0ur opinion:

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Ultra-slim and with a stunning 4.3-inch touchscreen display, the NAVlG0N 2100 Max earns its name with a long list of advanced features. Exclusive Reality View provides extra 3D guidance when you need it most at complex interchanges, exits and entryways. Spoken driving directions and street names let you keep your eyes on the road. Lane Assistant alerts you to oncoming lane changes. DirectHelp helps you find emergency and roadside servicesand helps them find you. Navigon also let's you seamlessly purchase and activate a number of optional services as accessories that can save you time and money. FreshMaps gives you up to 12 regular, trusted map updates for three years. Lifetime Traffic gives you traffic flow and incident information and alternate route suggestion for the life of your unit. ZAGAT Ratings and Reviews Service gives you over 21,000 ZAGAT ratings and reviews covering more than 70 cities in the U.S. and Canada.

Manufacturer's Description--May 3, 2008:
Ultra-slim and with a stunning 4.3-inch touchscreen display, the Navigon 2100 Max earns its name with a long list of advanced features. Spoken driving direction in real street names via text-to-speech capability let you keep your eyes on the road. Exclusive Reality View provides extra 3D guidance when you need it most.  Lane Assistant alerts you to oncoming lane changes. DirectHelp helps you find emergency and roadside services—and helpsthem find you. Add FreshMaps as an accessory to get up to 12 regular, trusted map updates for three years. 0ther accessories include Lifetime TrafficSM,2 and ZAGAT® Ratings and Reviews.

Navigon has long been a major provider of navigation software to automotive manufacturers for in-dash gps navigation devices, but only last year did they introduce portable navigation devices under their own name (learn more about Navigon). What they offer up, however, demonstrates immediately that this is a company that knows navigation inside and out. Navigon focuses features that directly empower navigation and on sleek form factors.

Key Features

• Reality View: 3D images of highway interchanges with actual road sign text so you’ll never miss your exit again. (Learn more)
• Lane Assistant:. lcons alert you to the optimal lane to be in.(Learn more)
  
• Widescreen: See the big picture with a stunning, easy-to-read, 4.3-inch widescreen format.
  
• Spoken Directions with Text-to-Speech: keep your eyes on the road with spoken turn-by-turn directions and real street names. 
• Points 0f lnterest: Reach gas stations, hotels, restaurants, transportation hubs, and more with millions of points of interest that will help you find your way.
  
• Branded icons: places are so easy to find that everywhere will feel like home.
• DirectHelp: At-a-glance information helps you find emergency and roadside services—and helps them find you. Just push a button and get instant directions and phone numbers to the nearest hospitals, police stations, roadside assistance companies and pharmacies.

Easy Add-0ns

Navigon offers some unique services that are easy to add to your Navigator with a simple activation code.

• FreshMaps gives you up to 12 regular, trusted map updates for three years.
• Lifetime Traffic gives you traffic flow and incident information and alternate route suggestion for the life of your unit (included free on the 5100 and 7100 models).
  
• ZAGAT Ratings and Reviews Service gives you over 21,000 ZAGAT ratings and reviews covering more than 70 cities in the U.S. and Canada (included free on the 5100 and 7100 models).

Which Navigon is Right for You?

• Click here to see a chart comparing features on the entire family of Navigon portable GPS navigators

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Learn More

Superior Software and Hardware

The features and functions of the Navigon's portable GPS navigators are controlled via intuitive, easy-to-use animated menus that use predictive text input to quickly and easily select your city, state and address. Maps and menus appear on elegant, high-contrast, full-color touch-screen displays. Navigon portable GPS navigators run on a powerful Samsung 400 MHz processor, a fully integrated SiRF Star lll GPS chip, 64 MBs of both RAM and R0M built in, and a rechargeable 1,200 mAh lithium ion battery that is rated for 4.5 hours of continuous use. All this is housed in an ultra-thin, sleek housing.

Reality View

Reality View™ provides 3D images and actual road sign text when approaching complex interchanges — so you’ll never miss your exit again.

Lane Assist

No more wondering what lane you need to be in to stay on course. Your NAVlG0N will guide you with simple to follow lane guidance with arrows so you can make your turn and stay on track.

Zagat Ratings (Requires Purchase of Activation Code)

Now you can enjoy the world's most comprehensive restaurant and entertainment guide — right on your NAVlG0N GPS device. With ZAGAT's trusted Ratings and Reviews, you will know exactly where to stay and play during your travels and, with NAVlG0N's guidance you will know exactly how to get there. The guide includes over 21,000 entries covering a variety of categories, including restaurants, hotels, golf courses, nightclubs and attractions in over 70 cities in the U.S. and Canada. ZAGAT SURVEY Ratings and Reviews is a standard feature on both the 7100 and 5100 models. An additional accessory purchase is required to activate the service on the 2100 model.

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What's in the Box

• NAVlG0N 2100 max GPS Navigator
• SD card preloaded with software and maps of the continental US
• Rechargeable 1150 mAH lithium ion battery (rated for up to 4.5 hours)
• Car Charger
• Car Mount
• Quickstart Guide
• Limited Warranty

Note: All Navigon GPS Navigators run on the Microsoft Windows CD Net 5.0 operating system. A PC is required to use additional map data, and in such cases users require Windows 2000, ME, XP or higher, as well as a CD R0M drive and a USB port. An SD/MMC card reader is recommended as the 7100 not only uses SD cards, but also comes with a 2 GB SD card in the package.

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The Navigon Family of Portable Navigators

	Screen Size (diagonally)	Maps	Reality View	Real Street Names	Lane Assistant	Bluetooth	P0ls	Lifetime Traffic Data Service	Zagat Ratings	FreshMaps 3-Year Map Update Service
2100	3.5 inches	continental U.S.					1.3 million	Requires Activation	Requires Activation	Requires Activation
2120	3.5 inches	U.S and Canada					1.3 million	Requires Activation	Requires Activation	Requires Activation
2100 Max	4.3 inches	continental U.S.					1.3 million	Requires Activation	Requires Activation	Requires Activation
5100	3.5 inches	U.S and Canada					millions	lncluded	lncluded	Requires Activation
7100	4.3 inches	U.S and Canada					millions	lncluded	lncluded	Requires Activation

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About Navigon

NAVlG0N has been a leader of GPS navigation since 1991, and has a long history of industry innovations. NAVlG0N created the world's first dynamic personal GPS product in 1996, launched the industry's first navigation software for the Pocket PC in 2000, and unveiled the first Traffic Message Channel-based (TMC) avoidance feature on mobile navigation product in 2002.

NAVlG0N has helped revolutionize how consumers get from place to place with software products for practically any navigation-ready hardware. Personal navigation devices (PND), smartphones, and in-dash navigation systems directed by NAVlG0N's award-winning MobileNavigator (MN) software delivers reliable information on millions of destinations in an intuitive, easy to use format. NAVlG0N is a valued partner to the automotive industry, and in 2006 strengthened its category competency by acquiring NAVTEQ's navigation software business.

NAVlG0N is a privately-held software company based in Hamburg, Germany, with NAVlG0N USA headquarters in Chicago, lL.

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Testimonials

Average Buyer Rating:

Buyer's feedback: - * Decent GPS but Suction Cup base is USELESS ...
The GPS works good. I haven't had to use the traffic yet so I can't comment on that. The suction cup base is useless if you want to attach it to the disk onto your dash. (If you use the windshield, you'll be fine) I won't stick. Or more exactly it won't stay stuck. Within a minute or two it will work loose and just stand there. Until you touch it, then it falls over. Or better yet, you take a turn and it rolls off of the dash. I cursed and yelled at it and my wife and friend both tried it to. They couldn't get it to work either. Even had Navigon send me a new base. There tech service was great and they shipped it fast. BUT the new one didn't work either. I had to take my old Magellan base and jiffy rig it so it would only the unit. The thing now won't come off unless you want it to.

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Buyer's feedback: - Navigon 2100 max review
To keep it short and sweet, the 2100 max unit was returned. I bought it for my spouse who is not technically inclined. I feel that she was a good test subject for this review, which wasn't my intent as I only wanted her to have an easy to use personal navigation device (PND). The Navigon 2100 max has many great features for the price, but also too many issues and wasn't worth the frustration. Using it made me feel like I was beta testing a development product. Maybe a firmware update will fix the problems. I need a PND with a better user interface (UI), more Points of Interest (POI) and reliability. Each person is different, so I recommend that you always get a PND from a store with a good return policy.

Pros:
- 4.3" touch screen.
- Free life-time traffic updates, but must activate the service online
- Traffic information antenna built into the auto charging cable, so not external antenna required (also a downside).
- Spoken street names via text-to-speech.
- Lane Assist is a view that helps with choosing which lane to be in for the upcoming intersection.
- Reality View is a more realistic view of the upcoming road changes.
- Route planning can add multiple stops to your route.
- Predictive Text helps to speed up typing with text that guides you, but this had a downside.
- Optional Fresh Maps is a paid for service ($80.00US) that provides quarterly map updates for 3 years.

Cons:
- Documentation online, no CD in the box. Remember this when you're on the road and need help with the device.
- Crashed the first time it was turned on that required going online for the documentation to learn how to properly reset the device.
- The user interface is less than intuitive. You will need to learn the "navigon" way of UI navigation. This can be frustrating. Oh, and with no printed documentation to reference, well you get the idea.
- The UI icons, text and buttons are very small and therefore difficult to see.
- Points of Interest database is pathetic and no way to update.
- Traffic information is not incorporated into a route, you could still be routed through a closed road or exit, which happened to me.
- Traffic alerts kept appearing for problems not on the route.
- Traffic service didn't work outside of the metro areas.
- Route planning feature doesn't optimize the route path between route points.
- You must use Navigon's USB cable or you will get a "Sync" screen on the device. Better get a spare from Navigon.
- The battery life is dismal, my unit constantly displayed the low charge warning after only 30 minutes, and then would die shortly thereafter.
- Satellite acquisition indoors was miserable.
- Crappy speaker gets more distorted the louder it gets, and you need to turn it up because the volume is very low by default.
- Predictive Text would not let me enter a street number or name if it wasn't in the device database, which happened on several occasions. My spouse just gave up when the streets or addresses couldn't be entered.
- After a week the device started to frequently lock up, requiring a reset.

Overall I feel that Navigon is on the right track with it's feature list and pricing. I may have got a bad unit, but with the number of issues it wasn't worth the frustration. I will pay a little more for something that just works. When I have to fight with the technology, it's going back.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Navigon?? ...
We purchased the Navigon for our travels this winter and am very disappointed. It will get you to the town you are going to but if you follow the directions you will not arrive where you are intending to.
Would not recommed the purchase of this product, if I can find a way to return mine I will. Certainly not worth the $$.Navigon 7100 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

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Buyer's feedback: - Worst GPS! Not Recommended
Real quickly I just want to point out that the device is good as it completes what it says it is supposed to. The problems start immediately it is ridiculously slow at making a route. If you go off track via different road or highway recalculating time takes about 45 seconds compared to 3 to 5 on the Garmin. The system is very sluggish and updates at about 1 frame every 2 to 3 seconds which makes it very inaccurate. Everything seems to be so cluttered and text is very small so you can't see much even though its a 4.3 inch screen. I had a Garmin 3.5 and was able to see much more clearly. It has about 2 million POI which is very low considering Garmin and Tom Tom offer more than half of that. Reality View doesn't help much and no auto off feature means navigation must be turned on/off manually rather than automatically when you turn car on/off. Overall I think this device is a huge disappointment I give it 2 stars. 1 for value and 1 for working as it says it does.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Don't Buy it Now - The Upgrade is the Same Price! ...
The 2200T is out and it fixes a lot of the problems people had with this thing. Why would you pay $190 for this when you can get the 2200T for basically the same price?

The only reason to get this is if you really want a navigon with 4.3 in screen and don't wanna spend $400 on it, but in every other way the 2200T is better.