I have a Rand, 720 and I really like it! Before the 720, I had a 710 and a 510 and both worked well.
I think the 720 is the best of the bunch when it comes to GPS....But that is very subjective.
Some people like Garmins and will swear that anything else is junk.
Some people like Cobra's and will swear that anything else is junk.
And so on, and so on....
The only thing that everyone agrees on is that any Magellan GPS....is junk!
EDIT: Do not depend on your GPS for all of your navigating needs...They are fallible! Learn to read a map and keep a good atlas in the truck.
You can use Google Earth to zoom in and look at where you're going to see if there's parking available and what the area looks like..
I think the 720 is the best of the bunch when it comes to GPS....But that is very subjective.
Some people like Garmins and will swear that anything else is junk.
Some people like Cobra's and will swear that anything else is junk.
And so on, and so on....
The only thing that everyone agrees on is that any Magellan GPS....is junk!
EDIT: Do not depend on your GPS for all of your navigating needs...They are fallible! Learn to read a map and keep a good atlas in the truck.
You can use Google Earth to zoom in and look at where you're going to see if there's parking available and what the area looks like..
The 720 has a clearer, brighter screen from my observation and is more robust and not as fragile as the previous models were.
I have always liked the Rand over the others that I've seen because they just seem to have more features for trucks.
On the downside...They seem to take a little bit too much time to re-calculate when you don't go where they have you routed (which I do fairly often)
It's probably no better or worse than any other "quality" GPS unit, but I just like the way the Rand units work.
The 710's got some features that are in my opinion completely useless, like a weather function that needs a WI-FI connection to work....My smart phone gives me accurate weather reports with the touch of a button so it's a stupid, useless feature in the GPS.
Overall I'm very happy with the thing.
I have always liked the Rand over the others that I've seen because they just seem to have more features for trucks.
On the downside...They seem to take a little bit too much time to re-calculate when you don't go where they have you routed (which I do fairly often)
It's probably no better or worse than any other "quality" GPS unit, but I just like the way the Rand units work.
The 710's got some features that are in my opinion completely useless, like a weather function that needs a WI-FI connection to work....My smart phone gives me accurate weather reports with the touch of a button so it's a stupid, useless feature in the GPS.
Overall I'm very happy with the thing.
GroceryHauler
Well-Known Member
I've used the weather function on the 720 a few times just for fun. I use my phone as a wifi hotspot and overlay the weather map on the gps screen. It's kind of cool, but ultimately useless since, as you said, I can get accurate timely information from my phone.
That's exactly how I felt about it...
I have a friend that's a "tech geek" and he loves all of that crap, but even he has to eventually admit that in the real world, it's fairly useless.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
Couldn't be as useless as the one that's built into this Kenworth's dash. Damn thing always routes you in a straight line, every time. Apparently the engineers who designed this truck thought it could fly.
kairidragon
Member
We have a cobra and it is the biggest hunk of junk we have ever waisted money on! The stupid thing doesn't know its left from its right, tells you take exits last second, and always says 'make u-turm when possible' on a one lane road. Come on...it's a semi!!
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
kairidragon
Member
Not to mention if you leave the route to stop for the night it goes batty and jabs out before just locking up all together and you have to reset the stupid thing toget it to stop its obnoxious dinging
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
My dad's GPS has a talking voice. You can select male or female for the voice.
I was riding with him to TN because he left his car there & he needed me to drive it home. I was messing with the GPS because it kept talking in a loud male voice & it was annoying. I turned off the voice & he said to turn it back on. So I did, but I switched it to the less-annoying female voice. He said to switch it back to the male voice. I sez "why?" He said "Because when I hear a woman's voice giving me instructions I automatically ignore it".
I was riding with him to TN because he left his car there & he needed me to drive it home. I was messing with the GPS because it kept talking in a loud male voice & it was annoying. I turned off the voice & he said to turn it back on. So I did, but I switched it to the less-annoying female voice. He said to switch it back to the male voice. I sez "why?" He said "Because when I hear a woman's voice giving me instructions I automatically ignore it".
Racer X 69
Member
Shoulda got the Asus. 17" screen, and it does way more than just a GPS map thingy.
View attachment 19487
View attachment 19487
ProDriver77
Well-Known Member
Maybe I'm the oddball here, but I've had the best luxk mounting my smartphone in a windshield mount and using Google Navigation and some common sense. I use Mapquest as my backup, and have only needed to call the shipper or consignee for directions maybe 5 times in the past couple years.
I've used Garmin and Magellan in the past, and they've both been worthless.
I've used Garmin and Magellan in the past, and they've both been worthless.
ShortCut
New Member
I ran Rand McNally 720 and thought it was incredibly nice. I'm now running the new 7" Garmin Dezl 760 and I absolutely love it. I didn't think the Rand could be beat, but I was wrong. The new 7" Garmin is the best GPS I've ever ran. It's not even a close comparison either. Don't take this wrong, I'm not knocking the Rand. The 720 is an AWESOME unit. Just saying that Garmin made MAJOR changes and improvements to the 760 and it not only outperforms the 720, but is more functional, more user friendly, has more features, has a better interface and graphics and also gas better hardware.
SomethingElse
Well-Known Member
LOL, the key word is "when possible"...
My 7750, works fine. The only problem I've had, is the new roads.. For example. The GB turnpike in Dallas reaches I30 now. But the new maps I bought, still doesn't show that. But Cobra refunded my money and let me keep the new map updates..
There are only a few mapping companies that sell their maps to GPS companies like Rand, Cobra etc etc. And so I'm sure, the maps on all the GPS's are going to be pretty close..
rottenralph
New Member
Beware of Rand Mcnally, having warranty problems.....
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