which gps to buy

[Capt Kidd]

I see that camping world has the rand mcnally 7720 on sale for $329. They also have a magellan roadmate rv9145 for the same price.

Which one would you guys recomend and why?

[Gkerlin]

I don't know about the Magellan so I can't speak to it's capabilities, but as a long time Garmin guy I got the Rand McNally 7720 a month or so ago and have put about 5,000 miles on it since and am extremely pleased with what it does.

The Rand has partnered with Allstays and others for trip data. If you don't know about allstays just google them. They incorporate a pretty good database of fuel stops, campgrounds, and other POI's into a pretty user friendly and customizable product. I can be driving down the highway and with a couple of taps, get a list of where the next Flyiing J's or TA's or Walmarts, etc etc are. I have a 65 gallon fuel tank so we are looking several hundred miles ahead for fuel and this unit makes it easy.. I used to use my IPad for a lot of this but now don't need to.

You can program in your height, length, etc and the routing will take that into consideration.

If you are a local traveler it might not be worth the $$'s and I'd just stick with a cheap garmin. But if you put in cross country miles I am very impressed with the unit. I'm very happy I got it.

Like any gps - I don't blindly follow it. I'm an ex Long haul trucker so I have a pretty good Idea how to get from just about anywhere to anywhere else and there were a couple of times I didn't like the routing but that's ok by me. No GPS will be 100% perfect in that respect.

Overall - it's a really good unit IMO. No complaints here.

[DQDick]

We have had the Rand McNally for several long trips and numerous short ones and have had nothing but good experiences with it.

[Pete Hanson]

We too have the Rand McNally and have found it to be a great RVing unit. Can't speak to any other makes.

[cdaniels]

We have the Magellan Rv and absoultely love it. easy to read and use. We love the rv feature of putting in length of vehicle and rig.

[Capt Kidd]

Well I went ahead and ordered the 7720 and it should arive in a day or so. Hope I like it.

[worknomore]

Just finished a 1600 mi run down to the RGV in TX using the 7720 and, overall, it worked as claimed. The junction view, curve & speed warnings, rig size/weight/length inputs, POI's along the route, fuel log, etc., etc. were greatly appreciated. It wasn't TOTALLY foolproof (as NO GPS is) - some of the speed limits, road construction warnings, new road additions, etc. need updating (which I did upon arrival), and it locked up twice on me (not sure of the cause - turn off/on reset it).

Needs a better address book & editor (have to enter phone #'s as a note), miles between fuel stops and mpg fields in the fuel log, & better scaling in the auto zoom mode. Not show stoppers, just minor annoyances.

Also, IMHO, it is just too d... big to mount on the windshield (knew that before buying), so using part of the ball mount & an adapter I made before leaving, I mounted it below the radio on my console - worked GREAT! No sun glare, & just a short nod down to see it (also hidden from thieves). Can post a pic if desired...