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(More customer reviews)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...
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Navigon 2100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS NavigatorThe NAVIGON 2100 is slim, stylish, easy to use, and has features no other GPS navigator has. A brilliant touchscreen display, simple to maneuver menus and accurate coast-to-coast map coverage get you from point A to point B with confidence. Navigating the road ahead is even easier with spoken turn-by-turn directions including street names. Features like Reality View¿ ensure that you'll never miss your exit again by providing realistic 3D map view of complex intersections. With over one million points-of-interest pre-loaded, restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and more are easy to locate. Accessorize with NAVIGON Lifetime Traffic and ZAGAT Ratings and Review accessories. Includes pre-loaded continental U.S. maps.
Click here for more information about Navigon 2100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
