Navigon is a GPS navigation maker that started out in Europe before entering the North American market. Widely known in Europe, Navigon is a brand that most might not be familiar with in North America. However, Navigon has very solid reputation for producing great GPS navigation units in Europe. The Navigon 2100 MAX a step above an entry level GPS navigation unit at an entry level price. The unit includes many features that are absent on entry level units.

Screen

The 4.3 inch displays crisp and vibrant colors. The touchscreen sensitivity could have been better. I had to tap the screen few times to get the touch to register on some occasion. Screen works well in any light condition. I had no glare problem with the unit.

Ease of Use

The user interface is very intuitive. Like most other GPS navigation units, it is easy to set destination via screen or simply set POI as destination. Navigon 2100 MAX can be used right out of the box without having to consult manual. You do need to register via Navigon if you want to use the live traffic feature. The text-to-speech makes it really easy to navigate without having to stare at the screen. The pronunciation of street names were fairly accurate.

Reliability

Out of the box, the unit took close to 10 minutes to acquire satellite. I had no problem with satellite acquisition after the initial start. The routing calculation seems to take longer than most navigation units. But, the routing and directions were accurate most of the time. The real problem seems to be route recalculation. After missing a turn, the unit kept asking to go in an illogical direction. This happened several times throughout the usage. I'm not sure if map update or firmware update could fix this problem. The overall routing and directions are accurate. The lane assist function is pretty helpful on the highways when you need to anticipate exits. There were no problem with rebooting or crashes. With exception of route recalculation, the unit was solid in its performance.

Battery life

The Navigon states the battery life at 3 hours. In real world usage, it lasted little more than 2 hours. The unit can not be completely turned off which can be battery draining. The unit comes with automobile power supply so the battery life should not be an issue.

Features

The Navigon 2100 MAX comes with great many features seen on high end models. The 2100 Max comes with life time traffic and optional FreshMap updates. The unit comes pre-loaded with POI and United States map. The predictive text complete is also useful when entering a street name. The text-to-speech was clear and understandable. The Lane guidance feature was pretty useful on the highway driving. Otherwise, mostly forgotten feature in city driving. You have option to purchase Zagat survey and ratings review package. I did not purchase this option so I can not give assessment on its usefulness.

Expandability

Navigon does offer map updates for a price. It seems like most manufacturers have chosen to charge for map updates. At 79.99 it's almost 1/2 the price of the unit itself. It could be cheaper but not having offering any update would be worse.

Pros

• 4.3 inch touchscreen
• Text-to-speech
• Lane assistance
• Easy operation
• Speed limit indicator
• Free live traffic
• Cost

Cons

• Out of date Point of Interest database
• Bad rerouting logic
• Have to purchase map updates

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	For Navigon 2100 2120 Max Portable Travel USB 12V Plug-in Car Charger + Home Wall AC Charger Combo Bundle Package Sale Price: $4.03

Navigon

Navigon has worked itself into a fairly well known brand in United States. While not as widely recognized as Garmin or TomTom, it has good reputation in Europe and is enjoying a better brand recognition today. The 2100 model offered more feature and bigger screen compared to Garmin and TomTom at cheaper price. However, its performance was not quite up to Garmin’s or TomTom’s standard. The Navigon 7200T is intended to challenge higher end Garmin and TomTom models.

Screen

Navigon 7200T comes with 4.3 inch widescreen. The touchscreen is very crisp and vibrant. The auto Day/Night mode adjusts your screen’s brightness according the ambient light. I had no problem viewing the screen in bright day light. The touchscreen is more responsive than the 2100 model which had some lagging and lack of sensitivity problem with its touchscreen.

Ease of use

The interface is easier and more intuitive than the 2100. The predictive text helps tremendously when completing an entry into the unit. The non QWERTY keyboard is a small downside to inputting an address into the unit. As with 2100 model, there are four options from the start up. New Destination, My Destinations, Take Me Home, and Voice Entry are self explanatory options. The Voice Entry option was pretty accurate on most cases. I only had to repeat few street names that were very simple. Otherwise operating the GPS unit is very straight forward. I would have liked to see more shortcuts so I didn’t have to navigate the submenus.

Reliability

The 2100 suffered from time lag between cold boot to initial satellite acquisition. On some occasions, it took close to 10 minute to acquire satellite signal. The 7200T took less than 5 minutes to acquire satellite signal from the cold boot. The entering address for destination was easy and convenient with the auto complete feature. The Voice Entry had some problem with certain street names but was overall accurate and very useful. The overall routing was accurate with no unnecessary routing. The preloaded map was very up to date with exception of few new roads that were not listed during the routing. The rerouting algorithm was spot on as well. Overall, the 7200T is good improvement over the 2100 in terms of reliability and accuracy.

Battery life

The battery life is rated at 2 hour and it was pretty good estimation of real life usage. While 2 hour seems like very small, you get the car charger with the unit. You will most likely never use the unit without having it plugged into the automobile.

Features

This is feature packed GPS unit. It comes with everything the other high end GPS navigation units come with. This includes Bluetooth, text-to-speech and live traffic support. While some manufacturers charge for live traffic updates, Navigon 7200T offers free life time traffic updates for most major cities. The Voice Entry option is nice way of entering destination address with speech. While not perfect, it is better implemented than most other GPS units. Little things like Landmark view and reality view offers different way of viewing the navigation unit. Also, the Lane assistant feature shows you exactly what lane you should be at all times. The Zagat rating and reviews add another nice feature.

Expandability

The map updates are offered for purchase. On the other hand, the live traffics are included with the purchase. The SD card ensures that future upgrades are readily available.

Pros

• 4.3 inch touchscreen
• Text-to-speech
• Voice Entry
• Lane assistance
• Improved GUI
• Free traffic updates
• Cost

Cons

• Have to purchase map upgrades
• Some assembly required for mounting kit

Want to compare this model to other models? Click here to download the spreadsheet.

	Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts List Price: $499.99 Sale Price: $489.50 Used From: $225.00

	Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts List Price: $499.99 Sale Price: $489.50 Used From: $225.00

Navigon