GPS recommendation? - Montana Owners Club

greyhound · 11-13-2011, 11:29 AM

I am looking for our first GPS unit and am interested in your thoughts. I have read the previous posts on GPS units on this site, but would like some more current information or opinions. Some of the reviews of the RV specific units have mentioned problems and are expensive. What type of unit are you using? What are the pros and cons? Would you recommend it to others? Does it support downloads to a Mac?

Thanks for you help.

**DQDick** · 11-13-2011, 12:10 PM

We now have a built in with the new Dodge, but the wife still has the old Garmin we used before we got the new truck. We bought the lifetime downloads and they work fine on our Mac. It's not the RV kind, but I'm sure Garmin probably makes one.

illapah · 11-13-2011, 01:16 PM

I like Garmin Nuvi line. Been thinking of one of the new 2012 models with voice command.
I never thought that I would like the windshield mount and bought a dash mounted weighted unit. Then I decided to try the windshield mount in our Yaris and like it a lot. Not as portable to hand to each other but a Yaris is not that large to begin with.

NCFischers · 11-13-2011, 02:13 PM

Garmin makes a truckers GPS that works great with RV's.

WeBeFulltime · 11-13-2011, 04:02 PM

Garmin 1490LMT works great for me. Downloaded app from Lowclearance.com for $9.95 using the MAC. Less than $200 invested. Amazon.com.

richfaa · 11-13-2011, 04:40 PM

We have the trucker garmin GPS 465T.It also has a car mode so it is two units in one. These rigs are more like a big truck than a car and the trucker GPS has done well for us.

gr8330 · 11-13-2011, 04:55 PM

Garmin here also

Captain Joe · 11-14-2011, 02:26 AM

I run two. The Trailer Life Navigator software for route planning and GPS running on my laptop connected to a GPS antenna. I also run a ASUS EeePad Transformer with CoPilot live turn-by-turn voice GPS mapping and backup route planning. DW is not a navigator and I find that with a constant map (laptop) on the screen, I can still get around if the CoPilot leads me astray. I have the low clearances and rest stop POIs downloaded on the laptop. I like the bigger screens (laptop 13" and EeePad 10".

Lee F. · 11-14-2011, 03:45 AM

Garmin 465T

capn chris · 11-14-2011, 04:13 AM

I talked w/Garmin last week. The 465T does not have campground POI's in it, but the NEW (and expensive) dezl 560 does have CGs and the trucker/RV features (ht., width, length)of the 465T w/low clearance, steep grade, etc. warnings.

sreigle · 11-14-2011, 11:40 AM

I am very, very happy with my Garmin 1490T (same as the 1490LMT except I had to buy the lifetime maps separately). I like this model for several reasons:

1. I can have multiple routes available to select from plus many, many more in the unit ready to import.

2. I can have a ton of waypoints along the way to force the route to go the way I want to go. I like to use a different route each time we traverse an area.

3. I can easily develop routes on my laptop and upload them via the usb cable to the Garmin.

4. There are tons more reasons and many models that would fit my needs. But if they can't handle the above, then I won't consider them.

Chris, I had the 465T and it had a lot of CG's in the poi database, as does this 1490T and my 2720 prior to that. I don't think it's the entire Trailer Life directory, though. My 465T was defective so Garmin swapped me to this 1490T at no cost and no shipping cost to me.

kylec2 · 11-14-2011, 12:17 PM

Garmin DEZL 560; it is a little pricey, but for me the features make it worth it.

greyhound · 11-14-2011, 01:33 PM

Thanks for all the information. It looks like Garmin seems to be the favorite. We did look at a Magellan that had the AAA features of rest areas, RV parks, campgrounds, etc. But we researched it, and people complained of quality of service from the company and dependability so it looks like Garmin is the better unit.

Captain Joe, where do you get the application for Rest Areas and Low Clearances?

**Carl n Susan** · 11-14-2011, 06:02 PM

The best place to start with is the POI Factory http://www.poi-factory.com It has the Rest Stop, State Parks, and Exit Information along with locations of all types of businesses (Wal-Mart, Flying J, Costco, etc) and much much more. It also has Low Clearance POIs. All of these are free.

For a fee, the site http://www.lowclearances.com/ offers a set of POIs which will alert you and (allegedly) are updated frequently.

greyhound · 11-15-2011, 06:48 AM

Carl - Thanks for the websites!

Bruce Lenhardt · 11-15-2011, 02:09 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by kylec2

Garmin DEZL 560; it is a little pricey, but for me the features make it worth it.

Kylec2,I plan to purchase a DEZL 560 LT this spring. How do like the features of the 560? Does it keep you off of roads that large fivers should not be on? Does it have CG's listed?

kylec2 · 11-15-2011, 04:11 PM

I like the features of the 560; so far it has kept me off the goat trails and on the main thoroughfares. It has an extensive list of campgrounds and park. The lifetime map upgrades is a nice touch as well.

sailer · 11-16-2011, 02:32 PM

I have the NUVI 1390 as my 1490 quite working so I traded it out at Costco as I had the receipt and got a new unit with $200.00 in return...sailer

timandsusan · 11-16-2011, 03:57 PM

One other thought, if you have a hand held GPS, you might want to buy the same manufacturers product for use in trip navigation. I use DeLorme because I have a hand held GPS for geocacheing and a DeLorme mapping software loaded on my laptop. Oh--yes the 13 inch laptop display is nice and large for good viewing while driving. GPS is very helpful, but I also have a current Atlas.

You may also like: