Rand McNally intelliRoute TND 500

Kind of strange how you say nothing works while my experience was completely the opposite. Everything I tried worked just as it was supposed to. The only issue so far is when I went on Route 16 and 28, it didnt put me on these routes but I took them by choice. What it did do was say they were restricted or unadvised, which should not be the case according to the MCRA. Other then that the routing was just fine.

 

It seems like "customers" have found that this unit is the worst. But on the other hand the testers say that it does what it promised. I'd really like people to be honest here and say if all they said about the unit is actually put together

 

all I know is that the teletype by Alk is trash...........I placed mine under my tandems to "corrrrrrrect" it. I use my map and the Pc miler gps, it works alright but I am interested in the Rand mc

 

I am going to ask a few questions and point out a few things.

1. You got one of the first ones shipped. Did you do any updates since the day you got your unit?

2. What version number is your unit currently on?

3. options for routing - Fastest/shortest. do we need to add medium route? What other type of routing would you need? Fastest will usually keep you to major roads, longer but faster due to higher speeds. Shortest will usually keep you on secondary roads, shorter but longer time due to speed of secondary roads, local traffic and towns in route.

4. Seeing only first segment of a Multi-stop trip. Has been discussed and is in the hands of RM.

5. The unit on the turn - by - turn listing shows you construction in that segment of the route. If you wish to detour then go to the cog (bottom left) and select the segment you wish to avoid.

6. Will number 5 be improved - cannot say (NDA), but RM has had it noted.

7. IFTA mileage, currently you cannot clear, but RM has things in the works for the IFTA part of this unit.

8. Odometers, you can clear, simply tap on the odometer you wish to clear and read the next screen.

9. Checking a route, if you use the Turn - by - turn listing, yes it drags as you scroll down the routing, RM is aware of this.

10. Note, when you select a route and start the route, the unit actually plans the entire route from where you sit to the location you entered. Some other companies only will do the first couple of hundred miles. Rand does the complete route.

11. The fact that you were able to go between screens and do various things on each screen, shows the unit does work.

12. kilroy2963 was advised that the route he wanted to actually go on was truck restricted. The unit was advising him, not routing him. This user chose to ignore the unit and go on these routes. Now this user also used common sense and looked at the MCRA, the MCRA does not show as restricted, so sounds like a section of a road got tagged wrong. Is this RM fault? nope. RM inputs what the states send them, sounds like a DB (database) error. Simply report it to RM via "Tell Rand".

13. The selling price is $499.99, not in the thousands.

14. Where am I, This production version does not have a physcial button, but if you are in a route,

a. simple click on the white bar on the bottom of the screen and toggle it (3 positions), one of the positions is city/state, this changes on the fly as you drive, Does not require you leaving the current map screen.

b. You can also if you are shut down, go to any screen POI, Destination, etc and click on city center. The next screen will show you the city/state you are in the location of. The one below that is the last city/state you entered.

c. You can also click on the cog (bottom left) and the next screen shows you current location and also what is ahead. (upper right). Now also in this screen if you are in a business area and are looking for a certain building postal number, look in this area and you will see the building numbers appear as you pass each building. This way you can see when you are getting close to your building you need. No other unit has this.

15. Rerouting does work, If you pass your exit it will reroute you to the nearest legal truck road so you can get turned around safely.

16. Nuudge you say you have been routed down restricted roads, why not post those roads as in the actual name of the road? Have you gone into "tell Rand" and let them know about it, or you do not wish to help out your fellow drivers?

17. When you "Tell Rand" the lat/long is send along with any data you input. Do they get read - yes, by whom - very senior staff who oversee this unit.

18. Do your suggestions/improvements/mis-routing get acted upon - yes, do this in a heartbeat - no,, they research the data you have sent. They run it on a emulator running the same software as you have. They see what the software does. If it is wrong then they take the steps to correct the software.

19. Do you see the corrections on your update? If it involves mapping. this is on your external SD Card. Because this data is huge - 2.5 gb, it would eat up a lot of your bandwidth. I am unaware of how RM will get this data to you. I know I have to have the SD card send to me when the mapping database changes.

20. Allow or advoid roads - am I missing something here? either i want to go on that road or do not want that road. I can not think of any other option except flying above the road.

21. I am the lead Beta Tester and if you need to contact me, then email me at rmleadbetatester at Gmail.

22. Is this unit perfect - no. Did RM try to build a prototype of a Garmin - no. If you favor your Garmin or other navigation device, because of it's one qualifing feature of the "where am I" button, then by all means endulge yourself.

23. Is RM working on other features - yes, is RM finetuning routing - yes.

24. Nothing can be perfect when out of the box. The next airplane you get on. Does the software in the ####pit have bugs - yes. You trust your life to the software while on that plane?

25. We as Beta testers try to find as many of the issues in the unit as possible, once we collect the data it is forwarded to RM, then they have to try to find the issue or duplicate it so they can see where in the code they might have overlooked something. This unit has several million lines of code. If you have written code you know that each module interacts with other modules. Mistakes will be made, because humans are putting in the data. I have not yet found a perfect human being, have you?

26. As Beta testers we are bound by a legal binding NDA. meaning we can only talk about what has been released to the public. Do we know more than we are saying - yes, because we are Beta Testers we get BETA versions of code to test, not production versions. The BETA Version will never be released to the public for general use.

27. If you have not updated your unit, then please do so. If you feel you unit has a problem, contact me.

28. Is RM working on a solution to the Mac issue - yes. We hope to have a solution shortly. Will questions be asked on this forum about Mac's, probably, but to a limited degree. I am not a Mac user and I may need input for the die-hard Mac users.

29. Rand McNally is committed to the Professional truck driver. Your input about bad routing and other things you may find will only make this unit stronger for your fellow drivers and yourself.

30. If you are okay with the navigation unit you have, then by all means enjoy it. But ask yourself. Are on any of these threads the company I bought from asking or taking questions from the market they are selling too? How easy are my updates? Do I have to spend countless hours on the internet trying to see if their is an update. Then they mail to your house, and you are on the road, not due home for 4 more weeks.

31. "Rand McNally" is here live and in person on this thread.

have a nice night,
mark

 

I have been in electronics for 30 years. I fixed radio's down to component level, repaired circuit cards 3-4 layers deep. I hold a high standard and I do not waiver in my testing. If something is wrong, then I submit it. But, I cannot control the business end of the unit.

I am highly critical in my testing, other Beta testers here can attest to that.

I have knowledge of issues, but I cannot put out to the public. If the unit does not have a feature, "where am I", we have several different ways to find that with a minimum button pushing.

Everything and I mean everything in the TND 500 was asked to the Beta testers, All of us are Professional Drivers. The Professional drivers set the standard and RM is listening to us.

How does the unit compare to other units out there? I can say this, for the first release of the TND 500, we set standards the other companies have to catch up too.

The entire unit was build with the truck in mind. It was not a overlay of truck data on a car unit. The car mode is in the unit, but the unit is a TRUCK unit first and foremost.

Thanks,
Mark

 

sorry long day... 650 mile trip today tesing beta versions.

14c.. should be upper left on the screen after you tap on the cog on the map screen.

19. I have been testing this unit for 10 months, so yes their has been changes in the data on the external SD card. The production mapping is the latest data, all Beta testers are on the same mapping on the external SD Card as the general public.

 

how do you become a tester? $500 seems a little steep

 

Plus shipping

 

nice try..lol... testers are asked to become testers for a certain skill, driving skill, area they run in, etc.. no set criteria or check box.

Beta Testing takes up drivers time when they are shtdn. They have info to pass on, static testing,,etc..

All the Beta Testers in this are not here for units to test... we are in it to improve a navigation unit that was not available to the professional driver.

All of us have a desire to make this product the best it can be and then better.

Mark

 

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where did you buy yours from?