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

Once I opened the wifi through settings, it showed up on the map. However, my original problem still exists. In fact, 20 miles into my day, it told me end of driving day. No stop. I manually reset everything beforehand.

 

This is a preliminary review, I have been using the 720 for about 3 weeks. I chose the Rand McNally TND 720 for several reasons:

• My paper Road Atlas is from RMN, so there's that. If this is the industry standard, then I imagine their GPS unit falls into the same category.
• I have gotten at least three strong recommendations from other drivers I've met that this is the GPS you want as a truck driver.
• I have seen outstanding support in these forums from Mark and DieselBoss--and that is very important. Good support means they care about the end product and the end user.
• Says it will route you properly for HAZMAT loads and Truck Restricted roads (probably the number 1 reason I bought this).
• The labels and text are pretty large, which really helps usability for people with less than perfect eyesight.

So, far, it has proven to be reliable and accurate. I have very little experience with GPS units--other than the Navigo that comes with the qualcomm, I have never used one before. I always preferred maps because when I travel, I like a little adventure and GPS takes all the fun out of it. But now that I travel for a living, I don't want to screw around and waste time, and I cannot pull my truck over and turn it around on a dime like I can my Suzuki motorcycle. So, time to get serious and use a tool for navuagtion that keeps me posted on all upcoming turns, exits, and roads.

Pros:

• The hardware is plenty powerful--zooming in and out is really fast, calculating routes happens in about 12 seconds or less.
• The controls and options are very intuitive. Which is good, because there really isn't much documentation (until you download the pdf manual).
• You can switch to North is up, Heading is up very easily. I like this because I can relate better to North is up for the overall route, and switch to Heading is up for handling numerous turns in a short distance.
• It helps you with posted speed limits.
• It has an option to specify HAZMAT loaded, which seems to keep you off NO HC routes and out of big city centers. I have not had much experience using this feature, maybe used it twice, but so far, so good.
• The touch sensitivity is good.

Cons:

• Occasionally cannot find the street number I am looking for, it will tell me the address is out of range. Not sure if this is a RMN issue or something with the destination address, but Google Maps and Navigo both find them.
• Does not show smaller roads when zoomed out to .3 and .7 mile settings. I suppose this is part of the data management, but I would like it better if the unit displayed more roads at these levels. I don't know if competing GPS units do this any better than the 720, but I am used to Google Maps and their amazing level of detail.
• No Zoom on the trip summary page.

Bear in mind, I consider myself still learning to use this unit so there may be something that I am unaware of that would remedy the Cons I have listed.

Things I would like to see in an update or the 730 model when it comes out:

• The route color that shows your route, would like the part that you have already traveled to go away/disappear. So, the route color would only show where you are going, not where you have been. This would help a lot on places like spaghetti bowl loops and exits where you have to go around and around to get on a freeway. Right now all I see is purple figure eights, which one is where I have been, and which is where I am going...?
• Trip Summary with zoom
• When approaching an exit, the 720 switches to a representation of the exit ramp -- Junction View. I would like the Exit number to be included in the info, as it is when it is showing the map view.
• A DIM button, on the left corner opposite from the Power button, so I could super dim the display about 90%. Even at night, the unit is a distraction for me and when I know I have 50 miles until the next change, I would like to dim the display more.
• Option to mount the unit in Portait mode, so I could see more of the road ahead on the map. So far, all the GPSs I've seen are only in Landscape orientation, which probably has it reasons such as text always runs left to right. But in Portrait orientation, more of the map could be displayed, even if the text is reduced. At least it could be an option.
• Destination history should be searchable, and sortable by state. And there should be a lot more memory for destinations, I want to save the last 500 or so
• The best possible info on truck restricted, weight restricted, and HAZMAT restricted roads available.

As stated above, one of the most promising aspects of this unit is the noticeably active support. I really like being part of a "team" that is striving to produce the best results, and RMN seems to be serious about updates, feedback, and making this GPS the best there is for truckers. I will use the Tell Rand McNally feature to help with anything I come across, and if other users are doing this and RMN is keeping up with the feedback, this GPS will only get better and better.

As I get more use out of this GPS, I will add to this review.

thanks!
Stuka

 

Things I would like to see in an update or the 730 model when it comes out:

• The route color that shows your route, would like the part that you have already traveled to go disappear. So, the route color would only show where you are going, not where you have been. This would help a lot on places like spaghetti bowl loops and exits where you have to go around and around to get on a freeway. Right now all I see is purple figure eights, which one is where I have been, and which is where I am going...? This can already be changed in route setting page
• Trip Summary with zoom I want that one to.
• When approaching an exit, the 720 switches to a representation of the exit ramp. I would like the Exit number to be included in the info, as it is when it is showing the map view. Yea, would be nice
• And DIM button, on the left corner opposite from the Power button, so I could super dim the display about 90%. Even at night, the unit is a distraction for me and when I know I have 50 miles until the next change, I would like to dim the display more. can dim as needed in settings, although its more steps then a dim button
• Option to mount the unit in Portait mode, so I could see more of the road ahead on the map. So far, all the GPSs I've seen are only in Landscape orientation, which probably has it reasons such as text always runs left to right. But in Portrait orientation, more of the map could be displayed, even if the text is reduced. At least it could be an option. Layout is better in landscape since most of the sides are not map, but directions, buttons, speed etc.
• Destination history should be searchable, and sortable by state. And there should be a lot more memory for destinations, I want to save the last 500 or so You can add the ones you want to save to address book. it saves more if you put in an sd card.
• The best possible info on truck restricted, weight restricted, and HAZMAT restricted roads possible. They have hazmat routing, truck/weight restricted. Until some oen gets int here care and literally drives down every road to map, it, this si what we get.

As stated above, one of the most promising aspects of this unit is the noticeably active support. I really like being part of a "team" that is striving to produce the best results, and RMN seems to be serious about updates, feedback, and making this GPS the best there is for truckers. I will use the Tell Rand McNally feature to help with anything I come across, and if other users are doing this and RMN is keeping up with the feedback, this GPS will only get better and better.

As I get more use out of this GPS, I will add to this review.

thanks!
Stuka

 

Thanks for the reply. I do not see in the Preferences/Route or /Map there is an option to make the route trail not be displayed on already covered ground. I see where you can change the color.....

SD card, eh? Thanks!

 

I cant find it now. I wonder if it was removed in a recent update, Sorry

If you add a micro sd card to the gps it can store more. slides in on right.

 

Maybe most everyone know this already but this is for anyone that is new to the 720.

This is how I use the 720:

K, so when it chokes on the address, this is how I go about it and it seems to work.

Call the customer to verify their address. It might be different than the one supplied to you.

If it's after-hours, google the place and see if the address you have matches with the one on the net.

If the supplied address is the same, pick one of those in that list that comes up that may be close, like 1000-1900. You know what I'm talkin' about.

That will get you in the general vicinity.

When you get close, say 10 miles away or so, if you can find a landmark like ABC grocery or whatever, stop and call the customer and tell them your sitting in front of ABC grocery. They'll know where you are and give directions. Might want to pull the plug on the GPS, put it on mute, or cancel the route 'cause it may be nagging you to do u-turns and what-not.

As far as the blue trail goes...When it gets to really looking like spaghetti, you can go to history and reload the destination and it will start over from where your current position is...Trails will be gone. Probably best to be stopped while doing that.

The 720 was the first gps I ever used. Maybe there's better.

I've said it before. She and I have a love/hate relationship.

I've used google maps as a last resort when I get real close to the customer and it seems to always find the address but of course ya' take a chance of taking a car-only route.

Use the tell-rand feature and hook up to a computer every once in a while to get map updates and send in your feedback.

Rand has got a piece-of-my-mind from time to time.

The speed-limit warning is a great feature but 'ya still gotta' read the signs 'cause it's not 100 accurate all-the-time of course. When she tells me the speed is gonna change in 1/2 mile, it's all good. A bonus would be if it said what speed I may be slowing down to.

 

But there are many they can't. Google Maps can be updated live (I never heard of Navigo). A standalone app has to stop somewhere and release a version, then update it or release a new version. GIS databases that cover the entire US can never be finished... until everyone stops adding roads and buildings, anyway.

You seem to imply this device does not even indicate your current location.

Better and better at selling them anyway.

No truck routing app offers any benefit I can detect over MS Streets & Trips w/a GPSr, and in many ways I'm convinced they are inferior. They're certainly more expensive.

S&T will never incorrectly indicate your route is truck friendly or legal, that's for sure. POI storage is limited only by the available memory of your computer. You can import every GPS DB provided by every trucking interest, e.g., from the FJ website. Wah Lah. If you haven't turned your first mile you can still see the closest FJ to your first pickup and destination.

You can create a template that contains those and the location of every shipper/receiver you visit, and perhaps most importantly every parking space you ever visit. You can block areas, S&T will forevermore never route you through it.

I stored every trip I made. When/if my descendents wonder where I was the morning of 9/11, or where I spent my 45th birthday or Christmas, or how much of the country I traversed, they can find out easy as pie.

It has a "night mode", and a laptop screen can be dimmed, and is many times the size of handheld GPS screens, and it has a built-in lid.

TTBOMK, to satisfy due diligence any questionable portion of a route has to be verified with the print version of the RMMCA anyway, including those published in digital form/s by RM itself.

Here's a screenshot of my template... maybe, I haven't had much luck at inserting images.

 

Its the best GPS that I have used.
Cobra sucks.
PC miler sucks.
Megallen is ok.

 

I really enjoy my TomTom GPS. No, it does not have restricted routes, hazmat routes, etc, but everything else is awesome, IMO.

Actually, I just checked TomTom's website and it shows they have a truck version. Does anyone have it? How is it? Sorry to hijack. http://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/products/your-drive/truck-navigation/