Garmin Dezl OTR500, 5.5-inch GPS Truck Navigator, Custom Truck Routing and Load-to-Dock Guidance, 010-02603-00

I've used GPS navigation tech in one form or another and the Garmin Dezl OTR series is the best yet. Google maps was my favorite until I started driving truck and needed truck specific routing. Well, I still use Google maps to find and confirm stop locations easier and use satellite view but the Garmin gets me there safely, most of the time. It has trouble with newly updated interchanges around some cities and also has had issues with construction zone routing. There are many instances when an on or off ramp are closed and Garmin will think the whole interstate is closed and will force a ridiculously out of the way reroute sometimes adding hours to my route when a simple quick detour would do. You cannot override, adjust, or turn this feature off. So, you have to bring up the route and make manual changes by either stopping or trying to do it while driving which is very dangerous. It would be nice if it offered options like it does with traffic alerts. My Garmin tried to take me under a low bridge once. It sometimes tells me to go one direction while showing me the opposite direction in the pop-up diagrams. It has locked up a few times and took 10 minutes or more to restart when I needed it most. The point here is that you cannot trust a GPS 100% of the time and always have to use the computer on your shoulders first, then, use a GPS as a guide. Also, it never hurts to have your route ready on Google maps as a backup. The features are far better than other GPS products. There are many I wish Google would adopt. The screen has great resolution and the touch features are as good as the best phones. The processor is a bit slow sometimes but does okay. I love this GPS on most days but sometimes it really drops the ball.

I recently purchased the Garmin GPS for a road trip and it was an excellent investment. The device is very easy to use and the interface is intuitive, making it easy to navigate to my desired location. The screen is large and clear, making it easy to see directions and maps even in bright sunlight. One of the features that I appreciate the most is the advanced routing, which takes into account real-time traffic data and provides alternative routes if there are any accidents or traffic jams. This has saved me a lot of time and frustration on my trip, and I felt confident in the accuracy of the directions and estimated arrival times. I also like that the device is very customizable, with options to change the voice and language, as well as the display settings. It's also very versatile, with options to use it for walking, biking, or driving. I appreciate that it has a long battery life and a convenient charging cable that allows me to charge it while using it. Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with the Garmin GPS and would highly recommend it to anyone in need of a reliable and accurate navigation device for travel. It's well-designed, easy to use, and offers a great value for its price point. Whether you're planning a long road trip or just need directions around town, this GPS is sure to make your journey more enjoyable and stress-free.

I bought my Garmin dezl 800 back in early 2021, and it's been ALMOST a pure joy to use. I have one serious criticism: in trying to cut corners on cheap parts like processor and memory, Garmin decided to put the absolute minimum power the unit, which affects performance when it's been running for a week. >Why would you run it for a week without rebooting? I'm glad you asked. You see, this thing takes a minimum of 20 minutes to cold boot from the power-off state. That, and the minimal memory causing occasional errors which crash the GPS app portion of the system (which auto-recovers, taking about 10 minutes to restart), are the flies in this otherwise impeccable soup. So far, after using it throughout 2021 and 2022 and a third of 2024, I've had the map app crash on me as I was nearing my exit twice. Yes, only twice, fortunately, but that caused me to have to be quick about programming google maps to get me to my destination. In traffic. Using voice command. Not too terrible, but not exactly an ideal situation to be in. Other than this one irksome flaw, the machine is about as perfect as a standalone GPS can be expected to be. Without this problem, I would have rated it 5 stars. Yes, the dezl 810 has a better processor and more memory (2x as much) but they REMOVED an important feature: side by side comparison of time and distance of alternate routes selected via route shaping. I'll never buy an 810 unless they add that feature back in or my 800 dies.

I think if I had it to buy again I would probably buy one with a little bit bigger screen. I was able to mount it closer on my Dash where I could see it and it's all the problem. The unit is a little clumsy to use unlike some of the others but definitely better than Rand McNally. All in all I think this is probably one of the best units truckers can expect and it usually did the job pretty good. Not too many hiccups. Once in awhile it would draw blank and I'd have to do research to figure out where I was going. That really shouldn't happen but it's not Amazon's fault. They gave me the brand new unit and a decent price and delivered it in a hurry

After almost a year of using this, I have come to a final conclusion that this thing sucks! Not the unit itself, but Garmin and their 'programmers' who program this thing with SUPPOSED truck routes! It AVOIDS routes that trucks ARE ALLOWED to use, and sends you down roads that trucks ARE NOT supposed to use! I use this in the northeast, mainly NY and PA, and it's all but useless outside of main interstates! I don't know why it's so hard to accurately program a GPS with truck routes but apparently it's beyond the capabilities of the geniuses at Garmin. I mean if you can't trust the leader in GPS navigation, who CAN you trust? I've had even worse results with Rand McNally. Is it that they just don't care about the northeast? Or is it this way across the whole country? I have completely lost faith in Garmin, this wasn't cheap and now I'm stuck with it. Gee, sure looks pretty though... I left my original review below, which was initially positive, but having used this for a while now, Garmin has shown their true colors, even with the latest updates! Below is my original review. I do NOT feel this way anymore. Let's face it, trucker GPS's primary purpose is to make money for the manufacturers. Hard truth but it is the truth. I have had many over the years including trucker navigation software for my laptop. Most have been horrible, even if using for a car! I recently used CoPilot for my cell phone, and though it seemed almost ok, it was not very easy to use and lacked many features you'd expect to be available. In 2014 I bought a Rand McNally tablet truck GPS and was highly disappointed. Then I tried a Garmin Dezl 770 with marginally acceptable results, basically it was good enough to remind me of a turn coming up on the route that I had to 'build' to the point of just not using it anymore, the mount sucked (couldn't be tightened, wouldn't stay straight), another disappointment. I had no idea what direction to go for my next trucker GPS and did a lot of research and read and watched many reviews on the OTR Series tablet GPS units for trucks. Most people are still saying avoid the Rand McNally's, they're still junk both in quality and functionality, which really surprises me since they publish the Bible of a truckers atlas. Apparently the atlas division doesn't speak to the GPS division... So after MUCH intense research well into the night, I decided to take a chance on the Dezl OTR1000 model. The good: almost everything! You can now FINALLY update the thing without hooking it up to a computer! Magnetic mount (stroooong too), can use in portrait or landscape, the mount is heavy duty, well made, the unit is quite loud (many complained about this so they must have fixed the issue), the screen is amazing and it processes routes quicker than any GPS I've ever used. There's just too much to add. It works, got it this morning and spent all day (it's now 2:30 am) running it through my tests. It actually knows where to go! So far so good. I'll update this review in a month or so after I've actually used it in the truck. I love how you can send directions (I use actual coordinates copied from Google Maps) directly to the GPS in seconds. The bad: it runs Android 6...really? 6? This means good luck finding any apps that will even download onto it. And WHAT GPS DOESN'T COME WITH A CALCULATOR? Most of us aren't mathematicians but we don't have to be, but come on man, we DO use numbers daily. Overall, at this point, I'm very happy with it and I think it actually knows where my truck should or should not be. I'll update this later. For now, while pricey and no, I don't think any piece of plastic is worth that kind of money, I would recommend this.

Update 5/19/21: On a couple of occasions I have experienced Garmin's Live Traffic showing congested areas which have cleared-up before arriving to the traffic jam. In order to avoid an unnecessary re-routing I would suggest a "Trust, but verify" approach by also pulling-up the route on Google maps to see if the problem area still exists. Update 2/10/21: Having used this GPS for over 50 thousand miles I continue to be impressed with its reliability and the usefulness of its features. The Live Traffic feature with the alternate routes it provides has saved me from substantial delays on multiple occasions. The video I uploaded is the most recent example of how I was able to make an on time delivery where I would have surely been late had it not been for the Live Traffic feature. Ironically, you can see an Amazon Truck stuck in the same traffic jam this GPS helped me to avoid. After having a nightmare experience with an atlas maker's GPS system on a route to an unfamiliar Rockaway, NJ from Stuart's Draft, Virginia, I decided to return the other GPS and purchased this unit from Garmin. On a second run from the same point of origin to to the same destination, but this time with the Garmin Dezl OTR 700, what a huge difference! This unit's route was longer in distance, but it didn't take me through little streets in little towns, and I arrived at my destination with a lot less stress in a lot less time. I really appreciated this after the atlas maker's GPS thought I was on another road and kept telling me to take the ramp to the road I was already on at a most crucial time when I was about 25 miles away from Rockaway, NJ. The atlas maker's GPS then put me onto small town roads a good 20 miles from my destination and said to take a U-turn if possible. U-turns are a big "no no" when driving a truck at most carriers, and doing a U-turn at my carrier would get me fired. The preferred "Trucker Paths" feature of the Garmin is great and I also like how it can navigate you right to the trucking dock locations at many destinations. If you're a professional trucker, buy your GPS from a GPS maker.

Value for money used it for 3 years later sold it

I am not the type who complains about everything, but Garmin is the only product to bring out the worst in me. They have so many things that can easily be fixed, but they refuse to do so no matter how many emails I send their support staff. They always reply to submit my suggestions to an idea form in which nothing is ever changed. This time I decided to post a review here for potential buyers to be aware of the flaws. I had the Garmin 465t when it was new, then years later upgraded to the Dezl 570 which lasted a long time, and now I am using this "downgraded" OTR500 newer version. Pros: Hardware is always excellent with their models Cons: The verbal command used to be "Voice Command" which you could also change to activate voice control. Now you cannot, it only responds by saying "OK Garmin" which a lot of my songs and podcasts trigger. When it does, a bright white bar on the screen shines in your face on a dark night. I once disabled the voice command, but its useful to say the address than typing it in when I am in a hurry to get in my truck and go while someone else is waiting to get into the dock and there is no room for me to pull to the side. Garmin for many years used to say the name of the street and exit number you had to turn on even if it butchered the name. Now it just says "Turn left, turn right". That explains why I see so many vehicles now stop in the middle of the road in downtown areas that have a ton of roads that are side by side. You have no idea which one to turn on unless you look at the Garmin screen which is a safety hazard. Because of this I also use my Google Maps which tells you the name of the street. Garmin used to say "In 500 feet, take exit 231 on the right to Maple street" Now it just says "Turn right". I use Custom POIs and for some reason their alert volume is turned way down compared to every other sound effect on the device. I told their support team to please released an update to fix this and they ask me to record a video proving that I am telling the truth. Their customer support is horrible. I mainly use the Garmin for Custom POIs to warn me about sharp curves, false "no truck" roads and such that the Garmin doesn't let you know about. I asked for years the ability to edit the address on the Garmin device since a lot of times the address is on the other side of the building so when I save the favorite at the road for the truck entrance, it usually just reads "Alley". I have to export the GPX and edit the address on my PC then transfer it back to my Garmin. A simple Address edit on the Garmin would solve this and I am a former programmer so I know how easily this can be done. It would also be nice when saving a favorite that I can choose which category I want it saved into instead of having to save it, back out into the main menu, find it, then edit, and change the category. I never use their Garmin app integration since it requires basically ALL of your phone's permissions. I never seen an app that required access to every single thing on your phone. Some people complain about this for minor permissions which don't bother me, but their app want 100% access no telling what hackers or they will do with all of your contacts, media files, emails, phone calls, etc. The most annoying thing which must be a bug is that Garmin used to save where you have your map zoom setting. Now if you click anywhere on the screen to view an overhead view, when you return to the navigation screen everything is zoomed way out into airplane view lol. You cannot see anything but a tiny squiggly line. What were they thinking? Do they even do research and development on their products? Do they ask a trucker to test these features out? it doesn't seem like it. They are very little trucker GPS brands so that is probably why they really don't care since they have a monopoly in this specialized market so they throw out subpar downgraded versions and expect us to just except it. I plan to switch to another brand after this.