I wanted to share a story from our trip today. My wife and I bought a Jayco RV almost a year ago. It has a Sony XAV-AX8000 in dash which works with Android Auto or Apple Car Play with a wired connection.
When we first bought this RV I wanted to use my Garmin DriveSmart 65 with Amazon Alexa. My wife was adamant that there would be nothing on the dash! That ruled out my Garmin Portable Friction Mount.
We have made a few trips this year and we have used the Sony XAV-AX8000 with Android Auto. In fact, I typically use a spare smart phone for navigation and streaming Sirius XM music. For the most part, it works well enough. The shortcomings are sometimes the screen becomes illegible. A pull of the power cord and re-connection fixes it. Also, when the turn signal is activated, the screen display switches to exterior cameras. Unfortunately, if you need the screen for navigation while the turn signal is on, there is no apparent override.
As we have discussed here on POI Factory, there are some definite advantages to Google Maps over Garmin navigation. The POIs are very current. The real-time traffic function is very helpful.
After each RV trip we make I think of things to make our future journeys better. About a month ago we spent a few weeks in the RV and I decided to try to reintroduce the Garmin DriveSmart 65, not to replace Google Maps, but as a supplement.
Keeping in mind that my wife wanted nothing on the dash, I took a chance and mounted a dashboard disc below the Sony. I didn't tell her ahead of time that we would be using both, but I decided to see how things played out.
I started off by driving this morning and she was in the front passenger seat. At some point we switched the Garmin from 24 hour time to 12 hour time because she doesn't like it. She also wanted Garmin to track up, rather than north up. The volume was essentially muted on the Garmin and we listened to Google Maps.
When she mentioned it was time to think about stopping for a break, we had options. We could use the Garmin, Google Maps or what she found on her Samsung smartphone. We eventually found a place and took a break,
After lunch, she offered to drive. I was still wondering how this would all go once she was in the driver's seat. At some point I noticed she had adjusted the Garmin's screen to her favor! When there was a difference in routes, that is where we focused our attention.
All in all, I am still reluctant to prefer one over the other. I think we will continue to use both and favor one for certain functions at that moment in time.
I am also tempted to load the current Open Map Chest maps on the Garmin and try Waze on the smartphone.
I wanted to share a story from our trip today. My wife and I bought a Jayco RV almost a year ago. It has a Sony XAV-AX8000 in dash which works with Android Auto or Apple Car Play with a wired connection.
When we first bought this RV I wanted to use my Garmin DriveSmart 65 with Amazon Alexa. My wife was adamant that there would be nothing on the dash! That ruled out my Garmin Portable Friction Mount.
We have made a few trips this year and we have used the Sony XAV-AX8000 with Android Auto. In fact, I typically use a spare smart phone for navigation and streaming Sirius XM music. For the most part, it works well enough. The shortcomings are sometimes the screen becomes illegible. A pull of the power cord and re-connection fixes it. Also, when the turn signal is activated, the screen display switches to exterior cameras. Unfortunately, if you need the screen for navigation while the turn signal is on, there is no apparent override.
As we have discussed here on POI Factory, there are some definite advantages to Google Maps over Garmin navigation. The POIs are very current. The real-time traffic function is very helpful.
After each RV trip we make I think of things to make our future journeys better. About a month ago we spent a few weeks in the RV and I decided to try to reintroduce the Garmin DriveSmart 65, not to replace Google Maps, but as a supplement.
Keeping in mind that my wife wanted nothing on the dash, I took a chance and mounted a dashboard disc below the Sony. I didn't tell her ahead of time that we would be using both, but I decided to see how things played out.
I started off by driving this morning and she was in the front passenger seat. At some point we switched the Garmin from 24 hour time to 12 hour time because she doesn't like it. She also wanted Garmin to track up, rather than north up. The volume was essentially muted on the Garmin and we listened to Google Maps.
When she mentioned it was time to think about stopping for a break, we had options. We could use the Garmin, Google Maps or what she found on her Samsung smartphone. We eventually found a place and took a break,
After lunch, she offered to drive. I was still wondering how this would all go once she was in the driver's seat. At some point I noticed she had adjusted the Garmin's screen to her favor! When there was a difference in routes, that is where we focused our attention.
All in all, I am still reluctant to prefer one over the other. I think we will continue to use both and favor one for certain functions at that moment in time.
I am also tempted to load the current Open Map Chest maps on the Garmin and try Waze on the smartphone.