Comparing DEZL 560LT to PCM 450

Discussion in 'Trucking Electronics, Gadgets and Software Forum' started by darmok, Mar 25, 2012.

  1. darmok

    darmok Bobtail Member

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    Mar 25, 2012
    Sault Ste Marie, ON
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    I have for the past week or so been running a side by side comparison of these two units for my boss. The old Streetpilot c330's he got us a half decade ago on clearance are all wearing out. Here are some of the pros and cons so far. I run cross-border mostly in the Great Lakes area.

    DEZL 560LT - Very nice clear screen and loud speaker. Very user friendly interface

    The latest Mapset available apparently is 2011.31 and has all sorts of bugs where restrictions are concerned in my operating area.

    Buffalo NY/Ft. Erie was not programmed in as a port of entry. (A bug that is apparently corrected on the 2012.10 mapset not yet available for the DEZL according to the Garmin dashboard)

    It WOULD NOT route me down US 219 from Buffalo into PA due to a supposed length restriction that rendered the unit useless while traveling on US 219 because of the warning popups, Once in PA it worked ok.

    Coming south from Barrie, ON into the GTA. Programmed in 4.0M height restrictions on several overpasses kept the unit trying to route me off the 400

    There are a couple other overpasses on the QEW programmed in at 4.0M that also screws with the routing.

    The included Beanbag mount is totally useless unless velcro'd to the dash.

    As usual Garmin's Raw addresses are impressive and the mytrends routing (only works with saved favorites) seems to work fairly well once you figure it out.

    The HOS monitor is a nice feature.. not sure if it does Canadian HOS rules but i doubt it.

    As far as the Truck specific stuff including weight station warnings, curve warnings. Up in Canada here all the truck related doodad's are next to worthless... Garmin Has a long way to go up here and almost every curve is a sharp one.

    Recalculates take just as long on the new DEZL as my old old c330



    PC Miler 450 - (Firstly if you need to listen to the voice commands... go for a bigger model) This may be a small unit but it's the same size as the c330 I was used to squinting at. The screen is a little touchy (but nowhere near as bad as the cobra 5550pro I tried for 3 days and returned) and the clarity although not as good in sunlight as the DEZL is still better than the old c330.

    The routing on this unit is pretty amazing. Did run into a few errors in Quebec. One routing error where it wanted me to pass my street, go to the middle of town and then cut diagonally through several buildings to my Pick in Montreal-Est.

    There were a few issues with Mis-labelled Roads also in Quebec (Rue 181e being labelled 181 East being one) and Town Names missing Hyphens (Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville being one) Causing a bit of frustration during address lookup.

    The free Quarterly Map updates are a nice touch and I hope they stay around for a while but the 1.53 Gig map download requires an hour and a half or so on a really solid Internet connection. I just entered 13 corrections and or updates into their MapSure Service so will see how it works.

    Huge Canadian POI database compared to others I've seen. Only problem I'm having is figuring out the easiest way to look them up.

    Another BIG plus is the speed of the re-calculates on the PCM. When I forced it off route it would recalculate in seconds..

    I didn't really like it to begin with but surprised myself when i found I liked it more than the DEZL and started turning to it first. If they could make the address entry a little more friendly it wouldn't hurt.

    ......... Yes i read a ton of posts, a lot of the reviews and Dieselboss's excellent chart (which is bang on!).

    And for all you people that love to roll your eyes at the obvious....

    yes I love to use brackets and
    BOOM!!!
    First post (and probably last :biggrin_2559:) A GPS is only a tool and no replacement for common sense, good judgment, and proper trip planning.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2012
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  3. kwloo

    kwloo Medium Load Member

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    Nov 3, 2011
    eh?
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    Thanks Darmok- I recently tried a few truck GPS and ended up getting the RM 510. Its features and accuracy on both sides of the border worked for me. I wish i would have had more time with the PCMIler as I'm sure I would like it also. The true test of course is when we report back in a year with our experiences.
     
  4. darmok

    darmok Bobtail Member

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    Mar 25, 2012
    Sault Ste Marie, ON
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    That is true.

    The one feature lacking on the PCM that i really like on the Garmin units is the search all city feature during the address look-up. We do a lot of Farms and Feed stores, and sometimes they fall outside of the City Boundaries and are actually listed on the GPS in a different jurisdiction . If the physical street doesn't come up in the selected city you can just do a search all city's and it will usually list it. With the PCM i presume you can just do a browse map and look around the general area to find the street. ( plus the wife on BBM with google maps at the ready helps too :biggrin_25525: )

    *edit* Also should add in the ETA listed on the PCM is usually inaccurate (always to the long side up to a couple hours) but is fairly close within the last 200 km or so as most of the reviews I've read reported. But you can look at the listed Distance and come up with a rough guestimate.

    *edit* Also props to Dieselboss (I clicked the thanks button on the thread i got this info from, for the truck setup)

     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2012
  5. darmok

    darmok Bobtail Member

    16
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    Mar 25, 2012
    Sault Ste Marie, ON
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    Found some pics.

    The Main reason the Cobra went back. Sure they tell you to keep lowering the truck specs until it routes you but that is unreasonable and was a big annoyance. also had the 4.0M overpass bugs the 2011.31 Garmin maps does and had a horribly touchy screen and missing a bunch of road info.

    [​IMG]

    The boss wanted REAL side by side comparison. Keep ur eyes on the road people. Bugs I am finding while route planning... Not while driving (except the now silenced sharp curve warning visible on the screen of the DEZL) and other audible prompts.

    [​IMG]

    The Wacky route from Boucherville PQ to Montreal-Est PQ on the PCM (it should have turned me right on Ave Durocher)

    [​IMG]

    The DEZL's Screen All the way down US 219 from just south of Buffalo to almost the PA line. within a minute of tapping close the box would just pop back up again.

    [​IMG]


    Just found the pics thought i would post them.
     
  6. Dieselboss

    Dieselboss Technology Contributor

    1,648
    1,364
    Feb 19, 2009
    DieselBoss.com
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    Darmok -

    Your post was spot-on. Well-stated and very accurate. I am going to just add a slight update to my original user guide that you copied here and a couple of reiterations of what you said:

    1. Volume: Absolutely true that if you are comparing a 4.3" PC Miler to a 5" Garmin (or any other 5") that the speaker output of the 4.3 will be lower. I found that the text-to-speech setting that I could understand when she speaks is to use the "UK English" voice called "Eleanor." If you do not care about it speaking the road names at each turn then use the US voice "Lisa" because she is the loudest and clearest of the non text-to-speech voices. Furthermore by plugging in an FM transmitter to the headphone jack of any GPS, broadcasting the voice through the truck stereo speakers solves the issue entirely. And naturally you would only need to switch your radio channel to the GPS voice when you are in town navigating and not on the open road where you know the next 500 miles isn't changing...

    2. Maps. Yes, PC Miler is very strong in Canada. Also, they do not make it very self-evident how to use the CoPilot Central app to get updates. If one has used it correctly the most current version in your "About CoPilot" screen should say ALK.NA.2011.04....

    3. Map feedbacks. You mentioned the Mapsure program and yes, I have found that every time I write a descriptive enough feedback that they reply back and the fix is in the next quarter update.

    4. ETA. The ETA number is VERY modulated by the speed settings that you told it in your profile. Look next to "freeways, divided highways, primary roads, etc" and see what you told it your average speeds are. Setting them faster will fix your "long-side up" comment. PC Miler has them set really low by default. You set those correctly for your driving habits and it will be spot on to the minute.

    5. Address lookup. PCM will do a surrounding town lookup automatically in most cases when you search a street name, but you are right that it doesn't have a "search surrounding towns" style of button.

    6. Change to the "weight per axle" note from my earlier setup guide. Under the 53' trailer typically you would set that to 34,000 lbs max axle weight because that is the normal max over a set of tandems unless you are hauling oversize. If you have a smaller trailer than a 53' then adjust that number to whatever your rig allows as a max weight on your heaviest axle when you go through the coops.

    7. Features. You are absolutely correct that both Garmin and Rand have more trucking-specific doodads and bells and whistles than PCM in the current models on the shelves at this writing. If the state mileage logging, fuel entry, driver daily log, POI amenities lookup, live traffic option, speed limits displayed, etc from my chart are show-stoppers, then the driver should lean more toward Garmin or Rand (and of those two, Rand in my opinion.) But if raw truck routing, unit cost, free and frequent map updates, clarity of roads and streets around you on the display, and by-FAR the fastest route calculation and re-calculation speeds are what they are looking for then PCM is definitely an option not to ignore.
     
    darmok Thanks this.
  7. darmok

    darmok Bobtail Member

    16
    2
    Mar 25, 2012
    Sault Ste Marie, ON
    0
    Dieselboss. Thank you for your post. I was just about to leave an update for both units while I'm doing this quick stopover at the house.

    As you mentioned with the ETA on the PCM.. I stumbled onto it by accident on my return trip while stopped at the truck stop. Poked around with the route settings and noticed the speeds were low. I set it to the proper speeds and when I saved and flipped back to the map screen, noticed the ETA matched the DEZL within 2 minutes. (it was 2 1/2 hours later than the Garmin before the settings were adjusted)

    I will reset the axle weights to your recommendation. I had started with it at 34k for a tandem grouping then changed it to 17k after reading your old setup guide.

    I've been playing around with the voices. I currently have it on Lisa but I had it on Eleanor and noticed it also changes what things are called. Exit's become Junctions, Ramps become Slip Roads etc, it was neat though. I don't have the volume up too loud on either unit. With both units yakkin at ya it starts sounding like here at the house when the wife's friends are over near exits and turns :biggrin_2559: . The FM transmitter idea you mentioned would be an absolutely brilliant and cost effective way of making any unit much much louder. Props on that one!

    I'm really enjoying using the PCM unit. I did update it to the latest Mapset when i first got it after reading a tutorial someone posted... in fact I think it might have even been you. They have a little way to go with their portal for first time use but the backup feature is great when you have the extra space kicking around on the Hard drive.... think mine was 1.63GB and took about 1/2 hour. The fact you have the option to back up the software as well as the mapset instead of just your favorites is nice.

    Oh just as an additional note I just checked my Mapsure account and it does have investigating listed beside a lot of the ones i had submitted :)


    Onto the DEZL.
    It did a system update, and a NTTS directory update but still no map update.

    The MyTrends is really starting to kick in with the 2nd and 3rd trips to stored favorites, which is a really nice feature especially if you take the same route to the yards/customers. Haven't had the slack in my schedule to put blind faith in the box and test out the TrafficTrends routing.

    The overall routing is still a bit less desirable than the PCM but far superior to the couple of Nuvi units the boss got to try before getting the DEZL to test. In the States I noticed there is a bit of info missing from the directories on the unit such as some weigh stations that have been around for years (If the Scale isn't listed in the directory it will not give you a proximity warning).

    All the toys work on it but i found out a couple quirks. One with the HOS Log timer. If you erase your profile then Re-add your profile later it notices there is an apparent database problem (like someone trying to hide something by erasing their old profile) and loads up the backup of your log files. The HOS warnings are set to give you plenty of time to find a place to shut it down for the night, and the fact it will tell you what the violation is by clicking details on the popup box are a plus. Another quirk is with the Sharp Curve warning. Up here on the Canadian side it warns about it on almost every curve in the road which is slightly annoying with the audible tone. Down Stateside it barely came on at all and doesn't appear to work for sharp ramps such as a 20mph cloverleaf I was on today..... Will definitely be keeping a halfhearted track of what it does and doesn't consider a sharp curve.

    Well... Time for Bed. If i find out anything else I'll sporadically put it in this thread here.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2012
    Dieselboss Thanks this.
  8. darmok

    darmok Bobtail Member

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    Mar 25, 2012
    Sault Ste Marie, ON
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    Posted this in a different thread. Decided to add it here to keep info somewhat centralized.

     
  9. blueleader

    blueleader Bobtail Member

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    Jul 11, 2010
    Alberta
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    Quote: "and the collection of usage data. When you register the device you do have the option of dis-allowing Garmin access to some if not all of the usage data."

    Only some of its reports may be disabled by users? What else is it reporting and to whom?

    Request to DieselBoss: Please add the presence or absence of this "feature" to your excellent GPS Comparison chart. Those of us who are concerned with privacy invasion by governments, online search companies, banks, etc. and now GPS makers will want to know which GPS units are reporting to Big Brother so that such units may be avoided.
     
  10. darmok

    darmok Bobtail Member

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    Mar 25, 2012
    Sault Ste Marie, ON
    0
    I know for sure if you don't opt out it will report how many time you clicked on an ad. They pop up once in a while and all mine have been for Shell Gasoline only so far.
     
  11. darmok

    darmok Bobtail Member

    16
    2
    Mar 25, 2012
    Sault Ste Marie, ON
    0
    Hello. Back with a quick update. Been running PCM only for a while and so far so good. It hasn't gotten me into any trouble. One of the other drivers has the DEZL now so I lent him the PCM for a trip and although he liked the routing and POI Database he preferred the DEZL's GUI because being a long term Garmin User he is more comfortable with it.

    As I have read before somewhere the lack of searchable favorites or the ability to group them is a downside but more than made up for by the ability to save them as POI's. I save all my stops under favorites but at the same time also save them in custom categories as POI's. EG. Reloads.. Verso... ABibow

    I have received reply's back from the Mapsure verifying that a bunch of the ones I submitted will be on the next Quarterly update. :biggrin_25519: .

    Chow for now.
     
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