New Rand McNally TND 85 (Huge Disappointment)

Let me start by stating that I have used Rand McNally alongside Garmin for over 10 years now. I currently have the RM TND 720 model and it has been great, not perfect but a B+ overall experience. I recently purchased the new TND 85 in hopes that it was an even greater improvement on my old 5-year-old device but it has been nothing but a huge disappointment and a waste of $500. I will list the few pros and the plethora of cons. I'm not here to bash the company as it is not my intention but I simply expected way more from a company that one may consider the defacto standard in truck navigation.

Pro's

• Much more natural-sounding voice navigation (very well done)
• Very responsive device (speed on par with mid-range Android tablets)
• Modern interface (nice polished look also a con though)
• Built-in camera(the device is not as stable as the older lighter device on the mount so the video is shaky unless you rest it on the dash)

Con's

• Navigation is absolutely horrible (u-turns on residential roads, often doesn't recognize off-ramps, doesn't recognize some roads, will take you miles out of route because of those failings despite having proper settings, rarely gives you alternate routes and when it does it will only be toll route versus no toll)
• Too expensive (iPad with truck navigation software is much more of a value)
• Very bulky/heavy (uncomfortable to use as a tablet, not as stable when mounted)
• Does not support the google store (can't install any google apps ie google maps, Gmail)
• Dock uses a dc charger instead of USB/USB-c (huge charger takes up car socket)
• It doesn’t show the county, only the city, and state (old device shows all 3)
• No "Go to Map" dedicated button (old device could go back to the map from any screen)
• Searching locations does not update the distance in real-time (old device updates distance)
• Very small text size and only the system font can be changed (nice large fonts on older device)
• POI's are very small and hard to see, often don't show at all (much larger on older device)
• Exit numbers are very small and often don’t show as well (again much larger on older device)
• It does not give the option to recalculate the route mid-trip
• Map colors are very dull and washed out making it difficult to distinguish roads (no contrast and you can't change the colors or contrast like you could on the older device)
• Limited color chooses for route color (old device had almost infinite colors)
• No change log (no idea what has been improved or fixed

Bugs

• Auto brightness not working( will blind you at night, have to manually adjust each time).
• Split-screen at night still shows bright day colors blinding you.
• Route screen dimmed difficult to see.
• Lane guidance shows for only a split second and doesn't show the distance
• When searching for truck stops/poi's near your destination it doesn't show the distance relative to the destination but instead it shows the distance from your current location. (old device shows how far away a truck stop is from your destination)
• Tell Rand constantly sends messages to my inbox once connected to the internet.
• I-81 in Virginia to Tennessee constantly says time zone change about 50 times (not exaggerating)
• Routing constantly suggests u-turn.
• Often places me on the side road or off-ramp.
• Mike marker doesn’t always update.
• Searching locations along a route only shows the map set to "north up," so the arrows point incorrectly to your heading and do not update as you move, very annoying( old device showed things relative to your heading. If you have passed a truck stop it will still show it as 20 miles or whatever away no matter how close you get.
• The app will randomly close itself back to the main screen
• The app will also close sometimes if it has to recalculate on the current route

Scores

• Device build (C-)
• UI (B)
• Navigation (F)

For comparison my old TND 720 Scores

• Device build (B+)
• UI (B+)
• Navigation (A-)

Closing thoughts

Overall, this device has failed my expectations, mainly because of the lost features from the old 5-year-old device I have and the absolutely horrible routing experience. Nearly all of this can be fixed with software updates and I have received only 2 minor updates in the last 5 months that have only added a couple of very minor things. Since I was unable to return the device I simply use it alongside my older device for comical purposes. I would not purchase again and would advise anyone to either wait or look somewhere else. I will update this post if anything majorly changes and I will also post a couple of pics showing some of the routing nonsense this thing gives you.

If anyone has something to add, let me know and I will do so. Thanks if you made it this far, lol.

U-Turn on residential road...


I'm just going 1 mile over there, lol


It doesn't recognize that upside down U exit...


2600 miles with no alternate route... this happens 95% of the time


Another U-turn at an intersection... impossible and illegal. -_-


It doesn't recognize an exit again... this happens about 70% of the time

 

Awesome review man!!!! Such disappointing news though. I really hate how every gps Rand McNally builds they tout “Brand new, built from ground up” instead of just building upon what they already have. Last truck gps I had was a 730. Had it from late 2014 to early 2019 before it died. Just been using google maps and state truck routes I can find online since. Good thing I didn’t splurge and buy the 85 though because I’ve been interested. Have you forwarded this post or your review to them?

 

It's amazing how Rand McNally can put out something so bad. Copilot Truck GPS navigation has little improvements over the years, it's pretty good. Seems like by 2020 all the GPS system should be a lot better. It looks like are are not even trying to improve them.

Copilot last update say is now takes into account traffic lights when it gives you routing options. It usually gives you 3 different route options and it shows you driving time difference and the milage difference. Copilot now has live traffic update. It not perfect but it ok. It usually will show longer drive times when it predicting you arrive times or driving time.

 

My theory is to purchase a product for a specific purpose. A tablet for a tablet and a GPS for a GPS.
I tend to stay away from products that combine relatively unrelated functions. IMHO.

 

I gave up on Rand McNally several years ago.

I purchased an 8"tablet and downloaded the Smartruck Route 2 App and have been well pleased with it.

It's not perfect but it's not $500 either.
It's basically Google maps for trucks.

 

I owned the 85 for a couple of days before returning it. It was the worst GPS I have ever used. I experienced many of the issues you did. Of particular concern to me was the dim display, horrendous routing, and lack of waypoint support without using an additional software and exporting/importing.

I think RM would be well served to get back to basics, improve the fundamentals, look at real professional drivers need, and drop some of the fluff from the device. Better yet, untether it from bad proprietary hardware, and move to an iOS/Android software only release which would allow the to focus on the software and become more Nimble.

It’s highly unlikely I would ever use another RM device after the bad experience I had. The 85 was so bad to me, that had I not been able to return it, I would have either chucked it in the garbage or given it to some unlucky sole. It would have been 500 bucks down the toilet.

 

"It's a floor wax, it's a dessert topping. It's both."

My $35 MP3 player is far better at playing my podcasts. My $800 smartphone is a backup to my MP3 player.

 

Agreed, they simply needed to polish what they already had. I have reported all of the issues I have through the “Tell Rand” option but will also link them to this review.

 

Could you explain what you mean by waypoints? I googled around but couldn’t find anything other than saved points on a map, lol.

 

That’s basically what they are. With Copilot GPS, you can press the screen at any location and it will give you the option “route through here”, which creates the waypoint. It’s a means of customizing the route if you need to for whatever reason. Using them you can route however you like, not just use the suggested routes.

RM has an online route planner called TripMaker. With it you can custom route as well. The drawback is you have to create a an output file and import it into the GPS. Not convenient.

For those that don’t need specific routing it’s not a big loss. For those of us that do, the speed and ease of the Copilot method doesn’t get any better.