Looking for info on Cobra and Rand Mcnally GPS's
- Thread starter Greg336
- Start date
Cobra GPS consistently gets some of the worst reviews on the Net. Rand is only marginally better. Garmin gets the tops, followed closely by Tom Tom. What, exactly, about those at Garmin, makes them idiots? The reason I ask is, your characterization is in direct opposition to the vast, overwhelming majority of those who have dealt with Garmin. I wonder if what's going on here is possibly incorrect or unrealistic expectations out of them, or the unit.
tryhours3191
Seasoned Expediter
We have the Cobra and when I have some extra cash I'm going to buy a Rand
Sent from my DROID RAZR
Sent from my DROID RAZR
gospelriders
Seasoned Expediter
we have the cobra and other than one time in nyc trying to have us take a left into a park area
it has been pretty reliable.
it has been pretty reliable.
butterfly610
Veteran Expediter
We have the newer Garmin for trucks, and the newer Rand McNally as well. Both have good points and bad points. Cobra is horrible! Ours broke almost right away. Just never really liked it either. Rand McNally always finds our destination, and more accurately than any other GPS we have used. I also like how it shows your next turn on the screen. Say, you have to exit and turn right at the bottom of the ramp, it shows you that. That way if you have the volume off because your partner is sleeping, you still know what direction to turn easily. I also like the fact it shows all truck stops. Our garmin usually only shows major truck stops, while the rand McNally shows us even small ones. I like how you can change the routing to major highways or to just highways depending on the route you want to take. Personally I like it the best, and I find it to be a little more truck friendly than others.
pearlpro
Expert Expediter
Has anyone used the Logging features yet, and if you have the Camera feature what camera are you using, Ive been using Google Maps Navigation on a Tablet its worked perfectly, Its not truck specific but I can read the signs, Its worked where GPS wouldnt...thinking about buying one of the new ones I think its the DEZL 560LMT Because I want that backup camera feature. Ive heard the Cobra was junk but I havent used it so, Ive got Google Maps/Nav on my Samsung Galaxy Tablet...
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
Had a Rand 500 liked it until one day it wouldn't hold the size screen I wanted..after screwing with it for hour i broke it in half over the steering wheel...it didn't break in 2, but it had a nasty bend in it and not only did it not hold the size screen i wanted, it didn't work at all... I stop at the next TA i came to and both the 510...that was over a yr or so ago, it works great...
I stop at the next TA i came to and both the 510...that was over a yr or so ago, it works great...
I have the Garmin 560 LMT the only thing I don't like is that it doesn't count down the miles to destination it gives you E.T.A. but i like to see the miles count down like my old Tom Tom but could be operator error maybe one of you DEZL experts could help A brother out!
Thanks Turtle I will play with the settings and see what i can figure out in the mean time here's another penny for the pond.
lugnut1
Seasoned Expediter
We continue to use the ALK Copilot map software installed on our computers and it has been perfection for truck navigation.
Using and liking Copilot is a minority view as far as EO posters go but we also have a McNally 710 which it has failed twice and needed to be returned to the factory for replacement. That fact alone makes the 710 unit a waste of money.
For those who want an alternative mapping try the Copilot live by ALK technologies. It installs on most all of the smart phones, pads, pods and computers and can route for RV which gives mostly the same routes as truckers use. It has great features and is inexpensive. We installed it on one of our smart phones and ran it side by side with CoPilot truck and the routes were equal with exceptions being when hazmat and weight limits were involved.
Our opinion is that stand-alone GPS’s are a waste of money. The makers of these GPS units, Garmin, Cobra, and McNally just don’t have the resources to make high quality hardware that will last in a commercial trucker’s environment.
Buy a laptop, mapping software, an external usb gps sensor and you’ll be a happier trucker.
Using and liking Copilot is a minority view as far as EO posters go but we also have a McNally 710 which it has failed twice and needed to be returned to the factory for replacement. That fact alone makes the 710 unit a waste of money.
For those who want an alternative mapping try the Copilot live by ALK technologies. It installs on most all of the smart phones, pads, pods and computers and can route for RV which gives mostly the same routes as truckers use. It has great features and is inexpensive. We installed it on one of our smart phones and ran it side by side with CoPilot truck and the routes were equal with exceptions being when hazmat and weight limits were involved.
Our opinion is that stand-alone GPS’s are a waste of money. The makers of these GPS units, Garmin, Cobra, and McNally just don’t have the resources to make high quality hardware that will last in a commercial trucker’s environment.
Buy a laptop, mapping software, an external usb gps sensor and you’ll be a happier trucker.
Hmm Cobra is a piece of Junk Hmm Ill be I just was getting ready to buy one. The Tractor Navigation is Navi Go. Needles to say its Junk. I got an old Garman But when I get into a real pinch and netiher one work and take me off the beaten path I rely on Eagle one to get me to my destanation. Just program my way points in just like a Tomahawk and Wamoo I zoom right in the to pickup or drop.
I knew somthing was holden me back from buying the Cobra I guess now that ive read the above Ill stay with the 2 crapy ones I have then when I need the Eagle which is on my Computer. Ill call her back to duty.
Thanks for the info on Cobra being a piece of Junk
Latter.
I knew somthing was holden me back from buying the Cobra I guess now that ive read the above Ill stay with the 2 crapy ones I have then when I need the Eagle which is on my Computer. Ill call her back to duty.
Thanks for the info on Cobra being a piece of Junk
Latter.
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pearlpro
Expert Expediter
The Co Pilot sowtware is very good and you can charge it to your Phone bill, I really am only interested in the backup cam feature and the LOG program, Ive had Copilot on my laptop but my older laptop draws too darn much power to plug into the Lighter and work, it needs a larger inverter really....as I said before the Google Maps NAV program works fine so with that and CoPilot Ill just forego the other nav system, Heck Im darn good with a Atlas, I drove for years looking up Citys and Towns and drawing lines across the Plastic pages....I think GPS is cool but Ill never trust completely some electromagnetic device to tell me to turn left off a cliff, or down a road thats not Truck load rated etc....Our eyes are still the best mapping and routing tool.
dont know about all these new gps units out there. we have had our little old cheap garmin c330 street pilot for 7 yrs. works great, generally gets us most anywhere along with some common sense.and updates are available for it as needed. anyone have a gps they use everyday that is 7 yrs old and still working fine ? in our opinion, we like garmin. the only mistake they made was to quit making the street pilot series gps. they were the best over all.
I still have my c550 (which is the Bluetooth version of the c330) with the NAV Traffic. Works great. I think it'll be 7 years in July or August. I used to use my laptop, but realized that operating a laptop while driving is insane. They've pretty much quit doing software updates for the c550, but the map updates keep it current. It works for 98% of my needs. The other 2% I'll check routing on Streets & Trips, PC Miler, and other laptop and online tools. Every now and then it can't find an address, but Google Navigator on the Droid will usually find it.
C550 here as well. Looks old school cool too.
We use the laptop, only because it is more versatile on how routing is input. There is STILL no 'stand alone' that allows you to insert the routing the YOU want to use. There is STILL no 'stand alone' (that I know of) that you can shut off the gps receiver to put in routing PRIOR to starting a a trip.
We often have very specific routing that we must follow. On the laptop we can put that routing in without having the receiver on. It is far easier than 'fixing' the routing that a 'stand alone' wants us to us.
The 15" screen is FAR easier to see with a quick glance than a 5" or 7" screen is.
We like to have 100% of our routing in place, prior to leaving on a run. I cannot do that with any 'stand alone' system that I am aware of.
We often have very specific routing that we must follow. On the laptop we can put that routing in without having the receiver on. It is far easier than 'fixing' the routing that a 'stand alone' wants us to us.
The 15" screen is FAR easier to see with a quick glance than a 5" or 7" screen is.
We like to have 100% of our routing in place, prior to leaving on a run. I cannot do that with any 'stand alone' system that I am aware of.
Creating customized routing on a Garmin (for example) is a little complicated, but it becomes easy and natural after you've done it a couple of times. Some units make it easier by having the "Routes/Multiple" feature. You simply insert waypoints, or stopoff points, to force it to calculate the routing you want. Which is the same thing you do on the laptop, actually. Many Garmins (like mine) only offer a single waypoint, so customizing routing is a little more tricky (but still pretty easy once you've learned the unit and how it works), but other units allow 50 or more waypoints. The GPS being ON or OFF is irrelevant when customizing a routing with waypoints.
There's also Garmin Mapsource, which you can use to input amazingly detailed routing on the laptop, and then simply transfer that data to the Garmin standalone. You can also do that with Google Maps by saving the route as a .gpx file and importing that into the unit. Both are more work than just creating waypoints on the unit.
There are lots of ways to do what you want, it's just that you actually need a standalone to do them, and you need a mid-to-high end unit, as the el cheapo's don't have the required features.
As for that big laptop screen, 90% of it is extraneous information that you don't need or even look at. Going from a laptop to a small standalone, the screen size was by biggest apprehension, which turned out to be not a factor at all.
There's also Garmin Mapsource, which you can use to input amazingly detailed routing on the laptop, and then simply transfer that data to the Garmin standalone. You can also do that with Google Maps by saving the route as a .gpx file and importing that into the unit. Both are more work than just creating waypoints on the unit.
There are lots of ways to do what you want, it's just that you actually need a standalone to do them, and you need a mid-to-high end unit, as the el cheapo's don't have the required features.
As for that big laptop screen, 90% of it is extraneous information that you don't need or even look at. Going from a laptop to a small standalone, the screen size was by biggest apprehension, which turned out to be not a factor at all.