Navigon GPS Navigation Reviews
Navgion is a privately held company operating out of Germany. Founded in 1991, Navigon has established itself as one of the leading navigation GPS brand in Europe. Navigon was one of the first company to offer navigation software for smart phones running on pocket-pc platform. Navigon entered North American market in 2007 by forming a subsidiary company headquartered in Chicago.
Navigon primarily focuses on automobile navigation units. Navigon's automobile navigation units offer some unique features not seen on other GPS units. These include Reality View, displays computer generated images of interstate highway interchanges, lifetime traffic for one time fee, and Zagat Survey and ratings integrated into the GPS unit.
Navigon continues to focus their new product line in Europe first. The new products with improved Traffic features and other features will be implemented in new models once it finds its way to North America.
Navigon GPS Navigation Reviews
For those looking for both style and substance, the NAVIGON 7200T is a standout among other GPS devices. Behind the 7200T¿s elegantly designed extra-wide Flat-Panel touchscreen you will find an experience unlike any other with features that are both useful and exclusive to NAVIGON. Like Free Real-Time Traffic Updates, alerting you automatically of traffic issues ahead and rerouting you with the touch of a button ¿ all for the life of your device. Features like Voice Destination Entry allow you to simply enter addresses by voice while Bluetooth Hands-Free and Reality View Pro make navigating the road ahead easier and less stressful. Landmark View 3D adds a new dimension to your navigation experience with hundreds of landmarks displayed in richly textured 3D. The 7200T also includes a host of other features that will help guide you through your travels, like Advanced Text-to-Speech, DirectHelp, and Lane Assistant Pro.
- Advanced Text-to-Speech Voice Guidance. Turn-by-turn directions with street names.
- Bluetooth Hands-Free with Contacts. Stay focused on the road ahead.
- NAVIGON Sync. Imports your Outlook contacts for easy access to addresses.
- Auto Day/Night Mode. Adjusts your screen for better daytime or nighttime viewing.
- Free Real-Time Traffic Updates. Coverage across 80 cities for the life of your product.
Dimensions
- Height: 4.53''
- Length: 2.91''
- Width: 0.71''
- Weight: 1.08 lbs
The worst customer service
This Navigon was bought last Nov. I loved it at first but noticed after 2 months it began to freeze and give me fatal error messages. I tried emailing support and it takes days for them to email you back. Then I finally got an email said I needed to send it to them. I filled out the form and waited for them to email where to send it . After days I looked on line for the corporate headquarters. It has closed and the post office was looking all over for it. Two weeks later I received it back. On the form they said nothing was wrong with it.
Yea, I used it for business- so here I go on another business trip. Worked one day- that night at the hotel I email again, get a reply 3 days later- press on button and reset button. I did- now it won’t come on at all.
Still emailing- filled out all the paperwork again- wait 3 days- you MUST fill out the form on line the email said again. Did it again 3 days have passed and still do not know where to send it.
They are terrible- do not buy a Navigon- I did like the unit but CUSTOMER SERVICE is the most important part. If a company does not have phone and someone to answer I will not buy from them!!
Still to early to judge
I have been using this product for three weeks and it has it’s good points and bad points so far. I had some initial issues trying to update the software version only to find Navigon has no phone support Tech Support available in the US only email. I have had a couple of issues where the unit completely locked up requiring me to hit the reset button or power the unit off and on. So at this point reliabity of the unit is questionable until I get more useage under my belt. Definitely a lot of features for the price.
Navigon GPS
For the lower price it has a lot of good features, but remember the more features you have it will take a more time to set-up.
If you use Outlook for your email program you can transfer all your names and addresses
And phone numbers that you want to your GPS
If you do decide to buy because of this feature create a new contact list in Outlook with just the what you want to transfer otherwise it will transfer all, and that’s ok too if that is what you need
worthless GPS
When I use the car charger it goes into computer mode rendering it useless for actual car trips. It only functions when it is unplugged using its internal batteries. Which by the way if your trip is longer than 3 hours good luck because the batteries run down. I was extremely frustrated on a trip because the batteries decided to run down and had no paper maps. I got an RMA for the 7200T and I thought the unit was broken(which, by the way, I had to pay for the shipping being sent). I just got it back and the diagnosis said there was no fault found.
Big Bug
This would be an exceptional product if Navigon continued service and sales operations directly in North America. Since they don’t, I must assume that Amazon had their product on the shelf for such a long time that it’s battery no longer functions. In short, the battery has no charge capability, and the GPS can only function when plugged into an outlet.
Excellent product – worth the money
I admit I was a little hesitant to buy a navi from a company I really knew nothing about. But after reading the reviews and taking a chance away from the Big 3, so to speak, I just bit the bullet & figured I’d try it. I am so glad I took that chance because after taking a long ride with this, I had my friend test every little feature of it and it passed with flying colors! All I heard him say was “Wow, this can do this and this can do that!” If I weren’t driving, I’d be able to actually see what he was talking about, haha! But I really love the lane assist, that is why I bought it. He was very impressed with that as well and also really love the way it warns you if you are going over the speed limit (you can turn that feature off, but since it could save you a speeding ticket, why bother). Another feature he loved was the way it tells you how far above or below sea level you are. We used the traffic alert too and I’d have to play with that a little more to see if it will be useful but he said it showed all traffic in the whole state. So, not sure about that yet – might be a little hard to use while driving. I love the 3D effects and the verbal intructions are very clear & right on! My friend loved how the screen changed & was in total psynch with the speed limit signs on the road. He was amazed at how accurate it was. Overall, this is a great investment and I have total confidence in it. Now, I can get rid of my Garmin, which I refused to pay $50 every year just to update it. Great product for little money!
Great but cant update maps
The Navigon GPS was a great buy but the things that made me mad were the fact that if you want map updates you must purchase a subscribtion to “Fresh Maps” and you can not do this online. You must buy a Fresh maps card which you could get off of amazon or tiger direct or other online stores, but they are all bought out and Navigon is not going to release any more. The reasoning is, Navigon is leaving the North American market. So everything was great and worked like it was supposed to but i cant update the maps.
Have to learn the unit. Aftewards no problems at all.
Nice GPS. Don’t have any problems that other people complain about it. Only little problem is that it takes while to find satellites. I love free traffic alerts. This one is way better than Garmin crap.
Great on paper, not so great in real life.
Even though Navigon is a lesser known brand, I decided to purchase this unit based on its features despite some of the reviews. My mistake. The unit itself looks nice with the flat screen (no bevel), but that’s about it. It looks nice, the features are impressive, but the functionality and customer service is very poor.
I bought this unit on 4/27/09 but the unit was loaded with a Q3 2008 map. I contacted the manufacturer and they said I would need to purchase the latest map for $[...], even though I bought the unit Q2 2009. Ok, so it’s missing some newly developed roads, who needs to know what road they’re on, right?
Software quibble aside, the unit itself arrived with the rubber plugs half-in over the screws and external antenna connector. It took about 10 minutes to correct and was a major pain, but these should have been properly installed at the factory.
The touch screen “feels” very spongy compared to other touch screen products, including other nav units. I also own a Tom Tom XLS and the touch screen on there feels solid. It is a little annoying having to touch the screen several times to get a response. The power adapter is also bulky and looks cheap.
So, does it work? Yes and no. It works fine as a gps nav unit, but the features – bluetooth, live traffic, text-to-speech, voice recognition, lane assist, 3D landmarks, sort of work.
Let me start by saying the voice recognition is excellent. Once trained, it recognizes speech on the first try. That’s about where the features end.
At the highest volume setting, the speaker crackled. Navigon’s fix? They updated the software so you can’t set the volume to max anymore, making the sound unacceptably soft. Also, the text-to-speech reads streets oddly like computers from the 90’s. For example, avenue is pronounced “aver-new”. My other navi reads it normally.
You’d figure once bluetooth is setup, it would connect automatically. Nope. You manually have to make a connection every time and since the speaker volume is so low, you can’t really use it.
Live traffic is slow to report and I usually I’m in the thick of it before it shows me there is traffic. Grant it there aren’t any ads like the Garmin, but I’ll deal with ads for quicker, real-time updates.
On a couple occasions, the lane assist provided inaccurate information causing me to take the wrong exit ramp. I was told this was corrected in the latest map that I would have to purchase, something that should’ve already been loaded in my unit.
To summarize, if you want to tell your friends you have a nav unit with all the bells and whistles, then this is for you. However, if you want a unit with all the bells and whistles that actually works, get a major brand unit. The Navigon 7200T works just fine as a basic gps navigation and that’s about it. They should take out all the crap that doesn’t work – most of it, provide 2009 maps for units purchased in 2009, use a better quality speaker, and improve their assembly QA.
I would not recommend this product unless the above mentioned issues are resolved.
no owners manual
I received the Navigon 7200T yesterday. It wants activation and product numbers. I figure one out by plugging it into my auto. I was not able to get the blue tooth to work. I email customer service since there are no numbers to call from the States and they do not provide you an owners manual. I tried to download pdf file it seems that they do not have.
It does not recognize where I live and puts me into the next town. I believe Amazon. com will receive this as a return.
navigon 7200T
Where to begin? Ok, so i chose this GPS because it had free traffic and it seemed to work well when i tried it out at a retail store.
Unfortunately, i have only had this GPS for about six months and the cons heavily outweigh the pros.
PROS: free traffic, re routes somewhat quickly
CONS: As many reviewers mentioned, the battery life is horrible, the navigation seems to take the longer routes, the GPS shuts off and/or gives an error message. Traffic on route takes awhile or sometimes isnt present.
****Currently, my navigon is not charging unless I hold in the adapter!!! I dont know if its the adapter that went bad or the device. The battery signal on the gps shows two bars and with in 30 sec (of me not holding in the adapter) it shuts off. Seriously this item wasn’t cheap and of course i cant return because its been six months. This is very frustrating.
Buy at your own Risk: No Support from Navigon
I purchased a Navigon 7200T. It is a nice piece of equipment, but beware! As of May 2009 Navigon has discontinued North American service. You are on your own. There is no live customer support. The phone number is a recording, and email is not particularly useful. I did not get a card with the code number needed to activate the Live Map feature. After trying several times to contact Navigon to get a card I received the following note:
Thank you for your inquiry.
Accessories, map material and content are not available in North America through NAVIGON.
Unfortunately we don’t have information concerning the availability of these products at other major retail shops.
Sincerely
p.p. Christian Josopait
————–
NAVIGON Support Team
Buy at your own risk. Do the features of an orphan GPS really matter?
nellie
love it , how did I ever get anywhere without it .Have compared it to other GPS in the family . Mine is the best.Easy to use and havent had any problems with it, It does what the ads say it will do . Even an old fogie like me can figure out how to use it.
Don’t buy this unit
I bought 2 of these units n May 2009. Both are broken. My husband’s broke first – I just assumed he manhandled his. I was using mine on a vacation in early July and it crashed before my very eyes. Will not reset. My opinion of this company is terrible. My husband finally got through via e-mail to their company and they said to mail it to them. Guess what – they didn’t give him an address. One frustration after another. Buy a Garmin or anything else.
Not worth the money–even if it was 50.00!!!
This is the first GPS I have ever owned, and the last Navigon!! Several times it led me to dead end roads… In St Louis, I wanted to go to the Arch, but it led me to a junk yard, it locked up SEVERAL times while I was using it and had to shut it down for about 5 minutes so I could use it again, I thought I would use it for my road trip vacation but when it locks up for a couple minutes and you have to shut it down for 5 minutes, it’s a huge inconvenience trying to backtrack. I could actually go on and on with all the errors that I had with it, but I can see that all the errors I had with mine have already been complained about by the other negative complaints. I thought maybe I got a lemon because of all the issues I had with mine, but reading all the negative reviews, I guess everyone got a lemon! Next time I’m getting a Garmin!!!!