Which GPS unit ?

[brucet84]

I am sick and tired of my little Garman GPS taking me down little side streets and missing routes because the technology is 10 years old and it doesn't show many newer and often better roads. I have heard there are newer units out now that are more geared to the OTR trucker and show routes that are more efficient and appropriate for trucks. What are the names/brands of these units and what are the advantages and cost? Also , I am not interested in a unit that has to be tied into a laptop. Not enough room in the cab now.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks Bruce

[allan5oh]

Garmin has a new unit out this past week, the 465T. It is truck specific, has lane guidance, spoken street names, truck service, truck stops, FREE real time traffic alerts, etc...

I know one person that has one, Jackie Wormley off of KevinOnXM and she loves it so far.

There are other truck specific units out there, but everyone hates them. World nav and pc miler come to mind, I think there's one more. Buggy software, slow tracking, etc.. etc..

Wait a good month until we know for sure the 465T is good, and get that one.

[skrissel]

Garmin has a new unit out this past week, the 465T. It is truck specific, has lane guidance, spoken street names, truck service, truck stops, FREE real time traffic alerts, etc...

I know one person that has one, Jackie Wormley off of KevinOnXM and she loves it so far.

There are other truck specific units out there, but everyone hates them. World nav and pc miler come to mind, I think there's one more. Buggy software, slow tracking, etc.. etc..

Wait a good month until we know for sure the 465T is good, and get that one.

I just picked up a 465T, so far I'm very impressed with it. I hope the trend continues. It has some great features. It even tells you where the scale houses are about 5 miles before you get to one.

I'll report back as I get more time on it.

-scott

[solo379]

I'll report back as I get more time on it.

Please do! Cause, tho I'm an "old school", I'm considering the one.

[devildice]

I have an old Garmin C330 (or is it a C320? I can't remember...lol). It has been discontinued but I am still able to download their map updates. It actually has a truck route in it and is fairly accurate. I use it mostly for time and distance but it has also served me well in finding a customer when I was not able to get a hold of a live person for directions.

I had been looking at those stand alone units made by PC Miller for a while and eventually found one on sale at a Loves and went ahead and bought it. I ran it side by side with my Garmin and all I can say is that it was a waste of some $250 as it is nothing but a piece of crap!

[BobBski]

I just picked up a 465T, so far I'm very impressed with it. I hope the trend continues. It has some great features. It even tells you where the scale houses are about 5 miles before you get to one.

I'll report back as I get more time on it.

-scott

Where'd you get it??? I've gone to the Garmin site and to Best Buy....both say "not yet available but can pre-order."

[BobBski]

My bad...it'd been a week or so since I last checked...they are now available.

[skrissel]

Where'd you get it??? I've gone to the Garmin site and to Best Buy....both say "not yet available but can pre-order."

Tiger GPS - Dealer for Garmin GPS, Magellan GPS, TomTom GPS, Lowrance GPS

[BobBski]

Bought a 465T today at a Pilot in Oregon. Same price Garmin, BestBuy and Amazon are selling for...but, no sales tax or shipping. Been using a Garmin for awhile...not disappointed with this one at all. Some cool features it revealed today...."warning weigh station ahead." about 5 mile warning along with exit number it's closest too. "warning steep downgrade ahead", I was travelling the mountains on I 5, kinda cool. Also, "warning, sharp curve ahead watch your speed." Another feature I liked was that it shows the "truck" speed limit you're in not the car as my other Garmin does...also calculates "arrival time" based on truck speed limits. Anywho...installation was quick as it fits in the same mount as my 255w...just has a different power cord. Took me all of 15 minutes to take it out of the box, swap it over with the other one, power on, gain satellites and put in my destination address. Really happy with what I see so far. Oh, it also has a "pop up" of how much "traffic delay time" you have between you and your destination and keeps updating it. They were working on a section of hi-way by a rest area today and it told me there would be a 3 min delay well before I got there.

[sidman82]

That's hot stuff! When I start making money again someday, I'll replace mine with this one.

I always shut the voice off. Can't stand listening to the voice. I use it as a time reference and visual guide. I also use it for speed.

[henboy1]

I have an old Garmin C330 (or is it a C320? I can't remember...lol). It has been discontinued but I am still able to download their map updates. !

Did you say you downloaded the updates and it has a truck route?


I have a NUVI 200 and which I believe is the same C330 firmware(my brother have this same device).I did download the new firmware but they want $69 for the updates.This is almost the price of a new Garmin.If you 're saying it has "truck route" in the updates then I wouldn't mind downloading it.If you have the updates in a file, do you mind forwarding it to me?
I am definitely not ready to spend $450 on a truck routed GPS.
Lifetime download is $119 and the file name is $119

Almost a year ago Steve Booth also posted an FTP site to download updates, firmware and POI.I wish I could go to a site like that.

[DieselBoss]

Did you say you downloaded the updates and it has a truck route?


Almost a year ago Steve Booth also posted an FTP site to download updates, firmware and POI.I wish I could go to a site like that.

Garmin is not allowing download of the 465T truck program into their other units at this time. However, there ae sites (like POI Factory) that have a lot of downloadable data for existing GPS's.

We have been beating the crap out of the Garmin, PC Miler, and Goodyear units for many weeks now and I created a comparison chart to try to clear up the differences. The link to the chart is: Truck driver GPS review comparison and rating features - Garmin, PC Miler, and Goodyear. The chart does not reflect the new software from PC Miler, but it will next week.

Also a correction to some earlier posts. The 465T does not show you the truck speed limit in dual-speed states, but it does have an extensive address database and the NTTS breakdown database is very nice. It does not have truck routing in Canada yet. The real-time traffic and lane-change warnings are super cool. Finally, Jackie's tests on Kevin's site have concluded that she has downgraded her opinion of the 465T in the last couple of weeks due to miss-routing issues off trucking-legal roads. Apparantly Garmin is "listening" to the users and want feedback at their site when you find truck routing errors, so we'll have to wait and see how their first update to the 465T turns out in that regard.

- Don

[DieselBoss]

PC Miler and Garmin both put out new software / maps in the last month for their truck GPS's so I had to install and test using the new stuff. Also, many of you asked to make the chart simpler in terms of what is the important stuff for us. So I color-coded it too with green and yellow showing where units did well and not so well.

Truck driver GPS review comparison and rating features - Garmin, PC Miler, and Goodyear

Regards,
Don

[Copperhead]

Well.... now Cobra and Rand McNally have both got truck specific GPS units coming out. They are showing them at GATS. The Cobra has a 7" screen. The Rand McNally TND has a 5" screen. I have put off using a GPS since I have had great results just using Delorme on my laptop and comparing to the Atlas and getting occasional satellite views off the net. I may just have to finally break down and get a unit. After looking at details, I am siding with the Rand Mcnally TND. The Garmin 465T, Cobra unit, and the TND are all going for the $500 range. Not too sold on using the Cobra model. Would seem that Garmin and Rand McNally (especially the latter) has better reputation for mapping routes.

We'll see....

[DieselBoss]

Well.... now Cobra and Rand McNally have both got truck specific GPS units coming out. They are showing them at GATS. The Cobra has a 7" screen. The Rand McNally TND has a 5" screen. I have put off using a GPS since I have had great results just using Delorme on my laptop and comparing to the Atlas and getting occasional satellite views off the net. I may just have to finally break down and get a unit. After looking at details, I am siding with the Rand Mcnally TND. The Garmin 465T, Cobra unit, and the TND are all going for the $500 range. Not too sold on using the Cobra model. Would seem that Garmin and Rand McNally (especially the latter) has better reputation for mapping routes.

We'll see....

I'll be testing the Rand soon and will add it to the comparison.

[GMAN]

I paid $10 each for 2 GPS units a couple of years ago. They are called Rand McNally. Both have plastic covering the pages. I have used the system for years and it has never failed me. I understand why some might want to have a GPS, but I think the old Rand McNally maps work just fine.

[ronjon619]

I paid $10 each for 2 GPS units a couple of years ago. They are called Rand McNally. Both have plastic covering the pages. I have used the system for years and it has never failed me. I understand why some might want to have a GPS, but I think the old Rand McNally maps work just fine.

Ten dollars for 2???????? The laminated version run at least forty. That must have been a 1970's price.

[GMAN]

I paid $10 each, ronjon. I usually get mine when the new ones come out and buy them at a discount. They normally sell for $29.99 or $39.99. They make a deal at then end of the year. Most people don't want to buy them when the new ones come out. Things don't change that much during a year. I can't see paying full price when you can get them at a discount. I bought the last 2 this one truck stop had and he charged $10 each.