Exploring the Navigon 7100 GPS

One of the older GPS devices, the Navigon 7100 GPS, continues to make waves because of its unique offerings.

Top manufacturers in the consumer GPS industry are still heavily competing as they continue to release more models to suit both entry-level and power users that want to drive long distances safely and conveniently. Garmin, TomTom, and Magellan are some of the big names in the industry, but there are some other models coming from other manufacturers that are released worldwide as well, like Navigon.

Design

The screen size measures the typical 4.3" diagonally, but in terms of size, the Navigon 7100 GPS is a bit larger than other devices. It could have been a bit smaller if the bezel wasn't very thick, but the design is still sleek nevertheless. One unique design feature is the placeholder which holds the stylus, but it is possible to operate the device using your fingers, too.

Navigation Features

Navigating to a known street address is fairly simple by choosing the "New Destination" option and then going through a slew of familiar options till you reach the part where you can enter a city or street name using the onscreen keyboard. Compared to other mainstream devices like the Garmin Nuvi, it actually takes fewer actions to go to a desired destination.

Navigating to a POI is straight-forward as well and isn't very difficult to learn. One of the unique features is the Zagat ratings which uses a special database that can help people go to recommended spots. The database is quite small, but it can be useful to travelers.

The overall navigational experience is well presented with sharp on-screen graphics topped with clear text and good use of color for road paths. It is accompanied with text-to-speech technology that says the street names out load. The built-in speaker carries this out nicely. The navigation display is a bit cluttered, but fortunately it is customizable allowing certain attributes to be hidden.

Another unique feature is the enhanced detour function which works like other popular GPS devices, but goes as far as the user being able to customize how far he or she can go away from the main route. It is also possible to calculate different routes using presets such as "Fastest", "Shortest", "Scenic", and "Optimum". These can be further customized by optionally excluding areas that don't want to be visited and the Navigon 7100 GPS will recalculate the next best possible route.

Extra Features

Although the stylus interface is one of the main weaknesses of the device, the voice recognition may help for some people. The logbook is also a worthy addition to record different kinds of trips. The data fully supports Excel spreadsheet formats so it can be imported in various finance applications. Finally, the best extra feature is the built-in traffic receiver that brings useful traffic information without the need for subscription.

Once you got used to the interface, the Navigon 7100 GPS should serve you well and some of the unique navigation features make it a much better entry-level device than other mainstream models.

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