14 replies to this topic

[Brianwl]

I did a search for the Garmin 560 and found one post using that term which gave it a great review. Just wondering if there are others here using this GPS.

According to the info on Garmin's site its a "trucker" GPS but also has an RV mode that routes you according to height, weight, and length limitations.

It comes in a LMT (lifetime maps and traffic) version. All for less than $500 which is way more than I've ever spent for a GPS, thus my reason for this post.

Is it worth the money?

Edit: I found a well written review of this GPS unit. Doesn't go much into the RV features but does cover the trucker related points well and since many of us have the same physical limitations, the comments apply.

Dezl 560 Review

Edited by Brianwl, 09 October 2011 - 10:28 PM.

[mrfrank]

I think yes. Mine has kept me out of places that my coach had no business going into, both from a clearance standpoint and a twisty road standpoint. My Garmin Nuvi 1490LMT that I have in my Jeep has taken me into some pretty strange places.

[Brianwl]

I think yes. Mine has kept me out of places that my coach had no business going into, both from a clearance standpoint and a twisty road standpoint. My Garmin Nuvi 1490LMT that I have in my Jeep has taken me into some pretty strange places.

Those twisty roads are exactly what concerns me aside from low clearances. My 5ver is 39ft long and it'll be towed by a HDT.

I read something about there being a $15 per year fee for using one of the services it comes with but did not find any detail on this, do you know what they were talking about?

[mrfrank]

Those twisty roads are exactly what concerns me aside from low clearances. My 5ver is 39ft long and it'll be towed by a HDT.

I read something about there being a $15 per year fee for using one of the services it comes with but did not find any detail on this, do you know what they were talking about?

I know nothing about a $15 fee for anything! You get maps and traffic for life at no extra charge, what else do you need?

[Brianwl]

That's what I thought too. I sent an email to the author of the post and have not heard back. I think it had something to do with clearances and such, keeping it up to date.

[BertD]

I have had a dezl 560 for about 8 months. Initially it seemed to be okay but several times in the past few months it had given me BAD routes.

In October in southeast Missouri, while in the auto mode, it routed us down miles of narrow gravel roads, rather than keeping us on paved roads which we new about. I trusted the silly thing thinking it was going to take us on a short cut. By the way it was set to give us the fastest route. We actually had to make a choice to cross a gravel bottom creek, 6" deep and maybe 20' wide, or back up over a quarter mile. The road was far to narrow to turn around our CRV.

Last month we traveled from 3030 Union St, Oakland, CA to 13485 Green Valley Road, Sebastopol, CA, in the RV mode (60' overall length). Rather than routing us off 101 and up 116 into Sebastopol (a route that we have since found is very easy for our 40' motorhome) it routed us into Santa Rosa and back out Hwy 12. That wasn't so bad. Then it routed us down Tanuda Rd and Harrison Grade Rd to get to Green Valley Rd. The people at the camp told us that we must be mistaken because there was no way we could have gotten our motorhome down those roads. There was no sane way it could have happened!


I sent Garmin an email describing the problem and they suggested that I make sure my software was the latest version. I just upgraded my software, except for my less than a year old maps, and tried the route using the Trip Planner function. It still routed me over these nearly impassible roads. Would someone who has the same unit try inputting the Oakland/Sebastopol route and see if they get a different route?

If this is the best Garmin routing software can do then I need to get a GPS from another manufacturer.

[SIBERNUT]

I drive hazmats on rt 95 all the time. Otherwise a good unit, but this dumb POS keeps telling me I'm on a hazmat restricted route. Have to tell it to bug off as I pass each exit. I95 ? REALLY? (No not near tunnels, etc)

[GrayEagle]

Good luck on getting a better GPS from another manufacturer. They all have their occasional quirks, just requires that we still use our own God given navigation device.

[Jim n Sue]

I did a search for the Garmin 560 and found one post using that term which gave it a great review. Just wondering if there are others here using this GPS.

According to the info on Garmin's site its a "trucker" GPS but also has an RV mode that routes you according to height, weight, and length limitations.

It comes in a LMT (lifetime maps and traffic) version. All for less than $500 which is way more than I've ever spent for a GPS, thus my reason for this post.

Is it worth the money?

Edit: I found a well written review of this GPS unit. Doesn't go much into the RV features but does cover the trucker related points well and since many of us have the same physical limitations, the comments apply.

Dezl 560 Review

Does it give width of road to Brian ? some of these truckers need all the help they can get I just recently saw a low-bed trying to make a u-turn on 99W near Williams ,CA. The truck was down in the road gutter with standing water and the trailer was blocking all of 99W. That cost him $250 to get towed out and his boss got texted with a picture before he got out..So I am sure he didn't get reimbursed. Heck he may not even have a job anymore. CHP didn't even give a citation he was to busy shaking his head

[BertD]

Good luck on getting a better GPS from another manufacturer. They all have their occasional quirks, just requires that we still use our own God given navigation device.

I can understand "all have their occasional quirks" but what I expect is for a company to admit to problems and correct them. Soon after purchasing my unit I noticed that it gave the same, or faster, driving times for my auto than for my 40 RV. That is just a dumb programming error. When I discussed it with Garmin they basically blew me off. (Since downloading the newest "firmware" I have not checked to see if this had been corrected.)

After several email conversations with Garmin about the routing issue all they seem to want to do is give me one cookbook "try this" after another. So far they have refused to just input the orignation and ending addresses I gave them to see of all their units give the same route. Perhaps they know that there is a bug but just refuse to admit it.

Perhaps the anwer is that we have to "Mapquest" all our travels, and print out the routes, even though the routes won't be "truck" routes, and take the printouts with us to check the GPS information. When they provide different routes we will have to guess which one to believe. I'm open to suggestions on a better alternative. Atlas's (or state maps) don't help because the problem is routing for local (county) roads, not Interstates or main highways.

[Walt&Connie]

I can understand "all have their occasional quirks" but what I expect is for a company to admit to problems and correct them. Soon after purchasing my unit I noticed that it gave the same, or faster, driving times for my auto than for my 40 RV. That is just a dumb programming error. When I discussed it with Garmin they basically blew me off. (Since downloading the newest "firmware" I have not checked to see if this had been corrected.)

After several email conversations with Garmin about the routing issue all they seem to want to do is give me one cookbook "try this" after another. So far they have refused to just input the orignation and ending addresses I gave them to see of all their units give the same route. Perhaps they know that there is a bug but just refuse to admit it.

Perhaps the anwer is that we have to "Mapquest" all our travels, and print out the routes, even though the routes won't be "truck" routes, and take the printouts with us to check the GPS information. When they provide different routes we will have to guess which one to believe. I'm open to suggestions on a better alternative. Atlas's (or state maps) don't help because the problem is routing for local (county) roads, not Interstates or main highways.

Bert,
just a suggestion.
check your navigation settings go to changing the navigation setting (page 28 in manual) and check your avoidance setting.(page 29) . Sometimes the fast way/route includes dirt/service road. On mine (different model/style) I make sure that only paved roads block is checked. And when planning route I check different settings (fastest/paved/unpaved). I note that each time their is just enough different in route, that makes me double check my settings.
Also I think that your GPS unit might show truck/rv setting in your tools>settings> navigation; then choose between truck/rv/auto.

Also; it seems that each time I update or change add (point of interest) that I need to go back and check my personnel setting to ensure they did not default back to manufacture setting.

Hope this might help you in your trouble/frustrations

to Brianwl, did not mean to hi-jack your post with this comment.

Edited by Walt&Connie, 18 April 2012 - 02:03 PM.

[Brianwl]

Wow, its been a long time since I posted the original of this thread, guess I owe an update and product review, huh?

I love my DEZL. When towing I keep it in truck mode all the time. I put in the height and length of my set up and it keeps me on the roads that it knows can handle me. I do watch for low hanging things like trees and power lines which are impossible to predict. It also keeps me off routes that require sharp turns I cannot make.

My only issue with it was when I first got it. In order to get it out of demo mode I had to take it for a drive, only a couple hundred feet, but I didn't see anything that said to do that in the destructions. Once out of demo mode, everything works as advertised.

Basically, I'm very pleased with my Garmin and it comes with lifetime maps and traffic if you get the LMT model.

[Desolation Roe]

Wow, its been a long time since I posted the original of this thread, guess I owe an update and product review, huh?

I love my DEZL. When towing I keep it in truck mode all the time. I put in the height and length of my set up and it keeps me on the roads that it knows can handle me. I do watch for low hanging things like trees and power lines which are impossible to predict. It also keeps me off routes that require sharp turns I cannot make.

My only issue with it was when I first got it. In order to get it out of demo mode I had to take it for a drive, only a couple hundred feet, but I didn't see anything that said to do that in the destructions. Once out of demo mode, everything works as advertised.

Basically, I'm very pleased with my Garmin and it comes with lifetime maps and traffic if you get the LMT model.

Thanks Brian.

I have been wrestling with the GPS decision.

I have CoPilot on my iPhone and am used to it. It has bugs but we get by. I use RV mode with a height of 13' which is working OK so far with the same application of common sense that you use.

I also have OilTrax Canada on my iPhone and I need it for work. Its a Garmin emulation that is very flaky, but if I kick it a few times it gets me where I need to be.

I am seriously considering a DEZL 560 which will run OilTrax in native mode, but I will likely have to pay for OilTrax for a second time (another two hundred bucks) to get it on the Garmin.

Or I can buy a series 3 iPad, buy the $150 high-definition truck upgrade to CoPilot and go on from there. The iPad will also run OilTrax in its flaky emulated mode without spending any more money. And then I have an iPad that I can do all kinds of silly things with moving forward.

I lean towards the iPad and CoPilot, but decisions, decisions. I am reluctant to spend the cash on both, but if consider 'belt and suspenders', bearing in mind I need OilTrax for work and they won't pay for it directly, that may be the smarter decision.

Geo

[Brianwl]

The problem with the smartphone based GPS systems is they require you to be on the network, thus they are not true GPS systems. Something to keep in mind.

[Desolation Roe]

The problem with the smartphone based GPS systems is they require you to be on the network, thus they are not true GPS systems. Something to keep in mind.

Not necessarily Brian. Google Maps certainly works as you describe, but...

I only use stuff that is self contained as most of the time at work I am not on a network as we are too far out in the bush to depend on such. Both CoPilot and OilTrax are completely self-contained. So is GSP MotionX which is very popular on the iPhone.

The flip side is they use up a lot of space for map storage as you are not depending on continuous map downloads for your location.

But the bottom line is that both a Garmin and iPhone behave the same with completely self-contained map storage.

Geo