Rand McNally Intelliroute TND 520 Truck GPS with Lifetime Maps

so far the packaging and included case with all the extras were faboulas did not expect all this gonna try it out this week

this is a nice unit with alot of potential. it has software issues though. its pretty evident that they released it sooner than they should of. right out of the box i ran the dianose/repair tool on it and it had 33 errors. it repaired them and since then it has found only 3 the last couple times i ran it. i use it pretty much every day as a long haul truck driver. it takes a while to "get going" when its been sitting for 6 or 8 hours. 9 out of 10 times it will start up but none of the buttons will work. you have to reboot it for it to start working. once it starts going it works good except for the cancel route/detour screen pops up for no reason every so often. in fact it popped up 4 times in the first 10 miles on my trip out of minneapolis yesterday. the garmins have far less errors from my experience and just seem to run smoother overall but the RM has alot better truck routing and tools. still prefer it over the garmin though. hopefully they can fix the errors on it! i had a tnd 720 for a while and it was alot more stable but the 520 has better designed interface and more nice user tools. they just need to fix the sofware issues!UPDATE: i got sick of dealing with the issues so i returned it and had amazon send me a new one. They have the best customer service! while the old one had 33 errors right out of the box the new one had none. i ran the diagnose/repair tool at the rand mcnally dock and it had absolutely no errors. it works excellent and is really stable. I love it. Just have to remember that no gps is perfect. always check the routing before you take off. it will sometimes think that no trucks are allowed on certain streets and take you all around the block 5 times when actually trucks are allowed. make sure you cross check with atlas or google.

I'm pretty disappointed. First let me list off the things that I like about this unit. 1) it shows mile markers instead of just telling you what exit your coming up to. 2) it is very easy to mount and the mount is easier to use then the Garmin mount. 3)well I can't think of a number three so I'll go to the things I hate.1) it has a light on the front that is green when the unit is on and red when the unit is off. During the day this isn't so bad but at night it's distracting. I had to put tape over the light. 2) it does not give you lane information when you are at an interchange. It might tell you to stay to the right or left but does not tell you what lane. 3) according to the Rand McNally website I have the latest maps yet I often find myself "driving in the middle of nowhere." Is this a big deal? Well not really because as a professional driver I try to always know wher I am going. Does it make me angry that a unit that costs over $300 doesn't have correct maps? Answer, yes! 4) It often can not find imputed addresses. I'm not talking about addresses that Google or mapquest can't find I'm talking about basic addresses. 5) the speed limits stored in the unit are often wrong. Again this is an "updated" unit so you would think that the speeds would be mostly correct. You would be wrong. I often am given a "speed warning" when I am in a 75 zone doing only 68mph. 6) I can change the screen from "day mode" to "night mode" or to "automatic" but I cant dim the screen during the day. This drives me nuts! 7) more then once I have asked it to find the "shortest route" and when it comes up with something 100+ miles longer then the route I want I switch it to the "fastest route" only to have it give me a route 25 to 50 miles shorter then the "shortest route." Fyi it's still not the fastest or shortest. 8) on my Garmin that I had I could touch the screen and it would give me the nearest address and my gps latitude and longitude. This does not work on this unit! 9) on my Garmin I could touch the screen and it would jump to a birds eye view. If I had a programmed route it would show me the whole route and then I could drag my finger and zoom in as needed. If not in a route then it would show me the area I was in and I could zoom in or out as needed. Rand McNally does not let you do this! You can sort of sometimes do it from your route log if you have a trip programmed in but all you can do if you are not navigating is zoom out try to drag your finger to what you want to see and then zoom back in. 10) it does not tell you until you are on top of it that there is a weight restriction or low bridge on your route.Bottom line the cons way outweigh the pros for me on this unit. I do like how many truck stops it has in its database but other then that I'll be going back to Garmin.

First off I am independent truck driver. I have driven trucks for around 20 years. I have gone from calling dispatch on a pay phone to using Bluetooth linked to my cell phone. I resisted investing in a GPS simply because of the lack of really accurate routing. Things like construction, detours, low bridges and over passes have caused me to be caution and simply call to get directions. But I finally caved and this unit is a OK device although it has some bugs to work out. For one, not every fastest route is the best route. I tried it out the first time and it may have taken me a authorized truck route. But I had a lot of turns through a business town of Greenville, SC and I had hazmat on which I programmed into the GPS. A simpler route (albeit longer) should have routed me down Interstate 26 to I 85 and just off a exit would have been my delivery point. A much easier way and safer in my opinion. I have learned to go over the route and look at options. A better solution is to get closer and then enter in information which would base it better on the way you want to go. Also, entering in information driving down the road is impossible, its touch screen has too small of boxes and is not very sensitive. I had to repeat entries at times. Also the voice is very annoying about any over speed but does help on alerting you to sharp curves, weight stations and other important information. Keep it updated and construction information is available. Its a good unit and far more useful then a GPS for cars. But its just a tool and you have to learn how to use it and understand its limitations to take full advantage of it. Its like my cell phone. Its only good if the battery is charged and I get a signal from a tower.