Navigon 2100 35Inch Portable GPS Navigator

Posted In: Assist To Sell

Jayme Buban says...

I got this from Staples recently and love it. Bought it for $100 on Thanksgiving sale and the price is unbeatable.



Ease of Use: Absolutely amazing. I plugged it in and it was ready to go as soon as it was out of box. The menus are simple, have autocomplete option and are quick.



GPS Function: I have used it extensively for a week and I am very pleased with its ability to show correct directions. The best feature is that it highlights which lanes to stay in when on the highway. None others do that.



Voice Prompts: Are clear and loud enough. The street names are clearly spoken. I normally dont even have to look at the GPS anymore (within a week). The voice prompts are good enough.



Screen: Touchscreen functions works great with occassional misses. It autocompletes the street and city names. The screen is bright. One recommendation, wear dark clothes since light clothing tends to give reflection on the screen, but its not that bad.



Satellite Connection: As long as I was on the road, the connection was never lost. Inside the apartment / buildings it may be difficult.



Additional Info: tells you the coordinates, altitude, time, time to destination, overspeeding warning, traffic advisory (which came free with it... awesome)



POI: I think they can do better on that front. I could not find a few shopping centers, car dealerships, mechanic shops (very important when you run into troubles). This should certainly be updated.



Windsheet mount: Is fine. I have no complaints of any sort like the other reviewer.



I wish they had included a carry case. Its a bit difficult to find one since it is a little wide. I finally found a nice Wenger Camera case at Best Buy which fits well.



p.s. there is no blue tooth on this unit.

Posted on December 20, 2010

Don Seikel says...

I bought this unit on Black Friday at Staples.The selling point for me (as opposed to mio on sale for the same price at other stores) was the lifetime traffic info included.Living in a major market, this is a valuable feature.



The unit is esthetically pleasing, and a really nice size.It fits in a small purse or coat pocket for easy portability. It's not the most intuitive setup right out of the box, but you can get it up and working for the basics immediately.There is no manual included with it, but you can download it from Navigon's website ([...]).



I didn't find any problem working the onscreen keyboard, but you might want to use a PDA stylus just to make it easier.There may be some lag in responsiveness, but there's a touchscreen calibration tool in the setup menu (just like for PDA's), which should help eliminate that problem. You can add favorite places to your "address book" and you can add your home address so that you can use the "take me home" feature with one touch.Recently traveled to places are in the drop down list, and you can either add them to your favorites or just keep them there indefinitely.You can delete those entries that you won't be using again.



I did find the intuitive auto-fill when choosing addresses a little disconcerting, but I got used to it.After you put in your destination, you can view turn-by-turn directions before you start out and you can block any route you don't want to use.For instance, if you see a toll road you don't want to take, or know about construction on a route, you click on that item on the screen and choose "block" from the options.Your route will be recalculated.You can choose trip profiles:optimum, fast, no highways and scenic.



The voice instructions were easily heard at the loudest setting, and I don't like the fact that there seems to be no way to make the loudest settiing the default.You might be amused by some of the place name mispronuciations in the text to speech, but you will understand where it's telling you to go.Some people complained about the grayness and lack of color on the screen.I do not find this to be a bad thing...how much time are you going to spend looking at the screen when you should be looking at the road.As long as it shows you where to go, who cares how much color it has?



I found the traffic feature to be neat, but a little "iffy".I am in NYC, and the traffic reports depend on the ability for the unit to find a broadcast (theoretically easy in the city), but while it worked quite well and accurately on my outbound trip, I found it to not be able to find the signal on my return trip.The charging cord acts as an antenna but if you choose, you can buy an external antenna. You can set the mode to tell you all traffic events, only those on your route, those not on your route, only traffic jams not on your route.(traffic events include construction information or general slowness).The device can even recalculate your route to take you around traffic problems on your route.You can have it do it automatically or by request.



I found that it had plenty of POI's and, since I knew my route, found them to be dead on accurate, down to the brand of gas station and restaurant names (even the names of local, non-national restaurants).



The unit's power switch has two modes--a light touch will put it in power saver and will wake it up when touched again.To turn the unit completely off, you have to press and hold the power switch for 6 seconds or more.



A few people complained about the lack of a charger, other than the auto adapter.I found that I can charge the unit through the USB port on my computer or my cell phone charger (I have a Motorola phone with a mini USB port).It takes about 5 hours to completely charge from dead or almost dead, but if you use it mainly in your own car and have it powered to the adapter it will continually charge.If you use it without the charger, they claim the battery life is 4.5 hours.I haven't had it long enough to test that claim, but the long battery life is another of the reasons I chose this one.



I am not happy with the fact that it onlyhas a map of the 48 contiguous US states and not Canada, Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico, but since I do not do much traveling there, it doesn't make a real difference to me.It might to someone else.It doesn't even appear that the other maps are available for sale at this point in time.Since this is a new brand, that may change in the future.



All in all, once you get used to this unit, you will like it just fine.At some point in the future, I might want more bells and whistles, but for now this is a great entry level model.I will say, however, that I would not have bought it at it's original price, as there are others out there in that price range that do more (although none of them have the RT traffic without a subscription).

Posted on December 20, 2010

Melina Sempertegui says...

I have used the garmin 360, love it.But I couldn't stomach a $350 price tag, especially when you pay for an mp3 player and picture viewer...no thank you.But i really wanted a text to speech unit.Here enters the navigon.It has what I want and I don't have to pay for all the frivolity. The routing options are a little odd; fastest, shortest, optimal, and scenic. Why make fastest AND optimal? I found the learning curve on this unit was slower than the garmin.But this unit is a keeper, it found a friends house that I couldn't find.The text to speech is a must and I love it.The size is great, feature set is great.When entering a destination is takes a little getting used to, my wife just tells me to pre-program the route before she takes it with her.But i'm sure if she took the time she could learn it as well.



If you are looking for a basic unit that will take you to where you need to go, and tell you how to do it then get this unit. Great price, solid build, great looking, my only gripe is I wish there were more POI's.But for the price I wouldn't trade it for anything in its range.

Posted on December 21, 2010

Ginny Benzie says...

I received my Navigon 2100 two days ago from Staples for $179.00.So far it is working well.It said it would take up to 15 minutes to get the initial GPS lock.It took less than a minute (but I'm sure that can vary by location).The text-to-speech road name announcement works like a charm as well, and I don't see how you could possibly miss a turn because it gives you warning upfront and then tells you again when it is time to turn.It allows you to choose your 3 primary POI categories and displays icons as you drive by anything in those 3 categories (restaurants, gas stations, city/state parks, etc.).I have not used it enough yet to review the accuracy of the maps, but the short trips I have taken so far have been accurate.



The device looks very slick with a nice display and shell.The only issue I have with the display is that sometimes the "keyboard" area is little difficult to use because of small letters.I imagine that could be a real issue if a person had large hands.



3D/Reality View -- I was really excited about this feature.I guess I expected it to look like a video game, but it is really a static image of the interchange.It is still a very nice feature, but not as cool as I initially thought it would be.It is very nice that it tells you to get into the left or right lanes on the interstate as you drive.Unfortunately it doesn't always seem to know if a lane is an exit lane or a thru lane.(For example, it tells you to get into the right lane... but the far right lane will take you off of the interstate.)You can't really expect a GPS to replace thinking and paying close attention to the road, I suppose.



The only other issue I had was the mounting arm.It is designed as a windshield mount which is fine as long as you have a decent sized windshield.My windshield is very sloped and not huge so it would block my vision if I mounted it there.I'm thinking I will just mount it on my side window, right?Wrong...the arm moves, but does not rotate.I can stick it to the door window, but then the screen is sideways.All it needs is the ability to rotate the arm, and I'd be set.



This is my first auto GPS (I have the Garmin Forerunner 305 for biking and running) so I can't compare it to other systems.I like that I can pick the POI categories to be displayed.I like that if I want to take another road, the GPS will tell me the next step even if I don't take the exact path it wants me to take initially.I like the way this thing looks.I like that it speaks the road names and helps out on the interstate about lane choice.I like that I can pay $99 and get real time traffic updates for life rather than pay a monthly service fee.The price tag was definitely a factor as well.Two thumbs for my initial review.

Posted on December 21, 2010

Tameika Hrapski says...

I recently returned a new Magellan Maestro 3140 GPS unit that did not have traffic data as I decided that I needed the traffic feature. I was going to buy another Magellan product but on a whim I went to Staples early on Black Friday and I managed to buy a Navigon 2100T for $99. For a device with text to speech and lifetime traffic this is a great price.



I have been testing this Navigon device for the past few days to see if I want to keep it or if I will get rid of it and get the Magellan I was intending to buy. I have reduced my experiences into the following Pros and Cons. This is of course entirely subjective.



Pros



- Price - I just can't beat $99 for text to speech and lifetime traffic!

- Reality View provides 3D images of complex interchanges - congratulations on Navigon innovating in this way - it is a really great feature.

- Audio volume is plenty loud - I can hear it very clearly

- Audio instructions are good and accurate. It states the street name and turn in advance and then also says "now turn right" at the correct moment.

UPDATE: As is common on text to speech devices, some of the streets are mis-pronounced, but the timing and accuracy of the speech instructions are very good. I rely on them with confidence.

- Screen is very bright and readable in daylight

- Quick lock on satellites

- Quick recalculation if you deviate from the calculated route.

- Plastic housing is clean and sophisticated looking

- No MP3 player, slideshow viewer, toaster etc. I hate how GPS devices are trying to be iPods these days. Let's just get the GPS part right. Congrats to Navigon on leaving all the other crud off of this device.



Cons



- Crazy routing sometimes.

I have been driving some local journeys and comparing with the routes my Magellan previously offered. This 2100 comes up with some silly ways to get places. For example instead of driving ahead on a major road and then turning right onto another major road, this unit tried to have me cut through a bunch of slower local streets as some kind of shortcut. This would actually take longer (due to stop signs and lower speed limit).The Magellan never proposed this silly route. I know the area and so disregarded the poor Navigon routing. But my concern is that in a foreign environment I will have to trust the device and it might waste my time. I have tried changing the Route Profile settings (Fast versus Optimum) but don't see how they impact the result. I've never had to do this previously on a GPS unit.

UPDATE: It seems to me that some of the sillier routes might be for local/very short journeys. I have been using this device for 30+ mile trips around Los Angeles and the routes have generally been good.



- POI searching is much more frustrating than on my previous Magellan. On my previous device I could type in "Macys" and it would find every Macys for miles and miles around. If I want to find a Macy's on the Navigon but there is not one "nearby" then I need to scroll through a long list of every POI in the category (while repeatedly increasing the definition of "nearby - enlarge the radius...). There is an alternative search method: the unit expects me to know the city the nearest Macy's is in?! This is ridiculous. Enough already! Just let me type Macys and show me all of the results no matter how far away they are (or within a distance defined in Preferences). I could write a whole essay on this but basically the POI access needs an overhaul ASAP. I am sick of seeing "No POIS nearby found" (yes that is the message).

UPDATE: After a few weeks of use, my frustration with POI management has not subsided. (My latest fave: I must scroll past the POI categories of car dealers and auto mechanics to get to the more commonly used Shopping Centers category). I keep reminding myself that this is a value-priced GPS and I have pretty much given up on expecting good POI functionality. This device is mostly about point to point navigation where you know your destination address. I have been using Google Maps on my Blackbery to find POIs and then entering the address manually into the Navigon.



- USB/power connection on the bottom of the device. This annoys me to no end. This might not sound like a big deal but I don't want my GPS unit blocking the view out of the windscreen and so I usually have the suction cup in a position on the windscreen so the GPS unit sits on or just above the top surface of the dashboard. When I have the 2100 mounted in the windshield mount the device must sit more than an inch higher above the dashboard if the USB/power cable is plugged in because the plug is on the bottom of the device. Instead of plugging the power cable in on the left or right side (as is common on other GPS devices) you must mount the device over an inch higher just to get the power cable in to the hole under the screen. The only way to mount it lower is to run it off the battery (no power cable). Good luck getting the hours of battery life they claim. If you are in a big truck with a huge windscreen then you won't care. If you are in a sedan (or especially a small sports car) then this is a significant design flaw. Which genius made this decision?

UPDATE: I have uploaded an image to illustrate this problem. Have a look at the product pics at the top of the product info page.

UPDATE 2: I have uploaded a second image which shos how you can reduce the problem by buying a small adapter (thanks Peein Elmo for the tip).



- Keyboard "buttons" in the interface are very small. Hope you don't have big fingers



- Icons on the screen (battery etc) and the speed data font are too small. I can read it OK but do not give this unit as a gift to someone with less than perfect vision. At the time of writing this review there are no 2100 screen shots in the Amazon product info see what I mean. (The screen shot showing Reality View is from a 7100 - clever huh?) UPDATE: There are now some 2100 product images including the screen. Look at the size of the font showing the speed (on the right side of the screen) and compare that with screen shots of some Garmin, TomTom and Magellan devices.



- Not enough color on the maps. I understand this unit is "understated" in its design - and some other GPS devices go over the top with saturated color but this is just a little too "gray" for me. UPDATE: The screen shots shown in the product info at Amazon cleverly depict an area with official parks and forests - so you can see green areas on the screen. Unless you are driving through parks all day you will see gray everywhere on your device.

UPDATE 2: I have realized the reason this device seems so "gray" is because many of the user interface elements (buttons, scroll bars, windows etc) use shades of gray and then the map itself also uses gray as the default land color. I was driving by the beach the other day and the unit showed the ocean as bright blue. It looked great. Maybe I should live in a park near the beach...



Other comments:I have activated the traffic but have not used it yet so cannot comment.

UPDATE: The traffic feature has so far not proven very useful for me. I get stuck in traffic jams on the freeways in LA and the unit shows that I am in a slow area (which I already know...) but it lists no incidents on my route and does not recommend alternates. I am still learning about this feature. Also you need to have the power cable plugged in if you want to get traffic signal (on my device anyway...)



In summary this unit has high-end features at a very competitive price (even more so at the price I paid). However I think I'd rather pay more for a device that has more reliable routing and better POI management (and a power plug on the side, Grrr).Shame because I really want to like this device...

Posted on December 21, 2010

Shandi Zercher says...

I just presently bought this item through Staples, as well, when it was $179.I actually bought 2 of them.This is such an ingenious product.I like the usability of the lane information, although, like C. Ralls said, it definately does not replace the thoughts of the driver into thinking in terms of driving laws. As C. Ralls put it "You can't really expect a GPS to replace thinking and paying close attention to the road, I suppose."(Thanks C. Ralls).



Again, as C. Ralls stated, the "keyboard" buttons are very small, and being a 23 year old male, my hands are pretty fat. I physically am using a computer-stylus, in place of my hands, for this reason.Unlike what she said, when the product needs exact numbers, the number-buttons, are pretty large(there are obviously a lot less numbers, than there are for letters.)



This is definately my first GPS system, and probably my only GPS system. The only qualm I have with it is the installation information-and any information booklets that come with it.Not only does it not have any tips or an instruction manual on how to set it up, but it does not have any info. on how to put it together.



I am also displeased with this item, because, being mostly a car-only item, it should have come with a booklet, that tells of certain specificaitons, such as temperature specifications, and the like.But for the price I paid, this was definately a great thing to buy.The price was just right, being on sale this past week at Staples, and Staples over the phone.Unfortunately, Staples.com did not offer this price markdown, and I have not gotten the chance to call them on this problem...but I soon will.



If any of you are still interested, in this item, you may want to not worry too much about my small problems and buy it, and see for yourself.



ANd, as far as lane-change info goes, well, I don't live near any interstates, but I wouldn't use it much for that, at all.

It's 3d view, sounds and looks great.The text-to-speech recognition directions, is just great, although the woman's voice, does make the sounds seem to slur into one another...and trying to read a "G" as in US Route "9G", seems to make this letter sound like a "C" instead.



Sorry for the wordiness of this review.I'm terrible, when it comes to writing, and want to know just about every aspect of the product, before I buy it.

Posted on December 22, 2010

Terrie Ebbett says...

If you are looking for a product that is backed by (at least sort of) customer support, the Navigon is not for you.

The navigator that I own is not functional due to software related fatal errors. Neither reboot nor device reset helps. So does their customer support. I did not get any reply on my on-line request. When I called to customer rep over the phone, I was promised to be called back by engineers. Guess what?... I did not get any call from them.

So if you are experiencing any problem with the product and still can return it to the vendor, please do so. Dealing with the "customer support" may drag you past the merchandise return deadline, as happened in my case.



Also, if you are looking for a GPS navigator with up-to-date maps, the Navigon 2100 is not for you either. It shows businesses that were closed couple years ago and does not see some legitimate left turn point in my neigborhood promting driver to make U-turns a mile or so ahead.

********

(January 11th update)

Now it's almost a month since I reported a problem. The customer support representative told me that the engineering department is still working on the troubleshooting. That means that they either have not support engineers or they overwhelmed with the defective product service requests.



When I was asking about service time estimation, product exchange or money return options, I got nothing in reply but insults.

Posted on December 23, 2010

Georgine Kubishta says...

[Update: 02/15/2009] - After 1 full yr. of usage::::



The routing's faster now, # of POIs included have increased SIGNIFICANTLY, included now are almost ALL chain stores, restaurants, etc. Missing portions of the maps have reduced significantly.

FRESH MAPS -- This is a no-brainer. I have included Fresh maps and it's fantastic. Every quarter you get a free map update and believe me ALL the latest modifications in my area (NJ/CT/NY) are present!!

ZAGAT - I've included ZAGAT now and it's also a great, great tool. It gives you categorization like ZAGAT restaurant, attraction, nightlife, etc.etc. Then, say under restaurant it further divides as best decor, best service, best food, etc. Upon selecting a restaurant- gives you FULL ZAGAT PROFILE, phone numbers, etc. and FULL ZAGAT RATINGS TOO!!

My only wish - for this model if they could have included "Lane Assist" it would have been great. Just letting me know which lane to stick to, much earlier than the divider/turn/bend.



[Update: 02/20/2008] - I've installed the firmwire update, things look better, in terms of routing, spoken voice and POI search. Not all issues resolved, but nevertheless better.

Extensively used it over the last 2 months and I find it to be reliable. Nevertheless, do take a peek as to what's coming up than blindly following the routes dictated.







I own a 2100T (not BF sale@Staples). First off, 2100 vs. 2100T is *T* includes the traffic subscription.

Here are my thoughts -- first off, the unit is small, good-looking with a very effective car mount. Upon startup, it acquires GPS signal quickly. It can be protected with PIN # against theft. The touch-screen can be calibrated. Reverting to factory-settings are possible.



Coming to more important stuff, one can search for an address using street name first, or city/ZIP code combination. The map included covers the 48 contig. states only. Also, it's feasible to store 500 addresses in Favorites for quick retrieval. 1 good feature is defining a route having multiple points and being able to save the whole route combination itself. Without GPS signal, it's possible to review the route in a map, giving TTS and turn-by-turn using *simulation*.



After putting in the address, and assuming GPS signal is active, a turn-by-turn listing can be displayed, where even specific roads can be blocked. Post blocking, the system can be made to re-route and then use that route for navigation. In terms of routing, there's considerable options available. Fastest route, optimal route, shortest route, scenic route, avoid/allow/forbid tolls, avoid/allow/forbid highways, avoid/allow/forbid ferries, avoid/allow/forbid U-turns, mode for bicycle, car, truck or walking. While driving, taping the map it displays a *block* option, which is like .5,1,1.5,3,5 mile sketches, if activated, system auto blocks that sketch in front and tries to re-route alternative route (traffic congesion, etc.) - a very handy feature. Option to switch from 2d/3d at tap of the map. However, what the unit does NOT do (some GPS units do it) is detect your speed and if less than normal auto suggest detour options. The system display on the map the next turn and the turn-after (if almost immediate). In fact, also if it's situation like *bear immediately left, after right turn*, etc. shows both of them, thus it's possible to detect earlier what's coming up. Good feature. In case you missed what was said, tapping the turn icon again causes TTS to kick in and repeat.



In case traffic is activated, which is for life and the charging cable MUST be plugged in, system shows a small icon on map, if clicked shows all active traffic information. Again, can be configured to show ONLY traffic relevant to route. Furthermore, immediate traffic details are displayed on the map itself (radius approx. 2 miles). System can automatically route you thru alternative routes or can be made manual. A VERY +VE point being the subscription is lifetime, once bought - it's forever ACTIVE!! Very powerful feature.



Re-routing, in case of missed turns are quick but read issues below.



TTS functionality has a single voice only (lady) and is of good pronounciation. Nevertheless, there's some peculiarities, which one can get used to. Generally, states to bear left, or keep to the left/right much earlier, gives clear road-names, very accurate in saying *NOW, turn right/left* etc. If there's multiple turns (city) avoids saying each & every road name to avoid confusion. The speaker, however is on the low side. Might have slight difficulty in hearing at high speeds. However, the system uniquely provides an important feature called auto volume increase with speed increase. Very effective. In case you're going over speed-limit and you've configured to warn you if over 10 mph, TTS does do a *caution* statement. The volume is configurable, directly from the map and can be muted too.



The map itself is highly customizable. It's possible to display speed limits, set warning if exceeing limit at city/highway levels and that too at 5 mph, 10 mph, 15 mph above limit settings. Can show/hide altitude, speed, distance to destination, duration of travel, ETA, compass, street-names. The display itself is bright (brightness can be configured, both at day/night levels separately) and has separate day/night views. Note - the unit does NOT switch to night view automatically. The associate time settings are done automatically. The 2D zoom provides another important feature - auto-zoom. At higher speeds, etc. ; system auto-zoom to cover more area, etc. The amount of zooming itself is configurable. There's a button providing further options like browing the map itself (pulling/pushing it up/down, left/right), tapping a point on the map which showing details about that point and if there's any recorded POI at that point, etc. Very good and nice. Manual zooming of the maps is possible. However, locking the map-view preventing changes if accidentally tapped, etc. is not possible. The orientation of the map can be direction of travel (default) or always North.



The Reality-View is very effective. It *kicks* in at critical junctures of travel, where there are complex turns involved showing clearly which lane to stick to, etc. However, keep in mind it's static and automatically appears. Once turn is over, switches to map view. Again the view can be turned completely off.





Coming to POIs, it offers a set of POIs which can be searched and navigated to, from the main screen. There are multiple categories of POIs and each almost always have sub-categories. The search can be based on *Nearby* (if GPS signal is active), *City* or *Nationwide*. Once either of these options are selected, a search can be done based on category or sub-categories. If *Nearby*, it displays a set of choices which can be expanded to include more radius. Similarly at city (by city name or ZIP code) or nation-wide hunt of main corp. brands. Further, there's a quick selection of critical categories at immediate availability for searching is possible - max 3. For example, parking, restaurants, WCs. The search is displayed as a list with up/down buttons and the keypad vertically oriented in the split screen. The keybad is ABCD format which can not be changed to QWERTY. Auto completion is possible and active. The up/down arrows displaying the list are very sluggish and hang quite a lot. The actual icon for the brand-name is displayed alongwith the POI name. Re-tying POIs, changing categories/sub-categories, etc. are cumbersome and inefficient. The database is also very, very limited and does not include almost all major brands but are more inclined to include mom/pop shops. The POIs can be made to display in the map itself and the types of POIs to be shown on the map are configurable, the good part being they appear as icons on the map. My observation is it makes the map very cluttered. Tapping the map provides an option to display immediate POIs in vicinity or route and then adding such a POI as an intermittent route point. Effective but the type of POIs available by default (being low) makes this ineffective. A critical -ve point being users are NOT allowed to add their custom POIs, or share other users' compilation, etc. You can only save the address as a favorite, for your personal use. Separately ($40) a Zagat survey lifetime subscription can be bought - which provides for Zagat surveyed POIs - an option to review the ZAGAT ratings given for the POI in the system itself. I don't have it, thus can not comment.



Pushing the top button causes immediately the product to go into standby mode, thus switching it on is very quick and good (activates the PIN # option, for theft deterance). It does NOT auto detect vehicle switch-off and thus has to be manually switched off.





The cons lies mostly with the POI database, sluggish search/display/modification options available. The next -ve point lies in the routing display. Many a times, it'll display a rather zig-zag route with weird roads, etc. and need to be carefully reviewed (turn-by-turn listing) prior to embarking on the travel. On a personal note, users should ALWAYS use the "short route" option by route-points are within city limits or short distances and "optimal route" if interstate travels. If route is missed, although re-routing is quick - again can be weird and can really take you on a trip down the highway! This is true also for automatic traffic re-calculations. There's supposed to be a firmwire update in January 2008 addressing this problem. On a lighter note, there's numerous others who have NOT reported any routing issues; thus I think it's case-by-case basis and mostly to do with the NavTeq maps being used. A proof in the pudding lies in the fact that many-a-times the system will ask you to take an exit, go couple of miles and then re-join the highway again! This normally happens if system detects a portion of the highway to be *missing* in it's database - normally caused due to extreme compression of the maps itself (to fit into the SD card). This is not pronouced much for 2100, since it has ONLY 48 states of US. But for higher models, i.e. 5100, 7100 - which has the whole of NA - it's more pronounced behaviour. Also reported, in quite a few cases, the traffic, even if activated - does not work. You'll need to talk to support for resolving this. There are NO media-players, headphone jack, AC adapter, PC update options for software/firmwire, CD/DVD containing help manual, etc.



Navigon support - for me has been quick and good, while others have reported problems. Again a case-by-case. They have quickly responded email queries too (24 hrs. turn-around time).

Posted on December 23, 2010

Genevieve Eppinger says...

Got one at Staples for $149 which was $100 off normal retail (which is always high) but still about a realistic $50 off what everybody else was charging.Bought a 3 year extended warranty via Square Trade for another $23 (including "klutz" insurance for accidents).



I had read reviews where people complained about slow satellite tracking times.I had a Garmin handheld that couldn't find a signal if I lived on a satellite so this definitely couldn't be any worse.Guess what?Whipped it out of the box, turned it on (w/o charging it) and it had a lock within 5 seconds, inside my house!Thought that might be a fluke so I went in the car after turning the unit off and turned it back on.Got the signal even quicker, there!



So far, so good, much better than the Garmin handheld although I can't say it's better than the Garmin car unit w/o some testing.What impressed me the most in the store was the fact that this had the brightest screen and was one of the few units that wasn't locked in some ridiculous demo mode showing me going from Iowa to L.A.



On the down side, it doesn't come with a wall charger but my cell phone adapter charged it up within 2 hours.



Of note, watch for a couple minor things:



1.Off is not what you think.Pressing the power button merely puts it in sleep mode.You're still draining battery power.A complete shut down takes a push of 5 or 6 seconds (something the instructions fail to mention).



2.The keypad can be slow, so be patient.When I was entering a 5 digit numerical address it slowed down after the third number and then caught up.I believe most of this is due to the auto complete feature it has (it's trying to guess what you're entering).



3.Traffic updates cost $99 for a lifetime subscription which sounds good if you plan to keep the unit forever; however, let's be realistic.The internal battery in this puppy will be dead within 5 years and so will the technology.Cheaper versions sell on Ebay.



4.Thieves love these units so be safe and don't leave it in the car, especially with the windshield mount attached (even if you remove the unit, make sure you put the mount away from public view).By the way, Navigon is nice enough to give you a window sticker so thieves will know what you have.Goes along with the Apple stickers that let thieves know your IPod is somewhere around there.Leave it off!

Posted on December 25, 2010

Kate Spengler says...

I just picked one up from Office Max for $150. I heard Staples will have this for $99 on BF. So I will probably have it price matched.



I have several GPS including PDAs (IGuidance on a Dell Axim x51v) and two garmins ( Street Pilot 2610, i3),a TomTom Go, as well as built GPS in one of my cars (a 2007 Range Rover).



I bought this for my wife who's car does not have a GPS. I justified the price over buying updated maps for the Garmins. I was waiting out for a Nextar C3 because I like iGuidance and she is familiar with the interface.

I prefer the WINCE based Navteq systems.



Tom Tom One are selling for the same price but like I said, I prefer Navteq maps.



For $150, this is a great portable device. The text-to-speech is pretty good. It even has new POIS (including a business I just opened up).



At first it is a bit sluggish but once it gets going, it works.

I haven't tried the reality view but here are the things I like:



>I like the zip-code finder.

>Text to speech

>Navteq mapping

>Uses standard USB cables

>Logger for mileage

>SirF 3 chipset

>POIs are pretty up to date. There is an ice cream place that opened up in June of 07 and it is already in the database. However, there are some closed businesses still listed. Icons for places like Burger King



The things that need work on is:



>Cancelling out of a modal dialogue box. You should be able to click outside of the menu to get back. Instead, I didn't realize you click on the heading title to cancel out.

> Screen is a bit small for finger entry.



We use the GPS for simple mapping and don't need POIs, bluetooth or traffic data.



The graphics are niceand modern. Compared to my garmins and even the GPS in my Range Rover, it is pretty slick looking.

Posted on December 27, 2010