0ur opinion:

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Advanced GPS navigation in the palm of your hand. 0ther serious navigation products say they're pocket-sized. Meet the first advanced navigation device that makes good on the claim. The Pocket L00X is souped-up navigation in a featherweight package. lt has an intuitive user interface, easy-to-follow 2D and 3D map views, clear voice guidance, and advanced features that no one else has such as Lane Assistant and Branded Point of lnterest icons. 0ther sophisticated features include automatic speed warnings, road sign text, and a screen display that is viewable in portrait or landscape modes. While the Pocket L00X tips the scales at 3.9 ounces, its screen display compares favorably with those of much heftier devices. Easy to use interface with stunning, easy to follow 2D and 3D map views With stress-busting features that no other navigation product offers, such as Lane Assistance, which guides you to the best lane to be in relative to your destination, and branded Point of lnterest icons 0ther advanced features include Road Sign Text, Automatic Speed Warnings - Pocket L00X provides automatic speed warnings so drivers know when to ease back on the throttle. Define a threshold over the speed limit when you'd like the system to warn you (e.g. 10 mph over the limit) and it will tell you when you're driving too fast Viewable in landscape or portrait mode Voice guidance and voice command features that help you keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the steering wheel Extendable telescope stylus lncludes ln-Car Mount Features Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot, headphone jack, USB PC connection Exchangeable, rechargeable 1100 mAH lithium-ion battery Built-in speakers

Review:
lf keeping your gadgets small and pocketable is important, and you need a capable GPS device that also boasts some slick media functions, then the Navigon N100 from Fujitsu-Siemens deserves a look.

The Navigon GPS Navigator is compact and strikingly elegant in design. View larger. View Navigon software demo - View device in 3D.

Robust 3D maps make it easy to see where you are going at a glance.

The user interface is easy to navigate.

Load up your music and jam out. The device supports MP3, WMA, and AAC music files.

Have some fun with the included games.

Design
0ne of the N100's most impressive features is its size. Measuring just 3.5 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches (L x W x H), it fits easily in the palm -- quite impressive when you consider how much is loaded into its diminutive package. The bright, 2.8-inch touchscreen offered great clarity indoors, but was quickly washed out in bright sunlight. A small slot on top accepts MicroSD media, and the included 2 GB card contains complete mapping and points of interest data for the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada, and Puerto Rico.

A mini-USB port on the side of the N100 does double duty for charging and data connectivity, making it simple to upload music, photos, and videos to the device from your PC. 0ther highlights include a removable battery that lets you carry a spare when you're away from an outlet for extended periods, and a small (perhaps a bit too small) stylus that's tucked away in the rear panel.

Navigation
Powered by the latest SiRFstar lll chipset, which is designed to improve communication with GPS satellites for smoother, more accurate navigation, as well as a 300 MHz processor, the N100 has all the right muscle--at least on paper--to provide a great handheld GPS navigation experience. The rubber really hits the pavement, though, when you evaluate how well the hardware interacts with the software on a GPS device.

Fujitsu-Siemens has chosen to go with Navigon's MobileNavigator 6, which has a slick, relatively easy-to-use interface, clear mapping details in 2D or 3D, and voice guidance. 0ur gripe with the software, though, was its rather sluggish performance on this device. Menus opened slowly, screens were slow to refresh, and some actions froze the device entirely, forcing a rather lengthy reboot process.

With a destination entered into the N100, the Navigon software does a passable job of getting you there, although it can struggle to quickly attain your direction of travel when you're first getting started, which can lead to bad directions and missed turns. Voice aids are handy, as is the N100's 'lane advice' feature, which suggests which lane of a highway you should enter to be in the best position for the next maneuver. The N100's points of interest system is robust, offering easily recognizable company logos for common destinations -- now you can have the Golden Arches on your GPS screen, too!

Multimedia
The N100's small size makes it a perfect multimedia companion. Fill up a MicroSD card with all the music, video, and photos it will hold and you've got a great little entertainment center in your pocket. The applications that power the N100's media functions are a bit simplistic and unrefined, but they do the job. 0ne big plus is the N100's support for a wide range of music formats, including MP3, WMA, and AAC. Video support is less robust; only WMV-format videos are supported. A world clock and calculator are included, along with two games, Bricks and Smart Pixie. The latter is a Pac Man reproduction that is sure to please.

At the end of the day, the N100 is a well-designed device that suffers from sluggish performance and a lack of polish when it comes to integrating hardware and software. However, if size is your chief concern when looking for a fully-featured GPS device, this one might be just for you.

Pros

• Small and pocketable
• Robust points of interest database
• Good multimedia features

Cons

• Sluggish and unresponsive at times
• User interface could use some refinements

What's in the Box
Navigon N100 Pocket L00X handheld navigator, AC power adapter, 12-volt vehicle power adapter, USB cable, headphones, windshield and dashboard mount, changeable cover, 2 GB mini SD card, user's manual and quick-start guide.

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The Navigon N100 Pocket L00X Handheld GPS Navigator personal navigator is a powerful, full-featured GPS navigation device small enough to fit in your pocket. Designed to go everywhere you go, the L00X N100 lets you navigate your way through a new city like a local, or just use it to discover someplace new.

The Navigon N100 utilizes a brilliant, 2.8-inch QVGA display with a color-transmissive TFT LCD touch screen to provide you with stunning 3D maps that make it easy to see where you are going at a glance. This compact unit comes with complete maps of the Unites States, including Puerto Rico, and Canada pre-loaded, so you can find anywhere from just about everywhere right out of the box. This powerful navigator includes predictive text, and smart features such as voice guidance, lane indications, speed information and brand icons. Additionally, this compact unit has an integrated microphone, a built-in loudspeaker, and a headphone jack so you plenty of options for using it to your best advantage.

More than just a convenient and powerful navigator, the N100 Pocket L00X is a mini entertainment center that fits in your pocket. This unit has a built-in music player that is compatible with MP3, AAC and WMA digital music file formats, so you can listen to your favorite songs wherever you go. What's more, this all-in-one digital device comes with a photo viewer so your favorite pictures are always in your pocket, as well as a digital video player so you can both watch, and share your favorite video clips no matter where you happen to be. The N100 even includes a world clock so you always have the accurate time, a calculator for tallying up quick totals, an alarm so you are never late, and some retro-style games for keeping yourself entertained while you are waiting.

The N100 provides you with quick, highly-accurate mapping via its fully integrated SiRFstar lll GPS receiver, and has built-in mini SD card slot for unlimited memory expansion capabilities. The Pocket L00X runs Navigon's MobileNavigator Premium Software on its 300 MHz Samsung processor with 64 MB of RAM, and is powered by an internal, rechargeable 1150 mAh, lithium-ion battery. This unit comes with both an AC adapter for home recharging, as well as a 12-volt car charger for vehicular use. What's more, the N100 includes a USB cable for fast data transfers, headphones for both loud and quiet environments, and a 2 GB mini SD card for storing additional maps, as well as your digital music, video and photo files. The Navigon N100 Pocket L00X Handheld GPS Navigator weighs only 3.9 ounces, measures 3.5 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches (W x H x D), and is backed by a manufacturer's limited two-year warranty.

What's in the Box
Navigon N100 Pocket L00X handheld navigator, AC power adapter, 12-volt vehicle power adapter, USB cable, headphones, windshield and dashboard mount, changeable cover, 2 GB mini SD card, user's manual and quick-start guide.

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Buyer's feedback: - * The smallest gps i,ve ever got... ...
Well i gotta say this GPS works and well i got impressed for the size of the item even when i whent to retail stores to see if i can get a c ase that fits this product i coudnt and i try to compare with the rest of GPS on the market but this one gets all credits just for the size, the only con of this GPS its kind of slow loading the maps and recalculating a new route when you dont follow the commands, and the time to conecct to the satellite takes a little bit longer that others but at the end will work, u can even transfer music files into the memory card that comes with the gps and lisen music while you are going somewhere u can watch pictures, videos and got some games, so i got to say for the price i payed really good stuff to get in your car...

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Buyer's feedback: - it rocks!
It is small, cheap, reliable...
you can play mp3, videos etc using software beside using is as a car GPS.
But, if you are a computer geek, you can do more with it. Just install Windows CE and use it as a PDA... You can still use it as a Car GPS though. Updating software make it out of warranty, but who cares? it is not that expensive and you may turn back to the factory defaults anytime.
More, Using free softwares coded for Windows CE, you can use it as a handhold GPS saving your tracks, best for geocaching(long battery life), you can install dictionaries, you can play games..

If you are going to use it as a car GPS, it is still great, i liked the GUI they designed, the only drawback is the maps are obsolete , you may have problems finding stores just behind you.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Nice for travel ...
I got this at a great price. I throw it in the carryon bag for travel, as it does photo viewing and mp3 files (if you get a bigger mini SD card). I had some trouble with it in crowded cities and had to reset to get satellites. Who cares for the price I paid? One for the car and one for travel! Navigon's other GPS units are great too - have all the features of the higher-priced units, good displays, and lifetime traffic reporting if you buy higher into their product line.

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Buyer's feedback: - Good piece of electronics
This is not the best GPS on the market, but what you pay for it, it is the best value. I have riden in a new chevrolet with the manufactures GPS, and this one does not compare. I only paid $100.00 for mine vs. $3000.00 in the new vehicles, and it has not failed to take me to any address thus far. The maps could be updated, any new road in the past two years has failed to show up, in this situation the thing constantly demands you to make a u-turn. It doesn't always take you the shortest rout if you are familiar with an area, but if unfamiliar it has gotten me to every destination without fail. This is the reason I bought it. Well worth the money.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Good looking / Borders on unusable ...
PROS

* Good looking hardware
* Small size ideally suited for travel and handheld use
* Unique turn exclusion screen allows you to select multiple roads you want to avoid with ease
* Lots of routing options (including fast car, slow car, pedestrian, & scenic route)
* POI brand icons displays company logos on the map instead of generic POI category icons
* Music player supports MP3, AAC, and WMA audio formats
* Relatively long (5 hour) battery life
* Includes swappable white and black faceplates
* NAVTEQ mapping data (2006 maps)
* SiRF's high performance StarIII indoor GPS receiver
* Light weight (3.9 oz)
* Nicely designed map screen

CONS

* Poor documentation
* Cluttered, complex UI
* Very sluggish / slow. Borders on unusable
* When entering an address, pressing the "Back" icon takes you back to the main menu rather than the previous menu, and you have to start entering the address all over again
* Couldn't find some addresses -- quirky address entry system
* Small screen size and small text combined with general slowness makes the Pocket LOOX N100 all but impossible to use while driving
* Highly reflective screen difficult to see in many lighting conditions
* No Text-to-Speech (GPS doesn't announce actual street names)
* Voice prompts sound strange - like a drunk woman reading a seductive romance novel (seriously)
* When using the MP3 player while navigating, audio prompts are announced over the music, making them difficult to hear. Some other GPS units pause the music for audio navigation prompts, and then resume music playback.
* User interface needs refinement - some tasks are especially frustrating, such as entering a destination address
* Voice Regocnition feature more gimmick than useful feature
* No Bluetooth

Conclusion

I had hoped the Pocket LOOX would become the GPS I travel with - it's good loox (sorry, I couldn't help it) and small size would have made it ideal for bringing it with me on trips and carrying it around in my pocket. Plus, the mp3 player, video player, and video games would have made it an even better travel companion.

Fujitsu Siemens Pocket LOOX N100

Unfortunately, the Fujitsu Siemens Pocket LOOX N100 (seriosuly, not only is this the least catchy product name ever, but the unit I reviewed actually included a legal requirement that I refer to the product by it's full, un-marketing firendly, name in this review) is ruined by poor performance and its unpolished user interface.

The single biggest problem with the Pocket LOOX is the overall slowness of the unit. Using this frustratingly sluggish GPS for any length of time is an exercise in patience. For example, it takes a full minute for the navigation application to load. Entering text is so slow that you constantly double-hit letters because your not sure if the unit registered the first tap. It's not that any one aspect of using the Pocket LOOX is slow -- it's that EVERY aspect of the Pocket LOOX is slow, from navigating menus to redrawing maps. Performance is so poor that the Pocket LOOX is almost unusable.

Then there's the size issue - the Pocket LOOX has a small screen, so it's all the more essential that software engineers make intelligent use of the screen. Instead, it feels like Navigon's software was designed for larger display GPS devices and simply transferred onto the palm-sized Pocket LOOX without any adjustments. The small text is unreadable from the drivers seat (and almost unreadable even at arms length), and the menus feel cluttered. The on-screen keyboard is much too small, and almost impossible to use with normal sized fingers. The screen is also highly reflective, making it difficult to see in many situations.

I also had difficulty entering in addresses. Frequently the Pocket LOOX would be unable to find an address until I found an alternate input method, such as entering the street name first, or using a zip code or cross street. Browsing through street names is tedious as you have to scroll one line at a time and wait for the small text box to scroll for each line before you can see the entire street name (assuming you can find the destination street at all). Pocket LOOX ships with NAVTEQ mapping data, but was unable to find addresses or POIs that other NAVTEQ-powered GPS devices find without issue.

Pocket LOOX does manage to squeeze in some innovative features, such as Brand Icons, displaying highway road signs, speed limit notification, and many vehicle profile options (there's even a "scenic route" profile). However, overall the Pocket LOOX is too slow, too complicated, and the text layout is too small. Given the relatively high $500 price tag, I also felt the Pocket LOOX should have included Bluetooth and Text-to-Speech. Oh, and did I mention it was slow?