- 7-inch LCD display
- This Rand McNally GPS device is designed specifically for the RVer and camper. Routing includes legal weight and height restrictions designed for the type of RV you are using
- More than 14 million points of interest - including festivals, National/State/Regional Parks and other Rand McNally researched locations
- Pet-friendly locations - animal hospitals, hiking trails, parks, beaches, and more
- RVer Tools including Checklists, Quick Mileage Calculations, Maintenance Logs, and Breadcrumb Trails to get you back to your campsite
This is quite a large product it has an easily visible 7" screen and is like a little brick. It's quite sturdy and heavy and really would not do well on a normal car dashboard. It comes with a mounting stand that allows you to attach it to the windshield.
The GPS is supposed to be connected to a computer with internet access when first used, so that it can download updates, firmware, register itself and get set up properly. This took a while, so be prepared to wait while all of the files get downloaded. Once that is done, you can begin setting up the unit and tailor it to your vehicle. You can select a class of RV, or a camper, or a normal car. If you select a normal car, some of the features of the product will not be available to you (obviously, since they are meant for RV's). You also enter the size and weight of your vehicle.
Once that is done, operation of the GPS is pretty self-explanatory. You can input destinations and save them to the address books. When entering a destination, you can also enter insertion points if you want to stop somewhere else along the way before reaching your main destination. The touch screen has a nice feel to it you just tap on the glass and it makes a comforting click sound to acknowledge your tap, and the glass also has a fine texture on it so it seems to resist fingerprints. While driving, the dashboard (main screen) of the GPS shows you your route, speed and ETA. The voice guides you along the way, naming off streets and letting you know about things to be watching for. It is important to keep your device updated by regularly connecting it via your computer to the Rand web site in order to get the latest traffic information such as road closures and construction. The voice also alerts you to changes in the speed limits and tells you when you are exceeding that limit (you can adjust the tolerance of how many miles over the limit you can be driving before you get a warning up to 15 mph over). In terms of providing information, it lists places of interest, places for getting services, and also does list places that are of particular interest to people using an RV such as where they can park overnight.
When you enter addresses for destinations, you can either enter the city or the zip code. Once you begin, and then enter the street name and number, the device continually shrinks the available choices based on the information you have already entered. For example, once you enter a zip and then start typing the street name, the visible letters from which you can choose continue to narrow down based on what streets are actually in that area. Same with the address numbers. If you select a street address number that is outside of the range, you get an error message notifying you of what the range of house numbers are for that street (such as if you enter 8600 Milton, you may get a message saying the relevant range is 3000-8000, meaning there is no such address as 8600 Milton).
Actual use: here are some impressions from actually using the GPS. I found that when I entered my own address as the home destination and used my zip code to start, the device told me that my house address was not within that zip code and wouldn't let me proceed. I had to enter the name of the city instead of the zip and for whatever reason, this time it worked. That happened with another destination I entered, as well I had to enter the city instead of the zip code. The first time I used the device to navigate to a place outside of downtown Los Angeles, when I reached my destination it told me that it was on the "right" side although it was actually on the left side. That is the only time it happened, though.
You are given a choice of two voices: a female and a male voice. Both my wife and I found that the female voice was sort of irritating. She sounds more like she is nagging you than being a friendly guide, with a rather terse, abrupt tone (I know it is just a computerized voice but can't they make her sound more pleasant?). Switching to "Tom" was an improvement. He sounds more affable. I found that both voices speak rather quickly so you have to be listening carefully. They also tend to talk too much in that the reminders about the street or place to turn coming up keeps getting mentioned frequently. I guess that is a good thing to remind you but it gets a little annoying after a while because it tends to be too often. I suppose that's a matter of preference. Also, I set the speed limit warning to the max of 15 mph over because that got annoying as well (haha, you now know I drive over the speed limit).
All in all, this is a decent GPS unit tailored for RV use. It seems kind of pricey but it does offer continual downloads of information updates, and is a timesaver when it comes to pointing out local places of interest. It also is useful for planning routes that are RV-friendly. Unless you actually have an RV there is no point in getting this GPS, because it costs a lot more than a regular one and is also too large for a normal car.
Buy Rand McNally TripMaker RVND 7710 7-Inch GPS for Car and RV Now
We purchased the RVND 7710 for an upcoming trip of 3000 miles round trip, The unit works great. The screen is very large and bright and the voice is loud enough to clearly hear over the RV road noise. The large screen size makes it much easier to accurately use the touchscreen than smaller screens. There is also a stylus located on the windshield mount if needed for the touchscreen. The windshield mount is very heavy-duty and holds the unit firmly,The unit was fairly easy to setup and input for our destination was easy. The POIs were accurate for fuel and dump stations. Calculating routes takes a little while but there is a lot of information due to the RV info that is being calculated. It is really useful to have the specific info of your RV being taken into consideration for routing. It syncs to the satellites faster than our Garmin did.
The only downside that I have is with the Dock software for MAc. It auto loads on computer startup and can take several tries to get it to close. I have not used the windows version of Dock.
We are extremely happy with the performance of the unit.
Read Best Reviews of Rand McNally TripMaker RVND 7710 7-Inch GPS for Car and RV Here
Well we got the 7 inch RV Rand and it has some good features, about what I expected. Good big screen, easy to read, with good resolutions, sensitive touch screen. Sunlight does not seem to be a problem on the screen.In the RV setup you enter the overall length of HM with towed, height, weight and width. Then you set when you want to be warned about what. Will warn of steep hills, curves, state lines, time change, Low bridges, bridges that will not carry your weight ect.
Shows Speed limit on major Highways as well as your speed and you can set limits that will warn you if you are more that XX over the limit, along with mile markers, Both very useful. And most are dead on. You will pass a speed limit sign and see it change on the screen. Of course there are some that have been changed, so don't depend on it 100 percent. It also give you elevation and time on the screen. With one click you can get GPS coordinates. You can also mark and save your location. And You can leave a bread crumb trail, tho it does warn the trail function eats up memory space.
It has a good heavy, fully adjustable mount, and you can get an extra mount for $29, making it easy to switch to the tow car. We plan to use screws to mount one to the overhead in the MH. Has a good list of rest areas and overnight stays including Walmart, and list which allow overnight stays and when you need to notify the manager and phone numbers of the store. Has a good list of RV parks, but missing some. Has a good list of corp park, but missing some there too. Easy to set destination and multiple stop routes. Lane change info seemed minimal, but probably adequate. Good list of near by poi and give them to you in the direction you are traveling, destination, or around any location you search. Enter new location by Town name, which seemed strange instead of starting with state. But I could not find a town, every very small, that was not listed. This does make finding a town lots easier than going to state first as my Garmin is.
Routing,, well I did not expect perfect routing so I was not disappointed. There are limitation on the truck info available, just a fact that is going to exist on every truck type unit. There is no way to know everything but The technology will improve with time, hopefully as a result of the feedback button that is on this unit! and constant updates.
I Set for 60foot overall with tow car and 45,000pounds, 8.5 wide, and 12ft8inch high. In my car, It tried to take me down closed streets and lanes I could hardly get my car down. Did not say "turn around" but tried to get me to turn around, not just once but repeatedly, in road and areas that would be impossible with this size rig. Course this in a very rural area where local uncharted roads have little info available. But this same condition exist all across the country. On a main road that carries major truck traffic, said I exceed bridge weight on a bridge that has been there for more than 30 years. On a recent trip to Baton Rouge it routed me off of I49 which was 75mph to 2 lane SH71 with no shoulder and 55mph and some 45pmh and several miles of ROUGH. With a big rig is it not easy to get turned around, and just pulling off the highway can get you stuck. So when you get wrong routed, you can be stuck. I think it will work most of the time and route well, but not always. Point is, just be happy for any worthwhile info it does give you, and report any bad. And always use good sense and double verification before taking a big rig down an unknown road. The unit syncs up with your computer for updates on general information. With free maps, the maps are updated a couple of times a year. When you link up, it cks for all updates and the screen, when in use will ask if you have updated lately. There is also a button to send feed back about anything you find wrong, including map data, and it up loads the next time you sync the unit. Problem is it is very difficult to enter incorrect info. Sure don't have time while driving. Should be a better way to report wrong info. Like an e mail with GPS coordinates of problem area.
All in all, we are happy with the unit and the free lifetime maps, and it does provide lots of useful info.
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I have this unit for about one month and here are my first impressions:Not as friendly as any Garmin GPS to work with.
Lack of a printed user's manual
For the price of the unit compared to Garmin's, Rand McNally should have included a protective case as well as an anti-glare screen protector at no charge.
Very long boot time before being able to use it
Experienced problems in downloading custom POI's
Unusable in direct sunlight. Wrong design.
Male voice (Tom) speaks too fast and sometimes difficult to understand.
Speed limits are not always accurate.
Announcement of custom POI's is too close to the POI itself. Not enough time to react.
No information in the manual as what happens when one wander off a predetermined route regarding road clearance, propane restrictions etc...in the upcoming new road.
Short battery life when using it without power in the home to plan a trip.
No possibility of planning a trip on the RVND dock instead of the unit and then download it in the GPS.
Lack of small letters and French accents on the keyboard.
Find it rather expansive for what it does.
No security code
No dashboard support
The Pros:
Lots of information on the screen itself
Sturdy holding bracket
Touchscreen reacts promtly to the finger
A must for RVer's
All this being said, I am impressed with the quantity and quality of the data that unit holds.
However, just after one month of ownership, I had to return the unit to Rand McNally for repair. I was two days past the return policy of Amazon.com
Update: After discussion with an Amazon representative, I sent the unit back to them and purchased another one. The new one works perfectly without problems. Thanks to Amazon excellent customer service.
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Had trouble with Rand McNally GPS 7710 from the get-go. Had an extremely hard time just registering the unit let alone employing the unit. The unit would not identify satellite(s). Support from Rand McNally was essentially non-existant. Would not answer e-mails and had to wait in excess of twenty minutes to talk with a live person, which never happened. I'll stay with my GARMIN and my Magellan backup. The best experience of this whole transaction was with AMAZON and their return policy which is excellent in my book.
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