Navigon 8100T Review

Navigon portable navigation devices are not as popular as their counterparts as their earlier devices had lack lustre performance. Navigon hopes to improves that with the Navigon 8100T and also bring to the table new feature called Panorama View 3D that has been the talking point of the device.

Navigon 8100T specifications :

• Dimensions : 3.32″ x 4.3″ x 0.85″
• Type : Portable
• Display : 4.8″ screen with 16:9 aspect ratio
• Card support : SD/MMC
• Preloaded maps : Yes, US and Canada
• Bluetooth : Integrated
• Other features : Turn-by-turn directions, 3D View, Reality View, Lane assistance, text-to-speech, real-time traffic updates
• Approx. price : $599

The device has rather large dimensions but it also has a large 4.8″ touchscreen display. The weight is also on the bulkier side at 9.4 ounces. The 4.8″ display is a welcome surprise as most GPS systems are limited to 4.3″ displays. The addition of half an inch makes a whole lot of difference though it may not seem much on paper. The display also has a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio that delivers crisp and bright maps. It also comes with the option to choose between day and night maps and changes automatically based on time of the day.

The device has a back key, mute button, and the external antenna jack on the left side. The volume controls along with the 3.5 mm headphone jack can be found on the right side. The SD card slot can be found on the top of the device besides the power button. USB port and reset button fill up the bottom part. One thing to note is that the car charger goes in to the miniUSB port of the car mount and not the USB port of the device.

The interface on the device is easy to use and its only a matter of minutes before you get used to the layout. Touch is the primary source of input though it does have some keys mentioned above. The large screen provides space for a wider keyboard making it easier to input text. Disappointingly, there isn’t an option for QWERTY layout. The interface however does get sluggish at times and registers touch input after a couple of seconds. This can get frustrating at times and you end up entering multiple letters or likewise.

Navigon has included quite a few accessories in the package that include a car charger, vehicle mount, a SD card that comes with maps preloaded and also a protective pouch to store the receiver in. Reference manuals are always handy when you need directions for operating it. Vehicle mount has a long arm and a suction cup to keep it in place and looks good too.

The GPS device is equipped with a SiRFStarIII chip and comes preloaded with full maps of US and Canada. The maps are equipped with 5 million POIs too. Planning a trip is easy with multiple ways present such as entering source and destination or selecting a POI or an address, recent destination, user-defined home  etc. Voice command system can be used to enter the addresses too but its capability is limited to this task. You need to read out a few sentences to the voice navigation system to make it get used to your voice.

Route can be chosen in three ways – premium, fast or short and these are self-explanatory. One can choose to avoid highways and toll roads too from the route. Another cool feature is the presence of pedestrian and bicycle modes that show the route for these types of traveling modes. Live traffic conditions are integrated in to the maps and these are free for life, almost every other provider charges for these on an yearly basis. If you encounter an obstruction, the map will alert you with a small pop-up on map which has an audible cue also attached to it.

Multiple destination trips can be planned in advance by choosing the destinations to stop at. Not only this, you can add destination on an already planned route on the fly, pretty neat. POIs come in handy when searching for nearby restaurants, hospitals, ATMs etc. The POIs are divided in to categories and within a specific category you can search for best buy, top service and likewise.

The Panorama 3D view mode is basically a 3D view mode that uses NASA terrain data to provide digital elevations to give you a close to real picture of what the surrounding landscape might look like. Street names are disabled in this mode which is the biggest drawback of the otherwise excellent feature. You still get the name of current street, distance, estimate time, speed limit and few other details.

Some of the other features include Lane Assistance Pro that guides the lane you should be driving in before turning. Then there is Reality View that can be really helpful as it gives the actual view of complicated intersections that can help you in finding the correct route to take. You get turn-by-turn list of directions, speed warnings and DirectHelp which contact number of police stations, hospitals etc.

The performance of the Navigon 8100T is good. It takes around 3 minutes to lock the satellite from cold start. Subsequent starts are almost instant lock and the device keeps up with the speed. Voice navigation works well and informs well within time. Signal does not get lost when moving in narrow lanes. Route recalculation was quick and efficient too. Text-to-speech was another feature that was worked pretty good.  Overall the performance is good barring the slow interface issued mentioned earlier.

Pros :

• Huge display
• Panorama 3D View
• Voice navigation
• Integrated bluetooth
• Good performance

Cons :

• Sluggish interface
• Expensive
• No street names in Panorama 3D view

Final Thoughts

The Navigon 8100T is a decent GPS system but it does not do justice to the expensive tag it supports. The huge display is great and the device has some good features such as Panaroma 3D view, voice navigation, integrated bluetooth coupled with good performance but sluggish interface and highly expensive price tag limits it. You do get free lifetime live traffic updates that justify high price tag to some extent.

Rating : 3/5