Rand McNally TND 700/710 junk?

bobwg

Expert Expediter
I continue to have problems with the Rand McNally GPS i had a 700 it quit working after about 5 months gave it to my geek nephew to tinker with, bought a 710 and it quit working after 3 months sent it to Rand Mcnally and they sent me another 710 now that one has quit working after only 4 months. Each time the screen would freeze up and i would reset it and after a few times resetting it the screen would go black and nothing happens when you press the on off button or the reset button
 

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
I don't have the 700/710, but the 510 now...I had the 500 for over a yr..it would freeze up from time to time but always went back to normal after a reset...I have a bit of "anger management" issue from time to time and one day it was acting up so i broke it in half over the steering wheel...yea i know...:rolleyes:...I bought another one, the 2nd gen 500 just before the 510 came out and it has worked fine fr the last 6 months....

I have to say, i think the bigger 700/710 would break in half easier!!!:D
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Garmin is the best. All the others are Gamin wannabes. Some work better than others, none are as good as a Garmin.
 

greg334

Veteran Expediter
I thought they had the best customer service in the world, call and leave a message and maybe a beta tester will get back to you.
 

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
Whats customer service got to do with anything...LOL, i don't even bother to register ANY eletronic product to start any warranty...once a electronic product starts to screw up, i bust them up totally and or throw them away and get another....:rolleyes:

Want a cellphone?? I only have about 25 of them laying around...all the way back to corded bag phones and the big white brick phone with a rubber duckie antenna...customer service ...LOL...

I just bought a new 4G Verizon Air card for my laptop in the van, (bought it from my daughter who is a muckity muck with verizon) its a piece of garbage in the 4G mode, so I locked it in 3G instead of messing with customer service...LOL, I did write a real nasty online report it...my daighter call to whine how my bad report was registered against her and while she doesn't get "knocked for it, its still not a good thing....screw it, the thing is a piece of junk they know they have issues with and can't fix....customer service...LOL..:D
 
Last edited:

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Well for those who don't know, customer service should be the first one you call when your fancy 700 blanks out and becomes a rock on the dash board.

The discussion we had a while ago about their customer service left me with the impression that the company wants to sell the product with a rinky dink style of post sale service and thinks truckers are smart enough to be consumer product troubleshooters. That seems to be proven by the 6 of these bricks I have here in the junk bin for parts that people gave me because they were fed up (I am using nice terms for their feelings).

So the 500 series works well, no issue with power, USB and firmware issues but the 700 Rand should be giving everyone their money back and firing the person who contracted the Chinese firm who branded them for Rand.

Speaking of 4g cards, I got a few $25 dongle air card from some Hong Kong wholesaler and put my sim card in it and it works great, faster than the AT&T or the Verizon air cards I got from them.
 
Last edited:

Desperado

Seasoned Expediter
lol i have a 500 and i'm saving up to buy something else i also have a pc miler pc seems to have more adresses on it but ran gets you from point to point much better so which one next wished they would go back to pc miler door step to door step and send it over QC then you could pull out map and edit routing as you seen fit
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Garmin is the best. All the others are Gamin wannabes. Some work better than others, none are as good as a Garmin.

I think so too. But I'm not happy about the newer models that change the ETA to reflect local time as you go through different zones, because my delivery time is Eastern time.
I emailed Garmin support to ask which models don't change, and the bad news is all the new ones do. I suggested they at least make it an option, for those of us who prefer it to stay where it is set, but meantime, I'm wondering how I can tell the difference, if I decide to replace or upgrade my Nuvii - anyone have any ideas?
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
I liked a lot about the Rands when I had them. I don't know how the production model were, I only saw beta versions. I do know one thing, not one company makes a unit that meets MY needs and wants. None come close. Most likely none are ever going to come close. These units don't fit how I use them for my business. They lack flexabiility. At least the Rands can be set for a time zone and stay there.
 

ebsprintin

Veteran Expediter
I think so too. But I'm not happy about the newer models that change the ETA to reflect local time as you go through different zones, because my delivery time is Eastern time.
I emailed Garmin support to ask which models don't change, and the bad news is all the new ones do. I suggested they at least make it an option, for those of us who prefer it to stay where it is set, but meantime, I'm wondering how I can tell the difference, if I decide to replace or upgrade my Nuvii - anyone have any ideas?
Cheri,

Connect the garmin to your computer via a usb cable and look through the files on the nuvi like you would a thumb drive or other external storage device. Find the time zone files and either put them in their own folder that you create or move them off of the nuvi. The nuvi will then fall back to its default time zone which lucky for us is eastern time. It's only a couple files, but I can't remember which ones they are. I think they start with tz. I'll look it up in the morning and post it. I got this "fix" from garmin tech support, and it's worked for me for about two years.

eb

http://www.expeditersonline.com/forum/tech-shop/42836-garmin-nuvi-speed-limit-review.html
 
Last edited:

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Thanks, eb, preciate it. My current Nuvii stays on Eastern, but when Highway Star said his newer one doesn't, I started checking. There's no way to tell which units change time zones, so if I upgrade, I'll probably get one that changes, even though I don't want it to. :(
 

paullud

Veteran Expediter

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Again, thanks, eb. I hadn't noticed the problem when the thread first appeared a year ago.
I hope everyone is telling Garmin that it's a problem for us, and requesting they make the ETA an option: default/preset time, or local.
If they know it's an issue, they may just fix it - customer service is better than it was a few years ago @ Garmin.
 

highway star

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Again, thanks, eb. I hadn't noticed the problem when the thread first appeared a year ago.
I hope everyone is telling Garmin that it's a problem for us, and requesting they make the ETA an option: default/preset time, or local.
If they know it's an issue, they may just fix it - customer service is better than it was a few years ago @ Garmin.

I sent them an e-mail with my criticisms of the 465, including the time issue, when I got it. Their response was basically "that's how it is, too bad". They didn't seem to care for their product being criticized.
 
Top