Teletype WorldNav Truck GPS navigation

golfournut

Veteran Expediter
I use the Garmin 465T. There have been maybe only a handful of addresses it didn't find. Of those, I went to search all cities in that state and most of that handful were easy to match up with the supplied zip code. Also use my evo/Droid to verify.

Your best bet, hire a vet! Please.
 

guido4475

Not a Member
I had a Cobra 5000 gps,which was a piece of junk, then they upgraded me to a 7700, which I love to death,awesome!It got rained on Monday, due to my fault as to leaving the window partially open,a nd it getting rained on.It would come on, but that was it.,totallyun-responsive.So I e-mailed the head tech, and ask him if there is something I can do for it, or just buy another one.He told me he didnt think the rain had anything to do with it, just a glitch.Mail it back to him, and they will fix it, and up date it to a 7750 at no charge.I ask him if I am there by morning, can We do it there?He said yes.I get there at 8, give it to him, expecting it to take a few hours.15 minutes later, he comes out to the van with a brand new 7750 pro platinum series in the un-opened box, free of charge.My old one was 2 years old, which they were aware of. It was registered thru them.What a deal! to say the last one was awesome, but the new one is real awesome! Thank you, Cobra!
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Guido--If what u say is true, then Cobra will corner this market. Yesterday I called Teletype twice and they advised they would call me back. No phone call. What do you bet I do not get one today either. I would like everyone out there with different GPS's to input these address's (1438 Courthouse Rd., Gulfport, Ms & 16 Sleepy Hollow Lane, Slidell, La.) and give some feedback as to how well they do. The third thing I asked of this unit was to find the intersection of Kidd Ln. & PGA Blvd. in Palm Beach Gardens. The 7400 cannot do any of these. I am told I have to now purchase more product from a dealer who has sold me a product that does not work to begin with. Plus they charge around $50 to take it back. Kinda like an email scam. If all the units are using the same NaveTeq Data, then this really reeks. I have seen bad post on almost all the GPS units, but, this is the first post I have seen where the manufacturer backs their product. How refreshing!
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Just because different units use NavTeq data doesn't mean all of those units will be the same. The location databases and routing algorithms are vastly different between manufacturers, even with the same basic maps, because eacj application vendor compiles data in different ways. Some manufacturers use NavTeq, some use Tele Atlas. Garmin is one of the few who incorporates both NavTeq and Tele Atlas data for their maps. Other manufacturers use their own maps and data, like Google Maps who started out with NavTeq, then moved to Tele Atlas, and now use their own maps, along with government and crowdsourced data. But two different units each with the same exact underlying NavTeq maps could be wildly different in the accuracy of its address database.

But, FWIW, my Garmin c550 found all three of the above addresses without any problems. It's a 5 year old unit, but has the latest map updates, of course. Google Navigator on the Droid found all three, as well.
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Turtle--Preciate the kick back and the data. Yeah, my 4 yr old Magellan can find them as well and it has never had an update. Still have not heard from Teletype. Guess I will try to call them again today. This 7400 has a lot of bells and whistles, but, if it doesen't do basic routing then it's just a boat anchor.
 

golfournut

Veteran Expediter
I had a Cobra 5000 gps,which was a piece of junk, then they upgraded me to a 7700, which I love to death,awesome!It got rained on Monday, due to my fault as to leaving the window partially open,a nd it getting rained on.It would come on, but that was it.,totallyun-responsive.So I e-mailed the head tech, and ask him if there is something I can do for it, or just buy another one.He told me he didnt think the rain had anything to do with it, just a glitch.Mail it back to him, and they will fix it, and up date it to a 7750 at no charge.I ask him if I am there by morning, can We do it there?He said yes.I get there at 8, give it to him, expecting it to take a few hours.15 minutes later, he comes out to the van with a brand new 7750 pro platinum series in the un-opened box, free of charge.My old one was 2 years old, which they were aware of. It was registered thru them.What a deal! to say the last one was awesome, but the new one is real awesome! Thank you, Cobra!

Now that is customer service! I can't get that with Garmin. Good for you.

Your best bet, hire a vet! Please.
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Was looking at that Cobra and saw this on amazon. Looks like Cobra has some of the same probs I am seeing with Teletype unit.

1 Star Rating "cobra gps 7700" 2010-05-02
- Reviewed By An Amazon User
thought i was great very expensive and splurged...took me 3 weeks to figure out how to work it. menus and book to use it are confusing..gps will route you extra miles. send you to bridges that are ok to go under and tell you they are low. will not tell you when you will get to a low bridge. Map is not current when u buy it so u will look like you are flying in the air going on the overpasses from one interstate to another. best thing is it tell you the miles you will have left to go... perfect for a new driver needing to plan his trip. but the worst thing about it was mine freezes up and stops working i reset it for 4 or five times in the month i had it then it crashed and i tried to reset it and it will just turn on to the opening picture with the truck on it. i cannot get it to work. it is garbage untill i can get it fixed and luckily i have a car gps to get me there. there are others saying theirs freezes also. its awesome when it works..but ..i wouldnt buy this again for sure and i dont reccommend it to anyone untill this glitch is fixed..got to get pc miler will try that one next...
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Called Teletype earlier today and they advised someone would be calling me. It is now the end of the day and no one has called. This has been their habit for days now. Called again this evening and they advised Ed, the man who was handling my case, was now gone home. I told them to set up my return authorization! I am returning this before I get any deeper in with this company! I really have not got one route yet that worked well and no one wants to do anything to resolve the issue! I will let yall know how smooth the return process goes!
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Fellow truckers, do you see anything wrong with this? First they ship you a non-functional unit. Then they won't fix the unit. Then they charge you for shipping back and forth. Then they take 15% up front. Then they send you an RMA on Friday that is only good for 3 days! Note the email below.


This RMA number is valid for 3 days only. You must postmark the package within 3 days from the date this message is sent. Otherwise, we cannot issue you credit.

Again, by sending us your product with this RMA number written on it, you agree that we will refund the purchase value of the product, less restocking fee, minus shipping charges.
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Just got off the phone with another driver who had the Garmin 465T. He adv he had very similar issues with the routing etc. He adv he could not get any support on his unit so he just took it back. I am starting to think that all the trucker GPS units out there are more buggy than their automobile counterparts! I guess all things being close to equal, it boils down to support. Anybody out there with GPS experiences please chime on in. This GPS thing is turning into a real journey.
 

golfournut

Veteran Expediter
Just got off the phone with another driver who had the Garmin 465T. He adv he had very similar issues with the routing etc. He adv he could not get any support on his unit so he just took it back. I am starting to think that all the trucker GPS units out there are more buggy than their automobile counterparts! I guess all things being close to equal, it boils down to support. Anybody out there with GPS experiences please chime on in. This GPS thing is turning into a real journey.

I have been using a 465T over 2 years now. It works great. You have to enable U turns or it will route you so you have to turn right into your address and not cross traffic.
The FM traffic for free lifetime has saved me time on several occasions. I did have that tuner go out once while under warranty. Had to pay $100 for the to send one while I sent the other back. Credit was done quickly.
Upgrading maps can be a pain. They have two programs. Lifetime for I think $99 download a couple times a year. If you don't have high speed internet don't even think about it. I tried it. Took 14 hours then didn't work. Had to get very firm with customer service for a refund. Then the only other way to update is CD for $69 or 79 each time.
I used to sell Garmin in the marine industry with radar, satellite weather, fish finder, wind, speed and depth all integrated. It was great stuff. I sold Raymarine, Furuno, Northstar and Garmin. Garmin by far at that time far exceeded the others technology. The radar overlay along with live weather on your digital chart was fantastic.
I guess the other manufactures are getting caught up. I always thought TomTom made a good product but wasn't very user friendly at the time. That Cobra mentioned above sounds awesome.

Your best bet, hire a vet! Please.
 

guido4475

Not a Member
Was looking at that Cobra and saw this on amazon. Looks like Cobra has some of the same probs I am seeing with Teletype unit.

1 Star Rating "cobra gps 7700" 2010-05-02
- Reviewed By An Amazon User
thought i was great very expensive and splurged...took me 3 weeks to figure out how to work it. menus and book to use it are confusing..gps will route you extra miles. send you to bridges that are ok to go under and tell you they are low. will not tell you when you will get to a low bridge. Map is not current when u buy it so u will look like you are flying in the air going on the overpasses from one interstate to another. best thing is it tell you the miles you will have left to go... perfect for a new driver needing to plan his trip. but the worst thing about it was mine freezes up and stops working i reset it for 4 or five times in the month i had it then it crashed and i tried to reset it and it will just turn on to the opening picture with the truck on it. i cannot get it to work. it is garbage untill i can get it fixed and luckily i have a car gps to get me there. there are others saying theirs freezes also. its awesome when it works..but ..i wouldnt buy this again for sure and i dont reccommend it to anyone untill this glitch is fixed..got to get pc miler will try that one next...

Those problems described existed with the 5000 model,but not at all with the 7700 or the new 7500 platinum.Worked like it should..
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Thanks for all the input. Went to Cobra web site. The 7750 cost $500 opposed to the $350 for the Nav. Both promise pretty much same operations. Who delivers the best on those promises, I really don't know. Before I return this I am trying to give it an honest evaluation. Took it out today and was really angry that it kept wanting me to turn around and backtrack. Never advised me why. Then I came to a bridge that was not rated for the weight. That was the why, but, couldn't I have gotten a warning or something other than a reroute? Was in automobile so didn't matter. Some of the routing in dispute may be correct, but, first impressions count when time is at a premium and shortest (legal) routes are a must. Gonna do a limo run to Miami tonight will put it on the windshield and eval that. Keep the opinions coming. Great shared data.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Garmin has the lion's share of the North American GPS market (Tom Tom is second). There's a reason for that. Several of them. No GPS is perfect, but Garmin's mapping and routing is still the best. Everybody else is a Garmin wannabe. Many will play up the bells and whistles to make up for their shortcomings. Look at most any of the "top 10" GPS devices lists and you'll find Garmin and Tom Tom crowd the list, with the occasional Magellan thrown in there. You won't see any of the others, except on review sites where they also sell the others.

Anyone looking to get a truck-specific GPS unit would do well to take a close look at the second generation truck-specific Garmin dēzl™ 560LT (LT = lifetime traffic) and it's twin, the dēzl™ 560LMT (LMT = lifetime maps & traffic). The 560LT is in stores now, and the 560MLT ships March 20, 2011.
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Thanks again for all the feedback. I am still getting negative reviews on both the Garmin and this WorldNav. I have a friend who has the 465T and it has been locking up on him as well. I adv this WorldNav was doing the same until the software was updated and a bugfix noted and worked around. He will update the Garmin and we will try to run them together in the same truck over the same routes and see what the difference is. Unfortunately, for this WorldNav, their tech support will not call back about the routing problems. The unit wants to route a 40' ST /w no haz over 311mi to Ocala, Fl. fm Jupiter, Fl. Copilot routes up the turnpike rather than over I-95 for sum of 228mi. It is acting as if the toll avoidance feature is locked and can't be released.
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Mr. Friedman is supposed to call me after 13:00 today. I was supposed to hear from him last Friday and today is Tuesday.
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Another note over the weekend I placed it next to the Magellan and went into Miami, Fl. The street detail and the restricted route emphasis was superb and far outshined the Magellans smaller screen. So, as you can see, I can sometimes say good things about this unit.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
There is no perfect GPS unit, so quit looking for it. They all have their mapping and routing quirks and errors. You will always have bad reviews of every single GPS unit out there, some legitimate and some simply because the unit doesn't behave in a manner which someone thinks it should. A GPS unit is only a tool, and should not be relied upon as absolute, for if you do rely on it too much, it'll get you stuck under a low bridge or drive you into a lake. Fact is, Garmin is the best, TeleType is the worst, and everyone else is in between. Go find an independent review where they list the top 10 GPS units, and concentrate on those brands and you'll end up with the least problems. Or, get whatever GPS unit you like. It's a tool, just like any other. Not everyone wants Snap-On or Matco or Craftsman, and are fine with Harbor Freight.
 

zrj2011

Seasoned Expediter
Turtle, your experience and opinion are valuable to this thread and myself. I saw Dieselboss and some other evaluations of some of the other GPS units, and he did a great job. I could not find any evaluations of the Teletype Units in comparison with any of the others so I went to specs and forums. In my experience specs did not always hold up in real world applications and forums often went the way of opinion, which in of itself is not always a bad thing. I have a very realistic view of GPS and have no expectation of perfection, just a desire for some meaningful function. If you have some links that will provide comparisons similar to the Boss's I would read it. WorldNav called and advised they would forego any restock fees and they will replace the software and provide new maps. They sent me a bug fix for the routing issue I saw and I was really impressed with the Miami routing experience I had last weekend. I do intend to take a drive soon with a Garmin 465T and the WorldNav. I will try to share my personal eval with everyone.
 
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