- Large 5" color touchscreen.
- Specialized truck routing supports commercial class 8 rating.
- Lane assist with junction view.
- Incorporates locations in the NTTS breakdown directory.
- Lifetime maps and traffic included.
I have owned or used 5 other GPSs to date.
Garmin dezl 560LMT (same as LT but no lifetime traffic)
PRO... *Starts,routes and re-routes fast 10-30sec, no lockup yet *(GREAT ROUTING SO FAR...This is the MOST IMPORTANT feature about any TRUCK GPS.) *Shows the posted truck speed of most roads next to your speed that turns red when you go over. *(Garmin has an unbelievable database) Every address I entered it had. This is not true of Google or even my Co-Pilot (PC-Miler).*Loud Speaker. *Quick access to brightness control. Easy snap-in mounting (No USB plug to plug in every time which can break) * Lane asst ...yea...love that.* Lots of fun stuff and voices you can add from the garmin AND 3rd party websites.
CON...*5" I WANT 7". *Does not show the names of cross streets as you pass them. *You can not just pan & zoom on the nav map. You have to go to a special map screen. * ETA does not adjust or work well at all...but its so bad i'm sure they will fix the software soon. My Co-Pilot ETA works perfectly. * You cannot show ETA and MTD (miles to destination) at the same time. Booo...I want both!. * The graphics could be better. Co-Pilots is Sweet Looking. Sounds like I'm working up Co-Pilot...lol...I'M NOT. POOR POOR Truck mapping almost every time with Co-Pilot...DON"T BUY.
Over View... The Hardware is rock solid, no freezes here and it re-routes you fast if you miss a turn but I wish they had a 7'. *The Software is very good for truck mapping and address thanks to garmins extensive data base but needs improvements on the stuff thats not as important but convenient.
I will update this as I learn, use and remember more. Going on 3 day trip tomorrow. MD-IN-NJ-DC-MD
Lets see what Rand McNally brings to the table with the TND710. I can't wait to get it.
Buy Garmin dezl 560LMT 5-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable Trucking GPS Navigator Now
I love that you can switch between car, pedestrian and large truck. Easy enough to use with fast reaction time. I like the fact that any point of interest on the unit gives not only the address but also a phone number for that place (Repair shops, truck stops, wal-mart, etc.) I would definately get the Lifetime Map Updated unit again. I had several others but did not have the L.M.T. and at $150 update every year you might as well buy a new unit. I definately liked my Garmin Nuvi 760 (NOT 765) alot better as far as map detail and features. My 760 displayed the crossroad ahead when you did not have the unit in route to a location. That was one of the best features ever. I cant believe Garmin got rid of that. I left that GPS in my smaller local delivery straight truck for the current driver as it was definately a saver on the brakes. Not really sure how the height thing works cause I have a flat-top with low loads on the flat all the time so I don't really run into height restrictions. The bridge weight thing works on the big road but not really all that well out in the sticks. I recently ran across a 2 mile wooden bridge rated for 40 ton but I was at 50 ton. GPS did not catch that nor did the county realize it should have been rated for 500 lbs and for bicycles not motor vehicles, 10' wide and scary as hell for the longest 2 miles I ever drove. There seems to be an abundance of points of interest for heavy trucks (even many off the beaten path but not all). I don't have any other Trucking GPS to compare it to but all in all I am glad I purchased this unit. Also, don't forget to buy a screen protector right away and maybe a windshield mount. The cheap screen protectors are junk you have to push so hard on the face to get the GPS to respond youd swear your finger is going to go through to back of the unit, and they scratch easier as well.This unit is better than most but still has some shortcomings. If you are on a route and want to switch modes to car for instance the route will not recalculate. It will show car but you will be on the truck route. You have to end the route, switch modes and then recalculate a route. I have found RV routing at times will send you many miles out for your way and you cannot over ride the route. The RV mode uses truck routing and there are many truck restricted routes that allow RVs. Without an RV route database we are stuck with truck or car routes. I was told by Garmin to set up a car route and a truck route for this segment of my trip and use the car route as an over ride when needed. That disables other safety issues like grade warnings, bridges, or height restrictions while using car nav. The other big issue is that this unit does not work with MapSource, Garmins computer program for mapping. On my Nuvi I could plan and check a route in MapSource and upload it and download it. It is much better to view and alter a route on a computer screen than on a Garmin screen. These items need fixing to get to 5 stars. I am happy to a point....The big plus is downloading POI databases and having them available. The hardware execution is excellent but the software execution is lacking at this point. Some of these items will be worked on in time...Want Garmin dezl 560LMT 5-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable Trucking GPS Navigator Discount?
I'm on my third truck GPS in two weeks. First was the new Cobra 7" model...I returned it within 2 hours. The touch screen was terrible, I constantly had to punch the the screen multiple times before it would accept an entry and often times it would take the wrong letter/button, and I don't mean the next closest one, sometime it would enter a key 2" from where I touched the screen. Also of the 3 routes I tried entering, only 1 was correct, one was illegal for hazmat, and the other one went way out of the way for no reason that I could see. I returned it and got what I know.I've had a Garmin Nuvi for years and love it, but it was not made for trucks. I tried the Dezl. Typical of Garmin, it had an excellent touch screen and display. The base maps were able to find most address I entered, but not all. The biggest issue was with truck specific points and routes. I recently moved from PA to CO and took a job hauling gasoline. Therefore I needed a gps capable of finding many small gas stations, and routing me to them via legal Hazmat routes. This is where the Garmin FAILED!!! Though I had class 3 flammable liquid selected I my truck profile, it consistently routed me to roads that I knew to be illegal, worst of all it routed me through Eisenhower tunnel anytime I had to cross the mountains. It also had at least 3 low bridges marked in the wrong locations within Denver. The final straw was when it routed me straight through a small town that I later learned could have gotten me a $1000 ticket. I simply cannot afford to have a GPS that I can't trust. Garmin's hardware and base map are excellent. But their truck specific points/routes simply aren't mature yet.
I returned the 5" Garmin and walked out with the 7" Rand Macnally 710 for the same price. So far it's routing has been spot on. I'm still used to the Garmin interface, but the RM if fairly Intuitive. According to the cashier at Pilot, they've had the least number of returns from the Rand Mcnallys.
The Garmin is more polished and comes with the traffic antenna cord, which did work well although you have to put up with ads popping up every so often, but I just can't trust it's truck data. So far the Rand seems like the most accurate although I'm going to have dishout out another $80 if I want live traffic. Although if I understand correctly, its not ad supported.
Just my 2 cents...
It pings when you are more than 5 mph over the speed limit, and it has been very accurate there. It also produces a series of warning, such as traffic, tight turns, steep grades, sharp bends, etc. However it simply bings and places a red circular icon on the screens. If you need to see what it really is you must point and a pop up comes up. There are times I wish it would say the alert.
It take a while to boot. Responsive, except searching POI can be painfully slow. This is excruciating when searching for a POI that is far away from you. I do wish I could search a POI near a city. It will only tell you POI near your current position. If I know of a Home Depot 60 miles away, I have to pick something random near there and wait till I get closer then search for "Home Depot". It will show all the ones nearby. But not the one you need to go to. So far distances POIs don't work unless the name is nice and distinct.
Having owned it for about two years and having traveled some 14,000 miles around the country with it I've seen a couple of issues. Like most it can overheat when left on a hot dashboard. In addition it goes into zombie mode. It has done this at least twice, each time while on the road somewhere I didn't know. The second time was while pulling an RV and the turn for a highway was coming up and I didn't know which way to go. I ended up on the wrong choice and had to find an exit where I could turn around, which was quite a ways down the highway as I was passing through a city. Each time you have to hold the power button down for a minute or more to get the device to reset. Then after a long boot it is back to normal.
The algorithm for best route is flawed in that a more complex route, say hopping across five highways parkways, is preferable to a path that stays on just two. Friends have found this to be true on other Garmins as well. For instance, traveling on I-95 North it will have you exit onto the Hutch Parkway North, then exit Hutch back onto I-95 North. I-95 has a bump that loops a bit there and it is 1/2 mile (30 seconds) longer than the Hutch path. But the slowdown of merge off, merge on, merge off, merge on is ignored. Unless you know the area you can't avoid these oddball calculations. Don't expect the route to be the simplest or truly the quickest.
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