Suppport Thread for the TND 500, TND 700 or future Rand McNally products.

Mistakes happen, especially in high traffic situations. This isn't a discussion of I should be using my map all the time. Yes writing it down manually first helps but if you miss a turn or go down the wrong road, I'd like to see you flop out your big ole large scale Atlas while in traffic to figure out how to get out of the current situation.

 

You just answered your own question...

 

This is a $399 piece of professional equipment. Thats like what if cell phone, when you callef a number, called someone else instead? Maybe you should be writing a letter instead of calling the person right?

or in the computing world. If a student was doing their report on ms word and then their computer crashes. They should have wrote a paper rough draft right? This is the real world, who does that?

i'm simply just saying why is this device having so many issues? GPS has been out for a good while now, there should be no guess games right? Not only that but RMs selling
point is that they've driven otr with drivers and they know the conditions. Before launching the device, it should have been tested. If it was "Trucker testes, trucker approved" then what type of trucker was the tester?

when I buy an Apple product, yes its expensive but I can afford it. But the
product functions just like it says with no issue. Yes there are times when bogus updates occur and mess up crap, but it actually gets repaired or improved. Why is this any different?

 

There is no such thing as software without glitches...nowhere..at least not at a price point of less than 5 figures.

 

With a due respect, I want to make 2 comments to what you said here.

1. The 720 and 520 models have been virtually issue-free for us as a retailer and support center. In fact they have been the most reliable trucking specific models from any manufacturer that we have ever seen to date. And this is coming from a guy who has every truck model, not just "brands" but "models" too, ever made in his office and on the road (Garmin, Rand, PC Miler, Cobra, WorldNav, Magellan.) It kinda does just "work."
And if you are including "map data" in with issues then they are ahead of the curve there too generally. You can always find where one brand falls down and the other stands up in a particular city, or even a few blocks. But overall, Rand has done a pretty stellar job in just a few short years against long-standing companies like PC Miler and Garmin. Map data will ALWAYS be imperfect, and not just for truck-specific units - but exponentially more-so of a struggle for truck-specific routes. The leader will always be the one that makes the best overall choices on routes (based on what you set in your settings) and the latest Rand data is very good.

2. I have seen multiple, and rather highly public, stumbles on my Apple "i" devices in the last 2 years. The iPhone 4 lost signal unless you put a rubber bumper on it. The first go-round for Siri fell flat down and was largely useless until an OS revamp. Huge battery drain issues on iPad and iPhone with iOS 6 updates. Their iCloud system has had several major outages lately. They changed connectors and made all previous doo-dad peripherals, speakers, docks, and accessories useless if you got the newer iPhone or newer iPad. Bluetooth issues, ring vibration issues. My opinion is that by-and-large Apple makes very good stuff, don't get me wrong. All I am saying is that using them as a blanket example of something that "just functions like it says with no issues" may be a bit of a stretch.

PS - apologies to the OP and users. I know that we're not supposed to feed a support thread with opinion pieces.

 

I went ahead and bought the TND 720 at Loves Truck Stop.I'm not gonna read through this thread and let my head get filled up with others experience. I'll give this a shot for a week or two and see if this is a keeper or not. Truck stops have great return policies, they know you want to try out the different brands to see which is best so even if I return this and decide the competition just isn't where it needs to be, I can go back to this. I'm gonna update my unit right now as we speak.

 

Well after 3 years of use my TND 500 has died on me. Just wondering if I should pitch it or is there a way of saving it? I know the battery has not held a charge for anymore than a few minutes when left unplug and I have to leave it plugged in all the time to use it ( been like that for a year or more)

What happened was the power cable came unplugged form the cigarette lighter socket and the TND 500 battery went flat and turned off. I plugged it back in as I have done many times before and it would not boot up any further than the main screen (Then one with a picture of the truck in the sunset) and just sits there and does nothing else. I have since plugged it in to my laptop and my desktop pc and I get a message telling me that the usb device is not recognized and may have malfunctioned. My question...is it junk or can it be saved?

 

Just keep an open mind and don't be in a hurry to return it when it frustrates you which it will. There is a learning curve to master. Best advice is, just play with it. Lots of features you might never see nor use if you don't. Worse comes to worse and you screw up, just reset it and start a new. It's pretty hard to mess these up unless you get into the file structures or something. And I wouldn't do that unless or until Mark tells you to do so. Enjoy.

Mark