Garmin sat nav Camper 780

[taxicab36]

Can anyone recommend the Garmin Camper 780 ?? We have just taken back a faulty TomTom Go Premium and are considering changing to the Garmin. Would very much welcome some feed back advantages and disadvantages

 

[Speve]

weve had the Garmin 770 for four years now and it’s a good sat nav obviously you have to follow at you’re discretion sometimes like all sat navs?

 

[SteveJ]

I can recommend the Garmin Camper, I have used various different sat navs over the years and stick to Garmins now because of the PC based routing software, Basecamp. I prefer some of the onscreen options on the TomTom but I find the ability to use Basecamp on a laptop to easily set routes up, and add your own way markers/POI far outweighs the advantage of having how many miles to destinations displayed (TomTom) as opposed to arrival time (Garmin). The Garmin routing can be a bit pessimistic sometimes, avoiding roads I know there are no issues with driving down in the MH, but from personal experience it is no worse or better then the TomTom Camper in that respect.
There are many here who use one of the many Chinese truck sat navs from eBay and they can be great, I had an XTrons android head unit with a built in sat nav and it was pretty good, only issues I had with it were that it took forever to recalculate if I decided a turning it was directing me down looked a bit tight and carried on past it. It would spend a good 5 minutes telling me to turn round. And it would regularly recalculate the route I was on to basically take me back to the start and start the whole route over again when we stopped for a break. Bit of a pain but OK when you know it can happen.
Many others use Google maps on tablets, which is another way to go, especially if you have a reasonable sized tablet with a GPS receiver.
Whichever you decide the thing to remember is that the mapping software is only ever as good as the information supplied to the company supplying the maps, so if the information doesn't contain width details on a specific road then the mapping software can direct you down unsuitable roads if they happen to be the shortest/quickest route. There is a particular site we often use in the Peak District that if you follow the sat nav route to, from just about all directions, it will route you every time via a road that is almost unsuitable for cars let alone MHs. So it is always worthwhile taking time with a decent map book or Google maps/Earth taking a look at the routes they give you especially out in the wilds.

 

[Viennese]

We are happy with the Auguri, which includes lifetime maps and can link to the internet.

 

[Despicable]

I've had a bulk-standard Garmin 780 for just over a year now; so not much used! However, this is my third Garmin so I'm used to their system, that I quite like. While I've no experience with Tom Tom, I've had a bit with other systems including Volkswagen's and Mazda's (not very impressed with either) and the worse being the system used on Coop trucks a few years ago: it was consistently about 50 metres behind real time.
My only whinge about my last Garmin (a 500 series) was when driving into an Access Only weight limited built-up area, the blessed thing would put a large message board over the screen warning that I was over the 'allowed' weight limit. Agreeing with it by pressing 'OK' didn't help, as it popped up after a few seconds. I don't know if the 780 does the same.
As others have said, if it wants you to turn off a main route, question if that's right and doable.

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[Al n Val]

I've had the 770 ltd Camper version for nearly 3 years, apart from the first one locking up during an upgrade, which was replaced instantly. This new one, 2yrs old approx has been faultless.

In France, the original 1 took me round in a circle once through a farmers field, literally, although there was a track through it, the farmer actually laughed and wave at us so we maybe weren't the first tag axel to cross his fields

i'd love to upgrade it but it is working 100% up to now so if it ain't broke don't fix it they say

 

[ronaldos]

Garmin has enabled 3D mapping in the 780. Active lane guidance. Basically, this feature allows you to discover routes that allow for easy maneuvering of your RV.

 

[Al n Val]

Garmin has enabled 3D mapping in the 780. Active lane guidance. Basically, this feature allows you to discover routes that allow for easy maneuvering of your RV.

is this only for the 780 do you know or will it upgrade the 770

cheers

Al

 

[Kups]

I've had the Garmin Camper 780 for over a year. It's badged as the Avtex Tourer Two but for all intents and purposes it's a Garmin 780.

Excellent bit of kit, easy to update and pretty accurate as long as you use common sense as with all sat navs.
I also paid for the speed camera subscription which is updated every month.
Highly recommended.

QUESTION: can anyone recommend a hardwiring kit for this sat nav. Avtex are out of stock and I need one in the next couple of weeks. Quite difficult to find a specific kit, some generic kits available.

 

[John H.]

Our Garmin Camper has served us well for years (and years).

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[Speve]

I've had the Garmin Camper 780 for over a year. It's badged as the Avtex Tourer Two but for all intents and purposes it's a Garmin 780.

Excellent bit of kit, easy to update and pretty accurate as long as you use common sense as with all sat navs.
I also paid for the speed camera subscription which is updated every month.
Highly recommended.

QUESTION: can anyone recommend a hardwiring kit for this sat nav. Avtex are out of stock and I need one in the next couple of weeks. Quite difficult to find a specific kit, some generic kits available.

I just wired a cigarette socket in behind the dash and plugged it in there you don’t need a kit to do that and it works fine.

 

[ronaldos]

Garmin enabled the 3D mapping feature in the 780. Since Garmin designed this range of GPS units specifically for larger vehicles like RVs, trucks, etc., it offers Master Lane Guidance motion.
Basically, this feature allows you to discover routes that allow easy maneuvering of your RV. Bluetooth connection. If you mount a reversing camera behind your vehicle, you can connect it to a satellite navigation system.