Rand McNally TND 700

Just purchased the TND 700. I've been using Co-Pilot laptop both version 9 and 11 for 3 years. After looking at and reading about the RM I took the plunge and bought it. Absolutely no comparison, the 700 blows ALK right out of the water. It has some mistakes (road named wrong, speed limit) but overall it is an outstanding unit that will be in my truck from now on. Would like to suggest the addition of zip codes to the address search as it would make destinations with multiple same named cities in the state much easier.

 

If you find roads named wrong or any other concerns you can send then to me via E-mail. Mostly this is in the mapping database incorrect.

The speed limits will be corrected also with the next mapping update.

Zip codes are being looked at.

Thanks,
mark

 

Hey Mark,

I bought the TND 700 about a month ago before going to train at my company. Anyway, I've been keeping up with all of the updates & everything was fine until today. When I pluged it into my laptop (like always) the lap top brought up an error stating that the USP had some kind of power surge. Then, when The 700 stated that it was connected, on the laptop, it stated that it wasn't. Then, On the 700 it pops up on the screen that a system file was missing (Had a big orange triangle) then I got the blue screen of death on my laptop & it completely reset itself.

Since the laptop was rebooting, I went ahead & unplugged the USB from the 700. Tried to see if I could at least start up the 700. NOPE!! System file missing. I cant even get this to connext to try to restore it from one of the back ups. What's wrong here? Is there a fix for this or am I going to have to send this thing back in? Cause if so, It's going to be a while before I get back home to get the reciept from where I bought it from Amazon.com. I have all of the original pacaging with me as I've kept it in its box & stuff so that I would have it ready for when I got my truck.

Can you help me?

 

I'd drop him a PM on that one as well - should be able to call in to their support team and reflash the software on the road. Good luck and best to you.

 

Definitely the Rand. It has the most features by far for trucker. great tools, especially for independents. i.e.. Tracks miles in each state and helps determine profit for loads and the 7" high definition screen is outstanding.

 

This is caused by files being corrupted and it is best to get the unit exchanged. If you have another unit available you can copy the files from it after you format the Rand drive. You must format it to get rid of the corrupted files, as you cannot delete them. I think the underlying problem is with the media of the TND drive, especially when they first came out. The new ones are supposed to have fixed this.

 

Write that suggestion up using the TND docking station and send it to Rand.

 

Personally I have tested the Rand McNally TND700 right along side my Garmin (for auto) and it held its own. I also tested the TND500, which acts exactly like the 700 and did not experience any of the problems Dead Fish has written about. Maybe he got a bad unit, or maybe the original units were bad, but none of those problems exist in the units being made today. Updating does not take forever, although the Garmin 465T updates do. It is because the update wipes out the unit and reloads everything, whereas the Rand just uploads the new changes. Rand has the most features like you can just tap on a road to avoid it, which none of of the others have (I don't think) I looked and tested at all of the Trucker GPS and talked to a lot of drivers about each one. The best all around seem to be the Rand McNally and the Cobra and maybe PC Miler. The Co-Pilot has gotten behind in MAPs and I do not think they will fixing that soon. All of the GPS for Trucks are dynamic and receive continuous updates. They keep getting better. Don at Dieselboss probably has the most in-depth feature comparison
Dieselboss

Comparison Chart http://www.dieselboss.com/truck_gps_review_features.htm

 

Close -

When you get the error "system files missing", the files became corrupted during a failure to stop the read\write process during shutdown. Rand has safeguards in place in the code, but some do get by.

Reformatting and copying over will not work. You need to flash the firmware first then copy the files back.

Formatting you have to be careful. The units are a FAT 16, XP will format a FAT 16, but Vista and Win7 format FAT 32. You have to use a command window and use dos commands to format FAT 16 on a Vista or Win7 machine.

A FAT is basically a directory of where each "part" of a file is located on the "drive". Files are not written together. They are "tossed" onto the drive and where they are is recorded on the FAT table.

If the FAT table is damaged, then the computer has no idea of where anything is on the "drive".

Flashing the TND will recover the TND. To Flash a TND I need to know the serial number (on the back of the TND), as the Flashes are different for each model.

I suggest anyone having an TND to copy the TND files from the TND to your computer. Thus if your TND does fail due to a "system files missing" error I can send you the Flash via the internet. I can send any file, but the NaviMaps take time... so best to copy all the files from the TND to your computer...

I am currently building a "internet" drive so to speak. All the files\OS's will be on it. You simply notify me and I will send you a link to the drive. You can download the files\OS you need and follow the documentation.

Thanks,
Mark

 

This was brought up on the support thread. That feature is being working on currently.

Thanks,
Mark