Rand McNally - OverDryve 7 Connected Car Tablet with GPS - Black

I purchased this unit for many reasons but it came apparent that once mounted on the gel pad this was not going to work. It was heavy, and bounced around a lot. Could figure out how keep the map while still taking video while traveled down the road. That was one reason I purchased the unit was for protection against being sued in an accident...

The tablet tablet alone is worth the money but then you add all the extras...GPS Navigation, travel recording, crash warnings back up camera and tire pressure apps...what a deal !

The Overdryve tablet is packaged very well. All the components are separated and protected. There is foam inserts to keep the tablet and the screen protected. In the box is the Overdryve tablet, Smart mount, bracket with suction cup, Car charger, USB Wall Charger, Dash mount disc, FM transmitter Antenna, AUX cable, and even an anti-glare screen protector which is nice. The mount is very easy to install, but you need to decide where you want it. In my case I have a velour dash mat so it wouldn't stick there, but thankfully they sell an optional Bean bag dash pad. It weighs about 2 pounds and the the dash mount fits right onto it. And it stays in place due to its weight. The Bean bag dash pad is optional and isn't included. Anyway for the install you just have to attach the 2 pieces of the mount together, then remove the film that covers the suction cup and secure it to the pad. Once you have the mount all installed and ready the tablet just locks into place via a magnetic connection. It self aligns and snaps into place with ease. I was surprised at how well it aligned. I didn't even have to look close to make sure it was in the right place. The strength of the magnets force it into perfect alignment. The tablets initial set up is also easy. There are 4 easy steps to get it going. 1) Connect to the internet. For me this was connecting to my T-Mobile Galaxy S7's hot spot. 2) Register the device. This allows you to get updates and support. 3) Connect to Bluetooth. Again I did this by connecting to my S7's Bluetooth connection. 4) Connect to the car stereo. There are 2 ways to do this. The recommended way is using the included AUX cable, but of course this depends on if you car has an AUX port. In my case I have a 2012 Honda Civic that as an AUX port. You connect the AUX cable to the Smart mount not the tablets input. But if your car does not have an AUX port you can connect through your cars FM stereo. To do this you connect the included FM antenna to the Smart mount. You then tap “Entertainment” on the screen, then “FM transmitter”. It will walk you through the connection steps. Its basically just choosing an open FM station, then connecting the Overdryve to that same station. That's it. You are now done with the initial set up and ready to go. The main screen has 6 options. Messaging, Phone, Navigation, Cameras, Monitoring, and Entertainment. I was able to test most of these. The only one I didn't test was monitoring because it requires another optional item to monitor the air pressure in your tires and a few other things. However I was able to make and receive calls and texts, test the Navigation, as well as play music via Bluetooth from my phone (you can also use an SD card with music files on it. They all worked but I had an issue with static that came through my cars speakers whenever I used the AUX cable. There was a constant static when there was no audio coming through. This went away almost completely when I was playing music or during calls. Im not sure if this was the cable, or my car. This didn't happen if I used the FM transmitter connection type. The Navigation worked very well. After connecting through my phone I was able to get the Overdryve's navigation app working, and transmitting audio through my cars speakers. Its a nice system with points of interest, exits, split screen junction, and built in maps. Which is nice since you don't have to worry about data that way. If you are connected to Wi-Fi you also have live features such as traffic, pit stops, etc. I also tested the voice assistant features. Since I am using a Samsung device the first time I used it it asked if I wanted to use Google Voice, or S Voice. I chose Google voice. All the normal Google voice features worked but there was about a 2 second delay when I would say something before it would recognize it, then a couple more seconds to respond. I'm sure this will all depend on the strength of the Bluetooth connection. You can also buy an optional wireless backup camera that can give you the backup view right onto the Overdryve's screen. And since it is wireless you don't have to worry about running wires all the way to the back of your car, or paying someone to do it. Its as simple as mounting the camera to the back of your car and connecting it to the Overdryve. I didn't have this option, but just wanted to mention it for anyone wanting reverse camera features. So to sum it up this device does everything it says it does and does it well. If your looking for a Hi-Tech car this is a much easier and less expensive way to go vs. buying a whole new car. Thank you for reading.

The Rand McNally Overdryve 7 is a very strange and unique device. This device allows you the turn any car into a "connected car." There are so many features packed into this little device its not even funny. There is many things to break down with the Overdryve 7 but I will try my best to be brief which may be very hard to do... The Presentation: The black box is great very clear label brightly calling to you. Everything on the box makes it clear what the device is letting you know what it can do from every single feature. I applaud Rand McNally for being direct and to the point. Once you open the box you are greeted with most of the manuals and a quick start guide showing you how to set things up and of course all of the box contents. Rand McNally was kind enough to even drop a free screen protector inside for the "tablet" itself, THANK YOU! This is something most companies don't do. (Note: I used a iPhone 6 Plus and a Galaxy S6 Edge Plus on the device for Bluetooth Pairing.) Design: To me the Overdryve design is more of a 7 inch GPS then a basic tablet, Which lets be real here its nothing pretty. The tablet itself is small and compact but it feels extremely durable as well as weighted. I'm sure if you drop this on the ground nothing will break. There is grip material on the back that keeps it solid in the hand. Whats interesting is there are many speaker grills on the back. The sound from the Overdryve is down right phenomenal, You can hear this thing from so far away. People in the backseat will indeed be able to hear everything just from the tablet itself (I will talk about the sound more later.) There are a number of ports on the device for connection such as HDMI, USB, and Headphone jack. There is also a Micro SD slot to add even more storage (Love this feature personally because you can continuously record from the "dash cam.") The screen is 1280 x 800 which is not that bad to look at on the 7 inch device. Everything is readable and clear. Installation: Easy. There isn't much to be said. My review unit came with an coupon for installation for Best buy's Geek Squad but its surely wasn't needed. Its as simple as just placing the base down with the suction cups and connecting the ports. It isn't much to be done. Again you can use an AUX cord for the speakers, Use the speaker base, or use a radio station (which I do) to hear the device audio. They also sell an optional "Creascent beanbag dash pad." which securely hold the Overdryve in place. with the tablet being 7 inches it doesn't take up your flied of view when driving. Tablet OS (features): The OS is designed around driving but ultimately its Android no matter how you skin it. The Tablet / GPS is smooth when using with no slow downs or hiccups but you aren't doing much anyway. Lets get one thing out of the way, there is NO GOOGLE PLAY on this device, which means there is NO GOOGLE APPS INSTALLED. Instead what McNally have instead a place where you can get apps from with options of the app store. The best out of the bunch is clearly Amazon App store where you can download other / more apps and I highly recommend doing that. Another note, the device uses Nvidia chipset so also keep that in mind. The widget that sits on the first home screen is where the car features come in. Messaging - You can send messages with your voice without taking your hand off the steering wheel. I'm going to keep this short and sweet. The feature worked fine but you must speak clearly and loud for it to be flawless. Yes it worked with iOS just in a different way. Due to a limitation on iOS Apple requires you to Siri to send text...so all Overdryve does is activate Siri for messages. Please take note of that. Phone - Use any smartphone with Bluetooth you have. One of the best feature of the tablet and the calls was very clear coming from the device. It syncs your contacts so you don't have to input anything into the device. Maps / Navigation - Yep the maps are spot on and accurate want to know the best part? (and probably the main reason you are buying this device.) YOU DON'T NEED AN INTERNET CONNECTION to use it! I can't tell you how much I appreciate a dedicated GPS with the maps built in. They use "here" maps and its own data so everything is already perfect as far as accuracy. But as usual there is a little bit lag when using the maps application. The Smart Mount improves the GPS signal with the pin connectors on the back of the device you can reassure you will never get lost on the road and from my experiences it does the job. Remember none of the device have to be on a internet connection. Camera* - Uses the camera on the back of the tablet to record whats in front of you. It's pretty much a dash camera. The camera isn't of good quality but for what its suppose to do its awesome. and to have it on the device just make your life easier if an accident occurs. Monitoring* - Untested. *Rand McNally sells an optional Wifi Backup camera and Tire Pressure Monitoring System. Which I was unable to test since it was not supplied. Entertainment - You have a "Bluetooth player" which plays music from your smartphone, "Media" that you can put music on an SD card, and "FM Transmitter" which pushes sound from an FM station you set it to. Since its Android you can Sideload apps such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify and so on for kids int he backset if you so choose. I side loaded Apple Music on to the device and it played pretty well. Not much outside of these features but for a connected car GPS tablet these features are great when used on the tablet. I wouldn't recommend playing any android games on this and it shouldn't even be thought. Sound: The sound on the Overdryve is amazing. Everything and I mean everything is loud and clear. There are many speakers on the back of tablet itself but the real shining star here is the smart dock. The speakers on the smart dock are extremely powerful where you can hear the conversation while driving with the window open. Rand McNally was smart to include the smart dock and all of its packed in features. Without this Overdryve wouldn't be even half as good as a product that it is. That's pretty much it as far as the Overdryve goes. Its not much here and that is a good thing. Overdryve is made for the cars and it excel at it. Sure they say you can use it as a standalone tablet but I personally wouldn't but as a device to turn your car into a connected car it does the job pretty well. I would certainly recommend it to people who don't have a connected car.

This tablet would be a real good option for those who want just an Android tablet in the car, it mounts hassle free with the included mount. I used the "bean bag" as a base and suction cup attached to the bean bag. Tablet has a magnetic attachment at the back that takes care of the electrical connections as well so all you need to do is to place the tablet on the mount and that's it! No wires to plug in! Physically it's a very well made device with rubberized back which makes it secure in hand, screen is bright and I had no problem looking at it with my polarized sunglasses on. It has micro USB port for charging / data transfer, micro SD card slot, mini HDMI port and a 3.5mm sound output jack. Mount has a full size USB port, 3.5mm sound output jack that you can connect to your car's AUX input and a power port, that connects to the standard 12V DC or 24V DC cigarrete lighter outlet. Optionally - you can screw in an included FM transmitter antenna to the mount, so it will output sound to your car's FM receiver. Hardware volume control, power switch and a home button are on top of the tablet, buttons are easy to operate while the car is moving. Unfortunately this tablet does not have a built in modem so if you would like to connect it to the Internet while on the road - you will need to have some kind of WiFi in your car. This kinda defeats the main product slogan of making any car a connected one, you will still need to provide your own connection. I've used a mobile WiFi hotspot for my test. Included apps: Navigation - I liked that one, it comes with the lifetime Map update, directions are clear and easy to follow, speed limit is displayed for major roads and you could optionally setup a notification for when you are over the speed limit for X number of MPH. No school zone alerts though. Online functions include gas prices (by GasBuddy), traffic and weather - all of these require tablet to have an active internet connection. Weather could be useful when planning your route while pulling a trailer for example, so you could avoid windy roads. Mount does have a very good GPS receiver built in so when tablet is on the dash - you will be getting a strong GPS coverage, however if you take the tablet off the dash - it will turn into "Waiting for GPS signal" mode without a clear sky view. Dash Camera - well, it requires you to mount your tablet so it's back camera is acting like a dash cam but that means you have to position tablet vertically, aim camera on the road and make sure nothing is in front of it. I've tried using it and while picture quality is good - frame rate is not, it's more like 15 FPS which makes passing cars look blurry. You would also need to start the Dash Cam recording every time you start your car since it would automatically stop recording every time you turn your car off (and tablet looses the external power). During my tests I've found that included mount is pretty shaky and it makes a camera recording pretty shaky too. There is an option to record sound, but no way to put current date/time, speed, GPS coordinates on the record. Collision waring - unfortunately it was showing "calibration" and was never able to do anything, I suspect it may be due to the position of the front facing camera in my car. In addition to that - you can't launch the collision warning app AND a dash cam app at the same time - they would complain that camera device is used by the other application. Backup Camera - it requires you to purchase an optional backup camera kit from Rand McNally, I did not have the kit for this test. Tire Pressure and Temperature monitoring - again - that's an optional accessory (4 sensors and a receiver module) that is sold separately. I see this one being very useful for the trailers, so you always know your trailer tires are ok. Car Diagnostics - that is really a DashCommand app that is available for the purchase and requires an optional OBD II reader accessory which is sold separately. Other pre installed apps include Rand McNally app store, Road Atlas and trip planner. Besides pre-installed apps - tablet comes with the choice of 3 external app stores you can install: Amazon App Store, APKPure and Aptiode. Google Play Store is not available by default but you can put it on manually. After that - you are free to download anything you like, about 18Gb of onboard memory is available. Overall - it's a great hardware with a lot of options, hassle free mount and connection to the car, but included software needs some work.

This is a pretty sweet little unit to "update" your car. While most GPS units are just for traveling, this unit has a little bit of everything. To start, this is an Android tablet, about 7 inches, preloaded with a variety of different apps. In addition to the normal GPS functionality, there is also media, phone, text messaging and various other apps installed. The navigation is pretty standard. With the 7" screen, the display offers up all the information in addition to weather and live data. The navigation offers up the same functionality, i.e. POI's, alternate routing, etc, as pretty much any other GPS unit. This unit connects with the bluetooth on your phone for added functionality. With this connectivity, you'll be able to play music make calls and text message through your phone. I use an iPhone and I'm able to use the voice prompt to use Siri. Since this is an Android tablet, I'm assuming it should work the same with an Android phone as well. There is an app to utilize the tablet's camera as a dash cam however, due to the smart mount, it obscures some of the camera lens making it not really a "good" dash cam. Works however not as well as one would expect. With the tablet being relatively large for use as a GPS unit, it and the provided mount are quite large; larger than most other GPS mounts. I only bring this up since this unit isn't really one that you'll travel with, i.e. carrying case or putting in your pocket. I've used smaller Garmin/TomTom units that would easily work for traveling purposes however this OverDryve is more of an integrated system than just a normal GPS unit. The unit itself attaches magnetically to the smart mount. The smart mount included a USB port and the connection for the antenna/power cord. The USB port allows you to play media off a USB drive allowing you to bring your movies/music with you on the road. Overall, this isn't just a GPS unit; I like to think of it as an all-in-one system. I would assume this unit would be geared to people whose cars don't have in-dash navigation or bluetooth connectivity. As this is a GPS unit that utilizes the bluetooth on your smart phone, it's far more than just for getting around. It's a great way to add a little more functionality to your car without the needs for expensive upgrades. WIth this GPS unit you get navigation, hands free calling, bluetooth connectivity as well as a host of other apps/functionality. I think this is a great piece for anyone looking to update their car ride or someone looking for a multimedia solution to their car.

This unit, Rand McNally's Overdryve OD7, is quite the setup. I will start my review with my opinion of pros for the device: The quick disconnect feature of it's mount get's an A+. It's has two rows of twelve contact points that make a connection while super strong magnets do all the holding. So when you take the GPS(Tablet) with you it's a breeze. The persistent accuracy of this unit is incredible. They achieve this by having not only the GPS radio that is built into most tablets these days, but on the base of the mount there is a secondary GPS radio with it's own antenna. This means there is no waiting to acquire satellite signal as long as the (mount)base remains powered up. This unit not only has wifi, but it also has bluetooth with a tethering option. The speaker that is built in to the mount is very adequate and works well for both turn by turn directions and it works well as a speaker phone while connected to your cell phone. I was able to download waze, and use it as my navigation software. This unit falls a little short in the following areas: Voice recognition on the installed Rand Mcnally navigation software does not measure up to Google Maps, or Waze. I tried using it several times and resorted to typing my destination in, and to use voice recognition with the unit, it had to have an internet connection. This device does not have any Google Play Services and actually will not let you install them, which makes most of any googles apps not run. This is a major let down, as I wouldn't mind to view an occasional email on this (of course not while I'm driving), it would be awesome to be able to pull up all of my playlists within Google Play Music. There is a workaround, download chrome and use the browser to stream from your account. Here is how I use the Overdryve by Rand McNally. I downloaded the Waze app onto it, I tether my 4G internet from my phone to it over bluetooth, because bluetooth consumes less power on my phone. Overall this unit is a very powerfull GPS. It would be a must if you drive truck, or drive an RV. It pays attention to road weight limits and bridge height restrictions. When connected to the internet, having the real time traffic is just amazing. This unit is a little pricey at $399.99, plus $29.99 for the bean bag dash pad. But if you fall into the category of a truck driver, or rv driver, it's probably worth it. If it had or offered Google Play Services and wasn't so expensive I would have giving it the fifth star.

Two days after I received my Rand Mc Nally OverDryve I took a car trip, which lasted 4 days to include stops at motels for 3 nights. I was excited to take my brand new, complimentary, OverDryve along and was completely surprised at all of its numerous features and how it astonishingly performed. I have had other expensive, major brand, GPS' units before with lots of 'whistles and bells', but this unit stands out as the most multi-functional and feature packed. Working just as a car GPS, OverDryve can be completely wireless operating from a full charge, thereby, eliminating the DC charger cord for most of my trip. It has an external antenna to enhance GPS reception, and, it is also an FM transmitter, which enables sound from the OverDryve to my car's radio for audible phone calls, music services, lane guidance, and other navigation assistance. The FM transmitter is a great feature, which also eliminates the use of another cord, an auxiliary sound cord. I drove approximately seven hours with no cords dangling out of my OverDryve before I finally needed to use the DC car charger. OverDryve notified me when my battery had only fifteen per cent left. Then, the unit automatically goes into 'battery saver' mode until it is connected to a DC or AC power source for recharging. Each day I drove approximately ten hours, and, eventually had to use the charger cord. But, since the majority of my car trips are usually five or less hours of driving time, I will rarely have cords draped over my dashboard. Look Ma, no cords. How cool is that? Now, I do need to explain that I did not use the Dash Cam feature, which requires more power then the way I configured my OverDryve to operate. The dash cam can be set-up to take high or low quality videos. The videos can be taken and saved in incremental segments from 1 to 10 minutes each for a maximum total of 15 segments. Total recording saved by dash cam is 2 hours and 30 minutes. The videos can include sound if you wish, and, can be stored internally, and, or, externally with a microSD card (up to 32GB), microUSB plugin, or USB auxiliary hard drive. Collision warning can be enabled in the collision warning settings in the 'cameras' widget on the home page. Not furnished is tire monitoring and back-up camera, but they can be purchased separately if needed and programmed for use through the 'monitoring' widget on the home screen. OverDryve contains all the maps of the US and Canada on board. Notable navigation features are the audible assistance for advanced lane guidance, turns, multiple map views, with split-screen junction view, interstate exits. Of course it displays trip information like total distance to destination, ETA, the current time, speed limits, your current speed, speed warnings, which you can adjust to suit your driving habits, POIs that are both nearby and along your trip, searchable categories for restaurants, gas stations, shopping, hotel & motels, government buildings, and numerous other categories, etc. You can also access live data to include fuel prices, weather, and traffic conditions. However, any live data category is only accessible through Wi-Fi. I connected my OverDryve to my I-Phone's 'Personal Hotspot' to find current gas prices and weather conditions in the areas I was traveling through on my trip. But, only used that feature sparingly. OverDryve is totally 'hands free' utilizing its on-board, Voice Assistant feature. It was simple to pair my I-Phone to the OverDryve through Bluetooth, and, Siri, made phone calls and sent text messages using my normal voice commands. My phone's contacts were displayed in the OverDryve, and, I designated my most frequent callers as 'favorites' in those settings. Rand Mc Nally OverDryve comes neatly packaged with its own car charger, A/C wall charger, smart mount, suction cup bracket, dash mount disk, FM transmitter/receiver antenna, auxiliary device cable, anti-glare screen protector, and a crescent beanbag dash pad. It also includes a “Quick Start Guide' to get you started. In 'settings' on the main home screen I accessed the Help Icon and It opened up my browser to the Rand Mc Nally OverDryve Support page. I found lots of tips and answers to some of my questions. I found it was easy to set-up and get familiar with OverDryve connected to my home's Wi-Fi first, and, then connect to my I-Phone's 'Personal Hotspot' for my actual trip. On my trip I played music from my I-Phone paired to OverDryve through Bluetooth to my car's stereo system. I can also play music or audiobooks from a microUSB, or, microSD card directly in OverDryve. It was at the motel the first night of my trip that I found out just how multi-functional and unique the OverDryve actually is. . This is the most impressive attribute about OverDryve – it is a thorough and accurate GPS, entertainment and communication device, but, also a tablet, which can substitute for a laptop, notebook, or I-Pad on trips. Take it along on a trip and remove it from its magnetic smart base on the car dashboard and bring it in to the motel room for use as a full-featured tablet. Although I brought my laptop with me, I never had to use it. The OverDryve as a Car-Dash Tablet did everything I wanted and needed to do instead. It has an Android browser, which allowed me to access the internet and I downloaded several apps from the thousands of available Android apps. There are games, productivity software, entertainment, news and sports, apps that can be downloaded through any Android app store like Amazon or APKPure, etc. I set-up my e-mail account, my favorite bookmarks for news and market reports, for shopping, and motel bookings. I even made a motel reservation on the OverDryve for the next night stay of my trip. And, since I was connected to Wi-Fi at the motel I checked out all of the nearby restaurants in the area too. WooHoo. As a tablet OverDryve features a 7 inch widescreen, 1280 x 800 resolution and 32 GB of storage. It is powered by a NIVIDIA Tegra 4, T40S CPU with a maximum clock speed of 1.70 GHz. and has 4 cores, which results in extremely efficient multi-tasking when compared to dual core processors. The tablet has dual microphones with noise canceling qualities for specific use in the car. The resolution and quality of the both cameras can be changed at any time in the settings in the 'cameras' widget on the home screen. It has a front facing camera of 2 megapixels, which also allows you to reverse the camera to the back and take stills in 2 down to 1 megapixels, or video, front or back, in HD 720P down to SD 480. The rear facing camera is 5 megapixels and can take stills in 5 down to 1 megapixels, or video in HD 1080P down to SD 480P. The OS is an Android 5.1 (Lollipop). It has a group of proprietary Rand Mc Nally apps as well as the flexibility to customize OverDryve and download thousands of Android apps. There is not another device on the market with as many awesome properties as is built into this Rand Mc Nally OverDryve. It is truly designed for serious travelers and combines two necessary devices, GPS and Tablet, for driving trips. I love it and highly recommend it for your own personal use, or, as a gift for a friend or family member, who is 'on the road' frequently.