Perry Mack
Rand GPS RVND™ 7720
By Perry Mack
When I first heard about the RV specific GPS unit, my initial thought was ‘Why didn’t somebody do this sooner?’
I’ve been using a TomTom GPS for several years now and I’ve been pretty happy with it – better than using a map. It’s the 620 model, which has a 4.3" Screen.
Out of the box the Rand comes with all the accessories – outlet power cord, USB cable and window mount – the window mount is often an extra accessory with many units.
The Rand unit is larger than most GPS – a 7” screen – roughly the size of Kindle. Initially I felt the size was too distracting and took up too much of my field of view. Driving a Class A I can’t imagine this would be an issue. Eventually I did get used to it, especially after I adjusted the screen brightness.
One of my pet peeves with the TomTom became apparent as soon as I turned them both on at the same time. The Rand found the GPS satellites within seconds while the TomTom unit took a few minutes.
I found some features interesting but not particularly useful - like the ten different checklists, maintenance logs and fuel records.
However there are a number of useful features. It is pre-programmed with RV specific data including campgrounds, rest stops, RV service/sales centres and dump stations.
According to Rand they have a unique data set for routing larger vehicles. The unit will allow you to input the type of RV you own as well as the overall length. There are a couple of tight roundabouts near my house, which the unit avoided when I selected a longer unit so it does seem to work.
You can switch between a QWERTY keyboard and alphabetical. The TomTom is an alphabetical keyboard, which I find, makes entering in addresses difficult as I spend most of my day on a QWERTY keyboard. The Rand gives you a choice.
The Virtual Dashboard provides numerous bits of statistical data to keep you interested, including average uphill and downhill speed, sunrise/sunset and odometer reading. The only one I found interesting was elevation. Traveling the west coast of the continent invariable means crossing mountain ranges, which often begs the question – how high are we?
You can program in multiple stops. So if you are a planner (like me) you can program your entire trip into the GPS ahead of time.
With a Wi-Fi connection you can retrieve weather data. On the road, this means you’ll need a smartphone with a data plan that can act as a Wi-Fi hot spot – this is also known as tethering. Whether or not you are able to do this depends on the model of phone you have and your service plan – not all smartphone data plans allow tethering. Alternately, you may have a laptop plus a device like Rogers Rocket Stick, which allows you to create a mobile ‘Hot Spot’.
On the negative side, I often found a lag while entering information and once it actually froze up and I needed to power down and subsequently power up again to get it to work.
There are not many choices for voices – pick a language and then male or female. The TomTom – especially when connected to the Internet allows you to choose a range of accents as well as languages including some very funny user generated voices.
There’s no Bluetooth connection. On the TomTom this allows you to accept phone calls, listen to music or view photos from your other devices (I don’t know why you would want to view photos while you’re driving but perhaps it’s for your passengers).
I went into the ‘align screen’ preference and couldn’t get out without powering down.
The last item on the list of cons is that the window mount has a relatively short arm. My preferred location for the GPS is low on the bottom left corner of the window. I find this maximizes my driving field of view and keeps the GPS within easy reach when I need to change screens for additional information or to find alternate routes to avoid traffic accidents and road construction. The short arm made mounting the Rand difficult in this location. The ball joint also doesn’t offer the same lateral range of motion as the arm for the TomTom – the ability to angle the GPS towards the driver while moving it as far out of the field of vision as possible.
After weighing the pros and cons – would I trade the Rand for my TomTom? Yes. The RV specific features in the Rand make it a much more functional and travel friendly GPS for getting to your favorite RV park and home again. And the offer of lifetime map upgrades for $89 is the most reasonable price I’ve seen.