Weeeelllll, since DieselBoss sells GPS units, and is not an independent review site, the reviews are somewhat tainted. I've seen past reviews where serious shortcomings were downplayed in the reviews, until they were called out in the forum. One could conclude that certain items that have a larger profit margin might get more favorable reviews ("excellent" versus "good", for example). While I like the reviews and comparisons there, especially the format, there are many points of various units where the opinion section of the reviews are either suspect, or just wrong, albeit in opinion.
Many of the GPS units (and mapping and routing software) there are reviewed from, for lack of a better word, a superficial standpoint on how easy the units are to operate by truckers, and what kind of chrome the thing's got (shiny pretty things, a.k.a. bells and whistles). Nothing wrong with that, but more honest reviews of GPS units are to be found where GPS geeks hang out.
Any GPS geek will tell you that accurate mapping and routing blows every bell and whistle out of the water. Truckers like that truck-specific stuff (length, width, weight, etc.), sometimes so much that they'll look past a crappy basemap and database, and lousy routing. For example, the makers of PC Miler should be sued for their standalone PC Miler unit, because it's not PC Miler at all. It's got PC Miler bells and whistles, but it's mapping and routing is still the same old TravRoute Door-to-Door software (Co-Pilot in its most recent incarnations), which is crap (the Co-Pilot software is one of those where it was highly touted, but forum comments showed the review to be less-than accurate, as another example).
The best maps, basemaps and routing algorithms for North America is Garmin, with Tom Tom a close second (except Tom Tom uses Tele Atlas maps, which aren't as accurate, and is becoming less and less accurate as their North American map udates are beginning to lag a little)). The later Magellan aren't half bad, and plenty of people like the Rand McNally units (but again, the GPS geeks aren't all that impressed with the Rand units). A mid or low priced Garmin with updated maps and few bells and whistles will serve you far better than a much more expensive truck-specific unit with tons of bells and whistles but inaccurate maps and routing.
Based on a first hand accounting from someone I know who has been testing the new Garmin Delz units for several months, it appears the dēzl units (dēzl 560LT and 560LMT) are far and away ahead of the first generation of truck-specific standalone units (Nüvi 465T). The older 465T relied a little too much on those National Truck Routes instead of real world travels for trucks. Later updates have fixed most of that, tho.
Some of the better reviews (comprehensive) and be found at GPSmagazine. Other review sites like Amazon, those are ones to be read and considered, but you also need to take into account many of those reviews (good and bad) are from people who are not very experienced or knowledgeable about GPS units, or at least a wide enough of a variety of units to be able to give good information. Places like GPSMagazine, the GPS Passion forums and a few other GPS geek hangouts are where you want to get the best information.
My advice is to pick whichever Garmin that floats your boat ad far as bells and whistles, and don't look back, except become familiar with the forums that are dedicated to that unit, like over at GPS Passion.
Many of the GPS units (and mapping and routing software) there are reviewed from, for lack of a better word, a superficial standpoint on how easy the units are to operate by truckers, and what kind of chrome the thing's got (shiny pretty things, a.k.a. bells and whistles). Nothing wrong with that, but more honest reviews of GPS units are to be found where GPS geeks hang out.
Any GPS geek will tell you that accurate mapping and routing blows every bell and whistle out of the water. Truckers like that truck-specific stuff (length, width, weight, etc.), sometimes so much that they'll look past a crappy basemap and database, and lousy routing. For example, the makers of PC Miler should be sued for their standalone PC Miler unit, because it's not PC Miler at all. It's got PC Miler bells and whistles, but it's mapping and routing is still the same old TravRoute Door-to-Door software (Co-Pilot in its most recent incarnations), which is crap (the Co-Pilot software is one of those where it was highly touted, but forum comments showed the review to be less-than accurate, as another example).
The best maps, basemaps and routing algorithms for North America is Garmin, with Tom Tom a close second (except Tom Tom uses Tele Atlas maps, which aren't as accurate, and is becoming less and less accurate as their North American map udates are beginning to lag a little)). The later Magellan aren't half bad, and plenty of people like the Rand McNally units (but again, the GPS geeks aren't all that impressed with the Rand units). A mid or low priced Garmin with updated maps and few bells and whistles will serve you far better than a much more expensive truck-specific unit with tons of bells and whistles but inaccurate maps and routing.
Based on a first hand accounting from someone I know who has been testing the new Garmin Delz units for several months, it appears the dēzl units (dēzl 560LT and 560LMT) are far and away ahead of the first generation of truck-specific standalone units (Nüvi 465T). The older 465T relied a little too much on those National Truck Routes instead of real world travels for trucks. Later updates have fixed most of that, tho.
Some of the better reviews (comprehensive) and be found at GPSmagazine. Other review sites like Amazon, those are ones to be read and considered, but you also need to take into account many of those reviews (good and bad) are from people who are not very experienced or knowledgeable about GPS units, or at least a wide enough of a variety of units to be able to give good information. Places like GPSMagazine, the GPS Passion forums and a few other GPS geek hangouts are where you want to get the best information.
My advice is to pick whichever Garmin that floats your boat ad far as bells and whistles, and don't look back, except become familiar with the forums that are dedicated to that unit, like over at GPS Passion.
