details below) that I can hear over a moderate radio volume while rolling along at highway speed. Problem? YES.

In addition to the above noted TND unit I have a Garmin dezil 760LM. I also updated the maps in it at the same time ~3 months ago. They are mounted side by side on the dash.

To me, a simple end user the Garmin is much more fluid and easier to program addresses and to retrieve addressed from stored memory than the TND.

That said, I do much prefer the way the TND gives me choices of routes that the unit has found over the way the Garmin does it.

Both units have more than once given me unusable and or insainly stupid routes before. In fact so much so that it has become habbit to double check routes and then often use my phone to verify that. While I know and fully understand the phone knows nothing about truck routes I do and I'm smart enough to (usually) understand what I'm looking at route wise.

I normally like the TND route better than the Garmin route so I frequently start out on the TND and once the Garmin figures out the plan I switch over to it and the TND goes back to its primary duty (more on that below).

When I first purchased the TND I called RM tech support to find out how to transfer the hundreds of saved waypoints from my Garmin to the TND. Great news... You can't. REALLY?!? Great way to get Garmin used to jump ship and come over to RM...

Because of the lack of volume and the more difficult to program limitations of the TND and (a good thing here) the larger screen of the TND I normally use the Garmin for my directions. I leave it on the zoom level that it seems to insist it wants to be at (no matter what I tell it I want). This zoom level is fine for routing directions and a close view of where your/going. I leave the TND at more of a city view so that I can see my general location within the city and on a longer trip that view shows me more of a general, how far I am along the trip leaving immediate directions to the Garmin. If anybody that can do anything about it cares/wants to know I do have some suggestions to make improvements to that view on the screen to make it even more usable.

Now about the issue of wrong, insane routes and being told to "navigate off-road" ... I used to carefully log each occurrence of this and have sent Garmin numerous letters (yes, US Mail letters) and emails giving them this precise and detailed information. Never once have I received any contact back for follow up or even to let me know they even received my communication. That being the case I never even bothered to try to do the same with RM about my TND. (I suppose that is "My bad" as the kids say thses days)

I have become immune/numb to the wrong / insane directions and I should add roads that are either not there or are inaccuratly displayed and just blow it off. However, if the OP of this thread is truly interested and can actually address any of this and get it fixed I'll give it a shot and try to take the time to make accurate, complete detailed notes of the occurances with the TND.

However, my current AO (area of operation) is pretty well known to me now and I don't use the TND that much for routing anymore, but when I do, and it's wacky, I'll record and post..

 

I can't edit a post on my phone (the edit button does not show up)...

I had intended to mention that I keep the speed limit notification active on both units. It is somewhat entertaining/amusing watching them give the posted limit info.

Sometimes they both change and agree w each other within seconds of me passing a posted sign. Many times they will show different speeds usually at least 1 is correct, occasionally both are different and neither is correct.

 

Thanks for the reply.

A fair amount of that I knew/understand.

"Slice"? Is that the mount? Still does not explain the power cord issue though?

I have turned autozoom off only about 10x... Seems the unit knows better than I do.. Lol but that is a Garmin issue, so no point in airing it out here since here offers no Garmin solution..

I'll keep you advised of TND issues! Here is a minor one.. Orlando, FL. Hwy 417 on the east side of town. Was just headding South and noticed while crossing the lake. Speed limit posted as 70. Garmin had it correct, TND said 65. (Better to be wrong under than over to be sure, but still, wrong is wrong)..

Thanks again...

 

Mark,

I just went back and reviewed your responses again to be sure I didn't miss anything I wanted to say the first time. I did indeed miss 2 items.

I realize there is nothing you can directly do about either but perhaps you can pass it up the line to someone with an ear that might actually want to try to improve product/customer satisfaction.... (NOT saying you don't want to fix/help at all, (I know these 2 issues are well outside your jurisdiction) but it just seems that big companies, like big government, always seem to think they know what is really wanted/needed better than the people actually using the products.. Well I am one of the people and here is want I want/need - And I bet I'm not alone. Likely one of the most verbal about it, but I'll bet a big chunk, I'm not alone with these 2 issues)

About the volume issue. You said "Tablet volume was always low from the beginning due to the fact you could Blue Tooth to a speaker or headset." This unit cost right at $500 That is a crap load of money for a GPS, even if it does do other things. There are dozens of GPS units on the market for well under $200 (less than half the price of the TND.!) and almost every single one of them you can hear straight out of the box without having to go spend more money.

The way I (and the 4 other people who I let read that response) interpreted your response was, "It was designed from the beginning with the intention that the user would provide either a Bluetooth speaker or use the unit with a headset so the volume was intentionally intended to be barely audible when not using such a device"

So RM charges me $500 for a device that they know in advance will need supplemental equipment to make it usable? And they do not bother to advise the customer of this in advance of purchase or anywhere in the owners/instruction manual? $500 PLUS the additional (unwarned!) purchase of an external speaker? A speaker that I now have to provide power for? To me that seems pretty messed up. Now I have to go buy a speaker, find a safe place for it to sit, get a power splitter so I plug it in, run a wire from the power to the safe place and program this Bluetooth speaker to work with the TND. And of course the stupid speaker and TND will from time to time quit communicating and I'll have to go back and reconnect them. If I'm lucky I get to mess with that every single time I turn them off and back on... Oh yeah, now I get to have to remember to not only turn the TND off when I leave the truck but I also have to remember to turn the stupid extra cost speaker on and off as well... Yes, of course, and remember to turn it back on, and make sure they are communicating with each other.. Gee, that is a GREAT design feature..! Why haven't Garmin and Tom Tom thought of that yet?

As for using a headset? Really? My headset is for my phone. I am not even going to consider getting another one so that I can wear a headset all the time to be able to hear my stupid GPS. Even if my headset would allow connection to both phone and GPS, I'm still not doing that. I would be willing to bet that not many other people would either. Bottom line is the unit should have a decent speaker to start with, just like 99.9% of all the other GPS units out there. And yes, I know the TND is much more than just a GPS but you and I both know that the GPS is one of the biggest and most used features that the TND has to offer. In fact I tried using some of the other features of the TND and have ended up using it almost exclusively as a GPS.

OK, I think I have beat you up enough on the volume issue... LOL Moving onto the next issue...

Ability, (Or more precisely INABILITY) to transfer saved way points from Garmin to TND. Your response "Different Databases, not interchangeable. Note this also with Custom POI's .. The way they are build are different."

Yes, I understand this completely. I understand that the (Really smart, very highly paid) people who sat down and designed the TND software did it completely differently that the people over at Garmin. I understand RM has every right in the world to design their software however they think it will work best for them and in fact that is exactly what they should do.

However, wouldn't it be a great selling point to be able to tell people, "Easily transfer all your saved locations from your Garmin to the TND"? Put it right on the outside of the box. Garmin is almost certain to be your single largest competitor in the GPS market. I would think RM would want to do whatever it could to target purchaser of a new GPS/tablet/electronic car/truck goodie and make the TND as attractive as possible. I would be willing to bet that a $500 TND is NOT the first GPS device that a person would have purchased. Meaning that before a person spends $500 on a TND they are almost certain to already have and use some other form of GPS and it is very likely a Garmin.

Since the TND software is WAY to far down the road to change it and at this point I would never even think about suggesting that, maybe RM could get a few of their world class programmers to write an easy to use program that we, the people who paid $500 for a TND, can use to capture the information off the Garmin, convert it into whatever form the TND needs and feed it to the TND. What a GREAT customer service that would be! What a great selling point that would be! "Hello, RM? Yes, just bought a $500 TND and want to transfer my saved locations from my Garmin, how do I do that? ..... Oh excellent, yes that would be great if you will send me the link for that patch program to my email, I'll download it and get my files moved this afternoon, THANKS!"

I'm just saying.....

I know without any shadow of a doubt RM has very highly paid people sitting around thinking up new products and how to improve older products to make them more attractive. Well, here are 2 ways to make the TND more attractive (And I wont even charge RM a penny for the ideas!) and neither should be to costly to implement, especially the patch program which unlike a speaker upgrade for future units, the patch program will help not only future buyers but ALL CURRENT OWNERS as well..! .... so RM, how about it?

Please let me know what RM administration has to say about my 2 suggestions. It will be very interesting to hear... THANKS!

(As I said in a previous post, I have sent numerous suggestions to Garmin and never got any response at all back. It would be really great to finally find a company that actually listens to and responds back to it's current customers. After all, a pretty large portion of the current customer base is VERY LIKELY to also be a very large portion of it's future customer base.... If they take care of them as current customers... The current customers are also the ones that go online and discuss how good or bad the products and customer service is which I imagine these days has a fairly reasonable impact on pre-purchase decision making of prospective customers.)

Thanks again for your time and help Mark, I really appreciate it.

Now, I'm going back to "Haulincars!"

 

Any map updates for the 720 yet? Haven't been home in a while to plug it into the laptop...