Rand Mcnally GPS

old racer · 12-24-2012, 05:29 AM

Looking at getting a Rand Mcnally GPS model RVND5510. Wondering if anyone has one with any comments. Thank you.

Jim W · 12-24-2012, 07:27 AM

Hi, I have the Rand McNally 7710 model and I like it. There are a few issues with it that I think the 5510 would have also.

The first issue is glare from the sun in certain position of the sun during driving. I bought the anti glare shield which is a piece of clear covering that is applied to the screen this helped a little but not enough. I am now looking at the sun shield that Rand McNally sells will be ordering this in Jan of 13.

I did not like the mounting bracket that Rand McNally offers with the unit. The bracket assembly would not fit my needs in my 08 Ram Mega Cab, so I made my own. I like a clear window viewing area and not have items placed in the viewed area above the dash. So I mounted the GPS below the dash area on the instrument panel to the RH side by the glove box. With the Mega Cab this is also out of site unless you walk up and look into the cab of the truck.

As far as the unit working and providing GPS data the unit works great. Though there are some quirks with the GPS Data and this maybe do to the parameters set in the user interface such as length and height of the trailer and other amenities on the trailer.

Would I buy this unit again? Yes it is better than my Garmin when pulling my RV.
Jim W.

fred1609 · 12-24-2012, 07:58 AM

apprently the new 7720 has none of the glare issue on the screen that the 7710 had. RM also had a deal going until 18 Dec where they would send you out a 7720 at $249 provided you sent an old GPS unit back. Sadly I missed out on that deal while waiting to see what the reviews on their new unit were.

Htfiremedic · 12-24-2012, 08:23 AM

I switched over to the 7720. There are a few differences that RandMcSam can answer.

pjhansman · 12-25-2012, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim W

Would I buy this unit again? Yes it is better than my Garmin when pulling my RV.
Jim W.

Never used the Rand McNally but I'm a great fan of Garmin. However....if there's something better I'm always interested.

What is it that makes the RM better when towing the RV? Different routing options? More timely info? Inquiring minds want to know.

Brantlaker · 12-25-2012, 07:49 PM

Santa left me a RM 7720 under the tree and I have been setting it up for my 5W and truck all day. You can set height, length of truck/5W and weight. I looks pretty good but won't get to use it until the end of January when we go south and pick up the 5er in South Carolina. I will be trying it against the built in one in my DW's car on a trip on Thursday. I will report back when I arrive on Long Island.

chris199 · 12-25-2012, 09:30 PM

Received the 7720 in my stocking too.

Also received some radios so my DW and I can get each camping trip started off with some entertaining chatter about how to back into our sites.

All set for this spring.

Considering getting the traffic antenna but get good traffic info on my Droid with Google Maps.....still undecided. Maybe also get the hard case but have used a Rubbermaid container for my Garmin and that's worked fine.

The 20% off incentive is tempting.

curlyfungirl · 12-25-2012, 10:43 PM

please let us know if it is better than the available on board navigation systems that are built into cars

**flybouy** · 12-26-2012, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old racer

Looking at getting a Rand Mcnally GPS model RVND5510. Wondering if anyone has one with any comments. Thank you.

I have the 7710 And liked it so much I purchased the new 7720. The new one has a better screen, tougher case, wifi that gives you weather info (and you can set it up for wind advisories) and the ability to plug in a reverse camera.
Diff between this and any non RV GPS... can't beat the RV specific settings weight, length, height and amount of lp on board. It will rout you around low bridges, weight restricted roads or those really tight angled intersections that some towns have. It will also warn you of things like high angle railroad crossings. The Rand McNally web site and CWSite have a video you can watch with the features.

Jim W · 12-26-2012, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjhansman

Never used the Rand McNally but I'm a great fan of Garmin. However....if there's something better I'm always interested.

What is it that makes the RM better when towing the RV? Different routing options? More timely info? Inquiring minds want to know.

Sorry, I was off the net for Christmas holiday and did not see your post until now.
As was stated below by flybouy the Rand McNally will allow you to input parameters for your towing combination. Such as height, weight, length, what type of unit, amount of propane tanks the trailer is carrying and then will rout your towing combination accordingly. The unit will also provide campground information, travel plaza for towing and other pertain information for camping. I like the fact that the unit also has RV logs checklists trails and other features.
Jim W.

Brantlaker · 12-26-2012, 10:42 AM

curlyfungirl if you have the Ford factory GPS it will be the same as my DW's car and the comparison will be a good one. They both use a Navtech system. I am not shore what system RM system uses but we shall see.

Brantlaker · 12-31-2012, 01:23 PM

Santa left one for me. I set it up for my fw and left for a trip trying it against the factory one in my DW's Lincoln. It routed me around a 12ft bridge as it should and worked just as good as DW's mileage on route was 1 mile different the 7720 was higher. POI was hard to navigate you have to be within 10-15 miles to find gas, food and lodging. the maps are clear and can be set to distance 1 2 3 miles to go for tolls, turns, sharp turns and windy roads. All in all It was several steps up from my 1 year old Garmin.

LeeMedic · 12-31-2012, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim W

Hi, I have the Rand McNally 7710 model and I like it. There are a few issues with it that I think the 5510 would have also.

The first issue is glare from the sun in certain position of the sun during driving. I bought the anti glare shield which is a piece of clear covering that is applied to the screen this helped a little but not enough. I am now looking at the sun shield that Rand McNally sells will be ordering this in Jan of 13.

I did not like the mounting bracket that Rand McNally offers with the unit. The bracket assembly would not fit my needs in my 08 Ram Mega Cab, so I made my own. I like a clear window viewing area and not have items placed in the viewed area above the dash. So I mounted the GPS below the dash area on the instrument panel to the RH side by the glove box. With the Mega Cab this is also out of site unless you walk up and look into the cab of the truck.

As far as the unit working and providing GPS data the unit works great. Though there are some quirks with the GPS Data and this maybe do to the parameters set in the user interface such as length and height of the trailer and other amenities on the trailer.

Would I buy this unit again? Yes it is better than my Garmin when pulling my RV.
Jim W.

I agree with everything Jim says. I have the 7710 also. It is nice and large. I don't have a problem with the mounting. It has some pretty cool features. Sometimes I wonder about the route it selects, so we always back it up with our Droid Maps/Nav.

The glare is an issue, so I bought the shield that fits around the edges. That helps a lot, but makes it difficult for your navigator in the right seat to view it.

Overall, a good deal and would recommend it. The 7720 is now out with a few more bells and whistles, but I chose to keep the 7710 for now. I do not need the weather updates. I have our Droids for that.

beerahole · 03-14-2013, 03:42 PM

I was looking into getting one of these. Plan to before summer.

thanks

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