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

So Rand adds more eye candy to the TND. Wonderful

When is the updated map database going to be available?

 

I have not contacted Rand. This just happened two days ago.
My assumption is (and I could be wrong), this is not a 'defect in workmanship', but rather an accident, and as such, not subject to a warranty claim.
The mini USB port on the TND itself is loose, having been tweaked by the leverage of the power cord when the bill of my hat hit it.
The length of the power stub sticking out from the side is significant in comparison to the base that supports the female end of the connector.
Yes, I am an engineer by training, however not a mechanical engineer.
That doesn't have anything to do with anything, however.
On my unit, it's the base female mini USB port that is damaged, not the power cord. It will require sending the unit into a repair facility, then their returning it to a predesignated location.
In my case, the only place I can guarantee I'll be is my home terminal in Dallas every 90 days where I'm required to have my blood pressure checked. Since I just left the yard two days ago, I won't expect to be anyplace to receive anything for 88 more days (give or take).
I am just SOL.
Just for the record, even tho I have complained on this forum, I like the unit and have faith in Rand making this everything most of us hope for. I have been in the computer industry and know the problems with bringing out a new product and the ensuing process of making it market worthy.
If Rand is willing to cover my unit under warranty, I would be more than pleased.

 

I have been around computers for my entire life. just tossing a hat and hitting the plug would NOT break it nor make it loose. Now if you THREW it and it hit it with force then possibly. but no just tossing a hat onto a dash unless you threw it from the ground like a ball player will not break a usb plug. i am very very hard on my electronics. If something is gonna break i am the man for the job. i have broken software, hardware, tools, pretty much anything i touch. makes me a good beta tester. makes me a bad repair man.

 

But the keyword you say is POSTED SPEED. I cannot go the posted speed limit on 90% of the roads. As i have said before my governed speed is 67 or 64. So if its calculating my speed based on 75 and im only going 64 the ETA is off. Hitting a button to make my eta longer or shorter doesn't really do anything for me honestly. All it does is change the time on the gps which dont help the real world time at all. Guess ill have to not use the time on the unit and just use the miles and figure up my own time as it doesn't seem to be able to calculate according to MY speed. posted speed is worthless in my case. now if i were able to run the posted speed limit then that would be great.

 

Speaking of nonsense.

Back at you.

Nothing to do with my point.

Because they bought a cheap piece of crap cord. That's what cheap cords do. For reference, the 465t has a 90 on it that has no problems.

I don't need to be on any "team" to state the obvious.

Yes, it can. The TND is not the only device that uses mini usb. I've several devices break in various manners because that little plug is weak by design.

Yes. It's called the "I'm not a ####### moron" lab.

Pure luck.

Not really. It read like the plug was damaged and you brought up the cord failures. I covered both.

I'm not trying to pick a fight over this but telling me, a consumer, that I have no idea what I'm talking about because I don't have a corporate funded research lab of my own is insulting.

 

No. That's not what I'm saying. The argument is about ETA and how off it can get if you don't drive the posted speed.
It happened, that on a 700 miles long trip TND was initially 2 hours off. It was STILL off (although not 2 hours) while I was pulling in to the programmed stop!

Yes, Google does not take into account truck restrictions in routing. Also it doesn't have all the bells and whistles TND has. But it NEVER routed me off the interstate for no reason and then, after it was done having fun with me, turned me back on. Also it NEVER got me to go past the correct exit only to turn me around and go back (I've wasted over 20 miles before quickly realizing I can't trust it) And it NEVER EVER tried to make me to do U-turn.
TND and Garmin does that constantly even with "avoid u-turns" ticked.
While I'm not saying that Google is perfect, it's routing algorythms are far superior to every and each expensive standalone GPS unit I've tried.
I recommend, If you have the opportunity (I.E. any Android cellphone), try to run it along with your GPS unit. You'll be amazed how good it is without having to shell out a penny.
Oh one more thing. It will find your shipper or receiver (or truck stop) by typing (or saying) its business NAME + city. It will find its EXACT location, street view will help you to find the correct truck entrance and even their phone # (if you don't have one/have wrong one) AND it has live traffic feed which doesn't suck.
I'm talking about Android version which is the only version, I know for sure, has both Google Maps AND Google Navigation.
AFAIK iPhone or Windows Mobile have only Google Maps which is not the same.
BTW, in case someone will argue that it'll work only with data connection... true to some extend. You'll have to be able to access the internet initially to calculate the route. Then you can drive in boonies all day long without the Internet. Your route will be still there and working perfectly good as long as it won't have to recalculate (needs internet for that) and you won't have the satellite imagery layer. The screen will basically revert to what we are used to see now with standalone units. You'll still see streets with their names along your route too.

 

ok i guess my main gripe with the eta is that is going off a FIXED speed. only under perfect condition will you ever go a posted speed limit for your entire trip. you have traffic, cars on the side you have to get over for, city driving, and in my case governed trucks. so to base a eta off a speed that will never happen is just crazy in my book. even my $100 tomtom bases its eta off the CURRENT speed of the vehicle. i would think for $500 my tnd 700 would be able to do that. if it doesn't it really really needs to. look toward the tomtom for features as tomtom is a leader in car based gps. the ability to customize your gps is great. something the tnd doesn't have. im not talking custom maps and overlays im talking like voices and colors. something that says "this is MINE and its different from YOURS." ok that's my.02 for today. if i think of anything else i will post later.

 

The female usb port is a VERY WEAK point on my 700. I had mine for 10 days when I updated via of my laptop. Immediately the sound went from great to impossible to understand. The next day it stated battery low and I started to wiggle the cigarette plugin and then discovered the female usb port was half way out of unit. Rand told me to take it back to Pilot where I bought it and Pilot told me I had to send it in. Now I'm just waiting for replacement to arrive. First GPS I've owned but like it a lot better than some I've been around.

 

I have had mine since Oct of last year.
I have had no issue with the mini USB, and I do not have a straight plug.
My plug is angled toward the rear of the unit.
I do not know if they just changed the design later or what, but I have had 0 issues with it physically. My issues have all been software related.
So far it is dealing with vibration well also. I have almost 120,000 miles on it now.