Should I have gone with the 12" screen?

[Ninety-9 SE-L]

I'm still early in my order. I have a VIN, but not much else, I think I could change my order if I really wanted to.

I went with the Laramie Level 2 with the 8.4" NAV/Carplay screen. Personally that's all I need and I mostly stuck with it because I really don't want a big screen in my face when I'm driving the highway at night. It looks like the 12" screen is basically laid out like 2 of the 8" screens stacked.

Still, I'm wondering if I'm missing out on one of the nicer features of the 5th gen. Am I going to regret it?

 

[BowersFJ]

I went wit 8.4” No Nav in my 22 Laramie …. Perfectly happy with it …. Google Maps or Waze work way better and easier thru wireless air play than built in Nav …. Seems to be a bit more trouble with the 12” screens as well


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[Mirowpl]

I have the same 8.4 screen and nav. It’s perfect as far as I am concerned.

 

[Belacyrf]

To me.. the 12" is a luxury not a necessity. It gives the cabin a top-end feel, reduces the amount of hard plastic and has some nice functions. But if you don't need it, don't sweat it. I am buying a ram "strictly" for the luxury interior as it's not my favorite exterior by any means. But to me, the interior is the best. So really depends on your perspective and where your priorities lie. Did you option up everything else in the interior only to leave the 12 inch off? If so, then I say yes, add it. If not, then don't sweat it and enjoy the money back in your pocket.

 

[LaxDfns15]

Having had the 12" screen for over 2 years I would not be unhappy with the 8.4". The split screen with AA/Carplay is meh, the ability to use the whole 12" screen is meh. It looks amazing, it makes people go "wow", but it's not a necessity. A lot of times I end up with Spotify through AA on the top half and "music" on the bottom half because I'm too lazy to pick another option on the bottom. There is no way to get music up top and nav below, and you have to look REALLY far down to see the bottom. That's a long way to take your eyes from the road.

 

[BowersFJ]

Good review


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[Wolverine]

I have the 8.4 because that’s what I wanted with no regrets. It serves my purpose and seems to be less prone to issues (knocking on wood).

 

[Belvedere]

I went in to order a '22 with an 8.4", but drove off with '22 and a 12" that had just delivered. I really wasn't wanting the 12", but now that I have I can't imagine going back. I keep it on home screen with Nav on top and music on bottom, either SXM or Apple Music. My buddy had complained about the brightness of his wife's Laramie with 12", and I'm pretty sensitive to light, but with auto dim and auto theme set it's great.

 

[mikeru82]

I had the 8.4" screen in my previous truck, and really liked it. My current truck has the 12" screen, and frankly, I'd rather have the 8.4". Most of the soft buttons on the screen have actual buttons as well. But the buttons for the seat heat/ventilation and steering wheel heat are only on the screen. I don't like having to change screens before I can adjust those things. I'm also concerned about having no control of them if the screen goes out, which is not unheard of with these. Don't get me wrong, I love how it looks. But I could do without it and not regret it.

 

[Belvedere]

I had the 8.4" screen in my previous truck, and really liked it. My current truck has the 12" screen, and frankly, I'd rather have the 8.4". Most of the soft buttons on the screen have actual buttons as well. But the buttons for the seat heat/ventilation and steering wheel heat are only on the screen. I don't like having to change screens before I can adjust those things. I'm also concerned about having no control of them if the screen goes out, which is not unheard of with these. Don't get me wrong, I love how it looks. But I could do without it and not regret it.

I get the concern with screen going out, but does yours not have the climate buttons in the upper corners that are always there? I can adjust climate temp and seat temp for each side and steering wheel from the upper corners.

 

[Shots]

Having had the 12" screen for over 2 years I would not be unhappy with the 8.4". The split screen with AA/Carplay is meh, the ability to use the whole 12" screen is meh. It looks amazing, it makes people go "wow", but it's not a necessity. A lot of times I end up with Spotify through AA on the top half and "music" on the bottom half because I'm too lazy to pick another option on the bottom. There is no way to get music up top and nav below, and you have to look REALLY far down to see the bottom. That's a long way to take your eyes from the road.

I have the 12" screen, and agree it's not a necessity, but it is nice and certainly adds some wow factor. Wow factor is always nice to have when you eventually sell the truck, so that's something to consider.
When I bought my truck I was actually looking at one with the 8.4 instead. My wife wanted this truck (it had more features) so I got it. Now that I've had the 12, if I was ordering a truck, I'd get it again. I may get a 8.4 again if I was buying off the lot, but to special order I'd probably spend the extra.
And no, I've had no issues with the radio. Actually I've had more issues with the 8.4 in my wife's Jeep, because it occasionally won't display the guide lines on the back up camera. As far as I know they all use the same software so I don't think it's an issue exclusive to either radio.

As for using the dual screen (aka "cards"). You can absolutely have music up top, and nav on the bottom (2 options for that actually). You can also put nav on top if you don't want to look down so far.
You can either press the "map" button on your media display to get a half map. This doesn't work on all media sources though (such as SXM).
You can also go to the home screen with two customizable cards and select your music source on one and your nav on the other. Notice the little dots near the top of each card? Those indicate you can swipe right/left on that card to change what it's displaying. For example the Travel Link car can show weather, fuel prices or I think some other options.


Edit 3/24 @ 1059:
Remove and repost images with road names and address redacted.

 

[Shots]

... But the buttons for the seat heat/ventilation and steering wheel heat are only on the screen. ...

That is the only thing I don't like about the 12" screen.

 

[mikeru82]

I get the concern with screen going out, but does yours not have the climate buttons in the upper corners that are always there? I can adjust climate temp and seat temp for each side and steering wheel from the upper corners.

There are actual buttons for the climate control. I didn't say anything about not having those. But no buttons for steering wheel heat, or seat heat/ventilation. Can you post a pic of yours with the seat temp and steering wheel heat buttons?

Edit: Must be something new with the '22 models.

 

[ferraiolo1]

I specifically looked for a truck without the screen too, I have a car with a big screen and climate control buttons in it and I hate it.

So dumb how they can’t put a heated seat button separate from the big screen.


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[Shots]

Oh, they can, they just didn't.

 

[ekaz]

All great reviews, only thing to add, is that for the heated/cooled seats and steering wheel, no need to switch screens on the '22s, you can tap the icon in the upper corners and adjust from there. If you want to get super fancy, you can say hey ram and tell the truck to do it. I haven't tried it yet but the feature is there if you want it

 

[Shots]

Yeah, I can tap the "controls" button on the bottom right of my screen to bring up the seats/wheel so it's not really an issue. I just wish they would have put a physical key along the side like they did with the hvac.
I haven't tried voice activated. I never thought to try. It might, since everything else can be done that way. Great tip.

Side note*
That bottom row is completely customizable so the "controls" button (and the others) can be added/removed and the order can be rearranged.

 

[2001gw]

I have the 12" screen. I like it but as others have said not a necessity (actually I love it). But, just to let you know you can turn the brightness down for night driving.

 

[Ninety-9 SE-L]

Thanks guys.

I'm mostly not a fan of touch screens because they sometimes replace hard buttons/knobs with soft buttons that may or may not always be up on the screen. I hate the "Hunt and peck" feel of touch screens when I could rather keep my eyes on the road and feel what I'm doing. The Ram is pretty good about putting the controls on the side of the screen rather than on the screen.

At night, I'll probably have the screen fully off. I like to have my eyes adjusted to a dark highway.

I did get almost all of the packages in my Laramie, I could've selected the 12" screen to complete the interior, but I simply chose not to. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't regret it.:

 

[LaxDfns15]

I have the 12" screen, and agree it's not a necessity, but it is nice and certainly adds some wow factor. Wow factor is always nice to have when you eventually sell the truck, so that's something to consider.
When I bought my truck I was actually looking at one with the 8.4 instead. My wife wanted this truck (it had more features) so I got it. Now that I've had the 12, if I was ordering a truck, I'd get it again. I may get a 8.4 again if I was buying off the lot, but to special order I'd probably spend the extra.
And no, I've had no issues with the radio. Actually I've had more issues with the 8.4 in my wife's Jeep, because it occasionally won't display the guide lines on the back up camera. As far as I know they all use the same software so I don't think it's an issue exclusive to either radio.

As for using the dual screen (aka "cards"). You can absolutely have music up top, and nav on the bottom (2 options for that actually). You can also put nav on top if you don't want to look down so far.
You can either press the "map" button on your media display to get a half map. This doesn't work on all media sources though (such as SXM).
You can also go to the home screen with two customizable cards and select your music source on one and your nav on the other. Notice the little dots near the top of each card? Those indicate you can swipe right/left on that card to change what it's displaying. For example the Travel Link car can show weather, fuel prices or I think some other options.


Edit 3/24 @ 1059:
Remove and repost images with road names and address redacted.

You can't have nav on the bottom with AA/Carplay as it defaults to the top**. OEM Nav is years out of date with a new purchase so there's no point in using it. Anecdotal, but at least for my town (outside of Memphis) the OEM map has less than 50% of the streets.

**At least with Uconnect 4.