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Why You Want a Garmin RV GPS in 2024
In the event you’re pondering, “Why would I spend that a lot cash on one thing I can get on my cellphone at no cost?”, you’re not alone. We too have been hesitant to make this type of funding when there are such a lot of (free) cellular apps available on the market that appear to carry out the identical operate. GPS models appeared like dinosaurs, one thing that belonged within the early 2000s together with MapQuest.
And but. After only a few months of navigating with the Garmin RV GPS in our first motorhome, we couldn’t think about life with out it.
Causes to Have a Garmin RV GPS
Personalized Routing
Even the smallest motorhomes are bigger than your common SUV. An RV GPS considers the dimensions of your giant car when calculating the optimum route. In the event you’ve ever approached a low bridge and thought too late, ‘I’m wondering precisely how tall my rig is,’ then you definately perceive how essential the scale of your RV are for routing.
The Garmin RV GPS has a profile part the place you may enter the width, top and size of your RV. The RV GPS we used had two profile choices so we set on up for our Class A motorhome, and one for our Jeep Wrangler tow car.
Once we drove the motorhome, we would choose the RV profile. This allowed the GPS to customise the route. The mapping included related restrictions, corresponding to low overhangs and bridges, in addition to weight-restricted roads and steep grades on roads and highways. This helped be certain that we didn’t find yourself on a highway with low clearance or a weight restriction.
Offline Functionality
In contrast to Google Maps and different mapping software program on our telephones, the GPS doesn’t want connectivity to work. The machine will work so long as it could possibly connect with a satellite tv for pc. We by no means ran right into a state of affairs the place the Garmin RV GPS couldn’t join. That is extremely helpful if you’re on Forest Service or BLM land in search of a boondocking spot, the place service will be spotty or nonexistent.
Offline functionality additionally means the GPS doesn’t eat up invaluable gigabytes of information. In the event you’re touring quite a bit, you could run into cases the place you exceed your cellular knowledge cap and are charged additional.
Giant Show and Intuitive Alerts
The massive 7, 8 and 10 inch show sizes of the Garmin RV GPS makes it simpler to learn than a mobile phone display screen. Yellow bars and audio notifications alert us if the highway circumstances are altering (sharp curve, steep grade, college zone, pace restrict change, and so on.). The turn-by-turn instructions are clear and simple to comply with. The RV GPS can even present clear directions on when to alter lanes so that you just’re in the precise place for a freeway division or interchange.
Steer Away from Tolls
The RV GPS permits you to preview potential routes earlier than a visit. If you wish to keep away from tolls like we did, you may make that call upfront. The routes will present estimate time of arrival and complete mileage. These estimates are particular to an RV and to not a automotive, which is helpful in the case of estimating arrival time. Conventional mapping software program assumes that you may all the time go at the very least the pace restrict, and this isn’t all the time the case for RVs.
See What’s Coming
An RV GPS can even present stops that RVers care about: eating places, gasoline stations, banks, relaxation stops and RV companies. In case you are in search of one thing particular corresponding to a Costco gasoline station, you should utilize the search characteristic.
Newest Garmin RV GPS Fashions
As of scripting this submit, the Garmin RV 795, the Garmin RV 895, and the Garmin RV 1095 fashions are the newest and biggest RV GPS models. The primary distinction between the three is the 795 has a 7″ display screen, the 895 has an 8″ display screen and the 1095 has a ten″ display screen. The one different distinction between the three is that the 795 comes with a suction cup mount and 895 and 1095 include a quick-detach magnetic suction cup mount.
Garmin RV GPS Options
- Excessive-resolution edge-to-edge contact show in 7, 8 and 10 inch screens
- Customized routing for the dimensions and weight of your RV
- Street warnings
- Listing of RV parks and companies, TripAdvisor® traveler scores plus built-in content material from Final Public Campgrounds, KOA®, iOverlander™, PlanRV™ TripAdvisor®, Foursquare® and extra
- Voice management, hands-free calling (cellphone integration) and built-in WiFi for simple updating with out a pc
- Preloaded avenue maps for North America with protection of the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Bahamas
Garmin RV GPS Consists of:
- Automobile suction cup mount (795) / Fast-Detach suction cup mount (895/1095)
- Visitors receiver/car energy cable
- USB cable
- Documentation
Value of Garmin RV 795 on Amazon
Garmin Overlander
Final, however not least, there’s the Garmin Overlander, essentially the most sturdy of the lineup.
In a phrase, the Overlander is cool. The overwhelming majority of RVers received’t want an RV GPS unit this sturdy; because the title implies, it’s constructed for four-wheelers who enterprise into some robust territory.
Garmin Overlander Options:
- On- and off-road navigation
- Topographic maps for North and South America
- Spoken instructions with avenue maps for North and South America
- Share your journey plans via Garmin Discover
- Powered magnet mount and RAM ball mount
- 64 GB of built-in storage
- Suitable with HuntView maps (offered individually)
- Army customary 810 for thermal and shock resistance
- IP5X mud score
- Pre-loaded knowledge from iOverlander, together with public land boundaries
- Built-in pitch and roll angles to help on tough terrain
Garmin RV GPS Assessment
The RV GPS unit we owned was the Garmin RV 760LMT. It’s now not in manufacturing and has been changed with the newer Garmin GPS fashions listed above. Watch the video to study extra about why we thought the Garmin was the Greatest RV GPS.
Shortcomings of RV GPS
An RV GPS assessment could be incomplete with out an acknowledgment of its shortcomings. GPS gadgets aren’t excellent and listed here are among the issues we had with ours.
Outdated Info or RV Entry Unknown
The most important battle with RV GPS is that it must be manually up to date. In contrast to Google Maps or different app software program that updates consistently within the cloud, your RV GPS software program has been downloaded to your machine. It’s solely ever as correct because the final replace.
We’ve seen the pace restrict off by 5 to 10 miles an hour, or RV entry for a predominant highway is listed as unknown. We discovered to not rely totally on the GPS and to maintain conscious of signage. When RV entry is unknown, the GPS will path to a highway the place entry is understood. This has led us to some out-of-the-way and sketchy routes. This wasn’t the norm nevertheless it did occur. That mentioned, we’ve had apps like Google Maps route us down small nation or grime roads the place a big RV would by no means slot in an effort to supply the “quickest” route. Most just lately, we had Google Maps route us alongside a highway the place we needed to cross a slim, one-lane bridge. The burden restrict for this bridge is 3 tons which implies even the smallest RVs could be obese for the bridge (and even some full-size pick-ups). As a way to get to the opposite aspect, we needed to detour again and discover one other route manually since Google wouldn’t present an alternate.
As Garmin said on their web site “At all times defer to all posted highway indicators and highway circumstances when making driving selections.”
Abstract
Total, the Garmin RV GPS is a good instrument and probably the greatest RV GPS on the market. In case you are available in the market for a Garmin RV GPS, contemplating making a buy via our Amazon affiliate hyperlink. There is no such thing as a extra price for the client and in return we obtain a small share of the sale. Thanks to your help! We actually recognize it.
