Rand McNally intelliRoute TND 500

Thanks Don
I can read it just fine
rag

 

Left and right?

If you're talking about scrolling down then there's nothing I can do about that. There's just too much info to not have to scroll down but you shouldn't have to scroll left and right unless you don't have the window maximized, have your fonts set to very large, or an ungodly small screen resolution.

 

Following the link you put out as smaller, i too had to scroll left and right about 3 pages wide. Its not my resolution, I am using Mozilla Firefox?

 

Wow, I just got a page saying my last post would possibly take 24 hours to be posted due to key words triggering its need? Anyways Don i followed your review link as well and on my system i also had to scroll sideways. my Res is 1280x800 maybe its the browser? i use ff

 

Hey Mark, Ask RM to make a minor adjustment to the formula the unit uses to come up with arrival time. I dont expect perfection but when i am driving at milemarker 32 in AZ headed west to Los Angeles, there is now way it is going to only take me a hair less than 3.5 hours... that makes my average 61 with 170 miles in the 55 mph California.
I just ran a load from Lake Wales Fl to Mira Loma CA and the entire route the Unit was showing me getting to my destination MUCH MUCH earlier than reality or experience said I would.
I dont expect the Unit to be perfect but a bit more reflective of reality would be nice... In the past i have had units that showed the trip to take longer than it would and then the arrival time was adjusted by both my speed and proximity and it stayed close to accurate.
I would have to say the speed limit for the route to be traveled is a part of the equation used to estimate the time of Arrival, if that speed is not based on something as simple as a statewide truck speed versus the states Car limit, then it will be next to impossible to be anywhere near accurate.

 

Yes, RM is aware of this and they are working on a few ideas to get around the different speed limits of different states to provide you a more accurate ETA...

Thanks,
Mark

 

main screen\preferences\device settings\speed limit alert.

You can vary this to allow you a "comfort" zone before the speed limit sign on the map screen goes red.

For example:

The white speed limit sign shows 65 mph.. you had set the speed limit alert to 4 mph.

The white speed limit sign will stay white till you hit 70 mph then it will go red, if you do 69 mph the speed limit sign stays white..

This allows you a comfort zone above the posted local speed limit before it goes red letting you know you are above your comfort zone in MPH..

Thanks,
Mark

 

I purchased an Intelliroute TND500 unit, Just after they had been released.

I have had garmin units and I also have tried the Goodyear branded GX500Y unit.
I can not recommend the Goodyear branded unit. Over all just not what it claims to be.

After some six plus weeks with the unit. I have found the unit to be lacking in several areas.
I have been on the phone and e-mail as well as sending in a number of logs and all sorts of other things to Rand McNally.

Some of the things I have experienced.

The operations/ owners manual shows and lists things that are not on the unit.

Keyboard layout change. I like qwerty keyboards. Not available on unit.
Voice choices. Only one voice, hard to understand. No other choices available.
It also shows a “route via” button. Not on unit. This would be nice to have.

Some Minor nits on the unit.

Unit volume can be very loud, but distorted and hard to understand.

Put the “Back” buttons in the same place

Main map screen is too cluttered with all the icons. I could do without the speed limit one.

When looking at the “history” it only lists locations, does not show miles you are from that location.

If you enter a location and then choose “go to map” when you go back, it takes you to the main map page and looses all the information you just entered. So you have to start over on address entry.

You can not force a search by skipping a city during address entry. Not all street address' are the same as mailing address'. Sometimes they are listed as different cities. I have run into this several times.
If there is a way to search this, I have yet to find it.

The road names it uses are AKA's in a lot of places. If I am on I-40, I want it to say I-40, not the purple heart trail or some other thing. Please use Highway numbers for numbered highways. I have run into this more than I care to mention. The AKA's are not what is on the road signs.


Routings are questionable.
I have noted that both fastest and shortest are the same routes.
And in a few cases where they did come up as different, shortest actually was 50 plus miles longer than fastest setting. ????

A number of times, the unit has calculated routes that are way off. Like 300 miles off.

It has routed me to restricted roads. The last ones are CA36 and CA32. There have been others and they have been reported via the unit.

Several times it has wanted to route via surface streets rather than keep you on a big road.
Sometimes when the route uses a highway that loops around a city, it will route you across the city via surface streets, Or if you need to go on that highway from a stop instead of two blocks back to the same highway.

Major problems and serious nits about the unit.

It takes a very very very long time to see and recognize satellites on start up. It has taken as much as 15 minutes. The average is about 8. Even when standing outside the truck in clear areas.

Calculating routes. Some times it is just a minute(rare), most of the time it is closer to 6 or 7 for the map route. The turn list has been as much as 25 minutes. The POI list a bit longer at 35 to 40.

Very slow to recalculate any route or detours.

A number of times I have the “No legal truck routing available” warning pop up. Also the “no routing information” warning.

Why I get these I don't know. Sometimes it is while sitting, other times it is rolling. No set pattern to them. The unit usually shuts down or goes to the map.

Unit locking up all the time. Just stops working. Could be while rolling, could be during first route calculation, could be on a recalculate. Never can tell when it is going to happen. Only way you can tell is the screen stops scrolling and miles stop changing or the calculating bar stops for a long time.

Only way to fix is to use reset button on back of unit.

Headings. I have noted the compass headings displayed are not very accurate. A number of times it shows me heading north, when I am heading south. If you stop, Like pulling into a rest area. it seems to loose its direction. This will trigger a route recalculate in some cases.

Random route recalculations. Why it does this I am not sure. Just going down the road, no stops or direction changes, just does it.

Heres another good one. Have it say I am 735 miles from destination, then recalculate and show that I am now 966 miles from destination. ????

WISH LIST.

The unit to work

Ability to enter and edit address book from computer TND Dock app.

External antenna. ( should come with unit at this price )

Better speaker. (larger or 2 of them or?)


As you can probably tell, I am not very happy with this unit. I purchased it on the reputation of Rand McNally products. At $499.00, this was not a cheap unit. I understand that any new product can have problems. The problems this unit has displayed are way outside what could be expected.

I do not trust the unit to provide reasonably accurate information. I still run my old Garmin C330 along with it. While the Garmin is not perfect, it sure is a lot more accurate the the TND500.

The unit is quite a disappointment. It failed to meet moderate expectations, and fails to perform at the most inconvenient times. This was supposed to be a tool to help, not hinder.

This product has greatly diminished my trust in Rand McNally.

At this point I have had the unit too long to return it for a refund or exchange. So now it seems that I am stuck with it. I hope they can get this thing working, was a lot of money spent on something I can't trust to do it's job.


When others ask me about it, I tell them that I can not recommend the product.

 

whew, that seems like a long list. im sure mark will get u some good feedback on that one. i know ive had my unit for awhile and havent had any of those problems you are having. im sure RM will do all they can to address these problems!

 

whew... what a list to wake up too....

1. are you on 1392 version ?

2. Some items in the manual were in the unit, but not working at time of production so RM pulled off the unit and will be putting back.

3. QWERTY keyboard is in next version - working

4. Voices - on features list

5. Volume - put one notch below max - RM is looking at that also. Amp in unit has more power than normal units.

6. Screen layouts - buttons were tried to be in same location, but RM tested screens as to where users usually expected buttons to be. This has also to do with what is on that screen as to where available screen space is shown. This was not just thrown together.

7. Main map screen - next version you have the option of not having the speed limit sign. As to rest, RM tried to put the data on the screen that you would need without overlaying the map. You have to remember RM has to cater to the overall customer in designing.

8. History - History is just a list of prior points you have been. To show mileage would mean that the unit would have to constantly calculate each point in history all the time while you are moving. - not a feasible request. What if you have 50 items in history? This constant calculating would simply bog the unit down.

9. Go to map - yes RM is aware of that. Is being looked at.

10. RM asks you to enter city first. This narrows down same name cities then by state which it then asks you which state. Faster search for Database. But, good Idea that RM may include a search by state also.
The ones you have run into, I would like to know those if you please.

11. Actual Road names - this has been noted to RM before, and they are looking at it.

12. Shortest routing - a few days ago I posted to stay in fastest. An issue was found if you put any to AVOID as to U-turns, Ferry's or Tollroads. This may be causing your issues in this area.

13. Calculated routes off - if you are not on ver 1392 then you need to update, if you are on 1392 then let me know your starting point/ending points.

14. If it routes you to restricted routes, and the TND does not tell you they are restricted, then let RM know. Local and state governments sometimes mark roads as restricted, but fail to forward any information to the mapping companies. RM has found this many times. Once they verify that the road is restricted they update their map data.

15. routing surface streets - sounds like you are in shortest with avoids set. see number 12.

16. Satellites- could depend on the placement of the unit inside your truck. you may have to try several locations. The unit should be mounted as to be as vertical as possible. Make sure it is not next to other navigation units as they can interfere with each other. I run mine inside a house and find about 3-4 min average to see more than 5 satellites. Will also depend what part of the country you are in and what is around you - ie tall buildings.

17. Calculating routes - depends on the length of the route. the longer the route or where you are routed too can affect the calculating time.

18. Turn list - Granted the turn list is seemingly slow. To create the turn list the unit has to first paint the map details. The more you are zoomed in the more map details. Once the map details are painted on the screen by layers then the turn list is created.

19. POI's - Sounds like you are picking on route. The longer the route the more POI's it has to search for. Try finding all POI's over a 1000 mile route in less than a few minutes. If you pick on route, try by city instead. Narrower search pattern. And that is what this is all about. Search patterns.

20. No legal truck routing available - Sounds like the current road is marked as non-truck friendly in the database, but the physically road is not marked. Again - bad data. Forward to RM so they can verify.

21. Unit locking up - see item 12.

22. Headings - do you have a physical compass in the truck? Even though the road may show you going south the road may not be physically going south. What the TND shows you is your physical location in regards to your truck placement. Are you in Heading up or North up on the unit?

23. Recalculations - Since the TND is GPS driven, it you deviate x amount from the physical road then the TND will think you are going in a different direction. A rest area is putting you sometimes over 100 feet from the physical freeway where in the database the road is geo-coded as to Lat/Long.

24. Random Recalculations. The TND is GPS driven. Depending on your location it may sense you are off your route, hence a recalculation. Just updating in the unit as to where you are in reference to the road.

25. Sounds like you are on version 1372 if given conflicting mileage.

26. Edit address book - on feature list.

27. External Antenna - All navigation units do not have an external antenna as a included item. Very few trucks would require one or depending on your location in the US or Canada.

28. Speaker - This unit has the largest in the navigation units on the market now. Adding a bigger one would add to the cost factors of the unit. You do have an external jack on the right side of the unit to plug into your existing radio.

In a car navigation device you have to understand a car can go anywhere, hence loose coding. In a Truck specfic navigation device you have to now look at each road and create coding to include this. Truck specfic navigation devices have many more millions lines of code to do this and require finer tweaking on how they select roadways.

I get beta version almost every other day to test, but I have to test each beta version like it is the first since a change in coding may affect other modules in the new code. It takes many hours of sitting and checking every feature out and then taking it on the road. RM has many beta testers constantly sending in data. All this is compliled and now RM has to put each item in a priority list. Does RM have unlimited funding -- no. They run on a budget like all companies.

So, little things like voices may be on the feature list, but is it a high priority?

Your input is valuable each and everytime you see something not correct as in roadway markings or in the unit itself.

If you send in information, be sure to include State\city\roadway\direction
mm or exit\ and a description of the issue.

For example - I found a scale missing on I 10. - nothing for RM to go on.

So, your input good or bad is never ignored. If you seem to have constant problems with your unit I am on this forum daily and my E-mail is rmleadbetatester at gmail. I have no issues having users call me and working with them until we resolve the TND issue. I am here for you the professional driver and Yes I do hold a current CDL.

Thanks,
Mark