Navigon 5100

Summary: As a GUI (Graphical User Interface) touch panel designer for A/V control systems a major concern of mine was a good looking panel with nice graphics. That may seem odd to some people, but I knew I would have to live with this device on a regular basis. I considered other GPS devices from Tom Tom, Magellan, Garmin and others. The worst graphic quality was on the Tom Tom units and Garmin units, but the Magellan units and Harmon Kardon units all seem to have pretty good GUI’s. They’re not nearly as good as the Navigon products by my judgment. This is partially due to the lower color bit-depth and display’s resolution capabilities of competing GPS’s LCD touch panel monitor screens. A secondary reason is just poor and outdated graphic design, particularly with the Garmin and Tom Tom units. The Navigon 5100's map route lines are free of jagged edges and it easily displays curved lines smoothly in contrast to its competitors. Its graphical elements also have semi-transprent features, nice smooth gradients and animation that make this unit the very best in the GPS industry.
Of course the looks don't stop with the display screen itself. The Navigon's industrial design can be compared to the quality of what we've all seen from Apple computers or a Jaguar XKR. Sexy, slim-sized styling and a cool futuristic looking mount are traits of this unit. One thing that some people might not realize is that the display’s mount actually has a recessed ball-type joint that allows you to angle the screen about 15-20 degrees in either direction and you can rotate the ball mount up to 360 degrees as you face it. I’m not talking about the twisting mounting action as that is a separate feature. Marketing materials and the company's website fail to show this in pictures or mention it in descriptions and at one point it was a concern of mine so in case anyone else has a similar concern the mount is quite useful and adjustable. Another useful feature of the mount, and GPS unit itself, is it's ability to be displayed either horizontally or vertically. An option within the units set up allows you to switch the display screen to vertical if desired with the horizontal orientation being the default. The twist on-mount can park in either verticle or horizontal positions. As a suggestion, it would be a good idea if the company offered a shorter length mount either as an available accessory, or ordering option to give customers additional mounting options. It might even be interesting if they offered a reverse or upside down oriented arm. It's kind of hard to explain what I mean by that with words, but it you look at pictures of the arm you might figure out what I mean. Another reviewer mentioned that this mount is flimsy, but I totally disagree as it is actually very sturdy. I've mounted it in many different locations on my car’s windshield and it held well in all cases and positions. There is a switch that you have to flip to secure the suction cup tightly on your windshield so maybe the person who complained about that didn't figure that out. A tip for future owners of the twist on mount: Always rotate it in a clockwise motion for both mounting and un-mounting. There is a little button on top you’ll have to press before removing the unit. I'd also like to see a hard carrying case for the unit included in the price or as an accessory option. Currently it does come with a tastefull suede type cloth bag. Also different face plate overlays like carbon fiber styles, solid color options like white, blue, red, yellow or green and different gloss woodgrain finishes would be a very cool add-on accessory item. Don't get me wrong, the titanium chrome faceplate is cool, but alot of people might want to give their unit more of an individual look or match it better integrate with their interior. Of course, this is just out-of the-box thinking.
As far as functionality goes, the Navigon 5100 also has a very handy feature called "Reality View" which automatically pops up a 3D image of freeway intersections that arrows and exit signs to help guide you to the right lane. As far as I know, this is a first in the portable GPS industry. Other cool features include the free traffic reports that can (if you choose) re-route you automatically around traffic problems. Data is received and compiled from multiple radio stations using the well established RDS (Radio Data System) service and compiled to provide real time traffic updates. Navigon marketing publications call this "TMC" (Traffic Message Channel). Some competitors offer similar TMC services for a monthly or yearly subscription fee, but with the Navigon GPS it is offered free for life with the 5100 and 7100 models. For the soon to arrive entry level priced Navigon 2100, the TMC will be offered as an add-on option at an additional expense. Some reviewers have complained about the TMC antenna that is included as far as how it looks and etc.. but it does seem quite petty if you ask me. The antenna is really very small and really you don't even need to use it. I get perfect traffic report reception and I never hook up the TMC antenna. Perhaps this maybe an issue for people living in areas where FM stations are rare or hilly regions where FM strait line propogation signals might be blocked. So far I don't see the need to use the included TMC antenna in my area.

For those of us with a "lead foot" the Navigon 5100 also displays graphics with speed limit signs in real-time and can warn you when you’re over the limit. This feature can be turned off, or customized according to your city and highway driving habits. For example, I set the speed limit warning to tell me when I'm 10 mph over the speed limit on city streets and 15 mph over on the highway routes. Don't tell the highway patrol!
As far as traditional GPS functionality, the unit seems to be just fine as far as speed and accuracy. Of course, I live in Las Vegas so this might be partially why I haven't experienced any problems so far. However, I live in a fairly new part of town and all of the streets, including side streets are displayed. As far as maps, I'm not sure just what all the hype is about that other people talk about different brands. Most GPS units in the US use the same service called NAVTEQ for all of their map data with the only exception I know of is Tom Tom GPS units which use the Tele Atlas system. For example, my brother owns a Magellan 4040 and it also gets all of its map data from Navteq as well and it's been wrong a few times when we've been in his car so I'm not sure how much credence I would put on other peoples claims as to one brand working so much better than another in this catagory. The Navigon 5100 uses the Sirf Star III chipset that takes data from up to 20 GPS satellites at a time and so far the unit has been very fast and accurate placing my position within 20 feet or less. This may not work as well in high rise city locations like NYC as some other reviewers have claimed, but it seems like a tall building might affect just about any other brand GPS the same way. So far, I’ve experienced no problems with the speed or processing performance of the unit that uses a Samsung 2440 400 MHz processor running on Microsoft Windows CE Net 5.O embedded operating system. There has been some confusion about the unit's SD memory capacity. At one point some owners expected the unit to have a 4GB card included with the unit because the units specifications listed it's maximum capacity as 4GB. This means the slot can accomodate up to a 4 GB SD card and does not mean that the unit ships with a 4GB card. It's kind of like your PC's computer specs when they say it can accept up to 4GB RAM but then the PC itself is only shipped with 1GB because that is the standard configuration. The Navigon 5100 comes with a 2GB card which so far seems to work without any performance problems or ill effects. SD card comes pre-loaded with the US/Canadian maps. It does not include the 4 GB card but one could easily upgrade on their own if they felt it was necessary.

Yet another useful feature is the selectable mode of the GPS as it can be set to Driving, Pedestrian or Bicycle modes. For example, if you’re walking down a sidewalk against the traffic on a one way street the device won't try to re-route you in pedestrian road. I'm not too sure how it works in bicycle mode or what the difference would be as I haven't tried that mode out yet.

There are a few cautions I would like to point out about this device before you decide to purchase it. For one, a home A/C adapter is normally not included in the box with the 5100, though it does come with the car charger. However, I purchased the unit from a well known TV shopping network's online store and they included the home A/C adapter with the unit and their price was also about $100 cheaper than other online stores. The reason I mention this is if you decide to purchase the A/C home adapter separately it will end up costing you nearly $100 because you will have to buy the adapter from the company's website which ships it's accessories from Germany. Most of the cost is for the overseas shipping. At the products price point it should have had the adaptor included in the retail package box as an included feature. I was a little lucky I guess that the company I bought it from included it in the price. A minor irritation is the POI categories list will display all of the POI types even if you have deselected them in the options menu so this makes it irritating to scroll down when searching within the POI’s “All categories” list. However, it's important to point out that the POI's deselected will not appear on the map if you have deselected POI catagory in the options list. A final criticism, and important one, would be the unit’s lack of volume output for the speakers. With the unit turned up all the way it still could use considerably more sound output capability. This problem needs to be corrected in future models as I have read similar concerns from other Navigon owners. Overall, I would highly recommend the Navigon 5100 or the 7100 for those who want the larger display and blue tooth capability. As for myself I wanted a smaller unit after playing with my brothers Magellan 4040 I decided a wide screen was a little too big for my personal taste. Compared to other choices Navigon seems to have a lot of unique features to offer. The low volume issue and lack of an included 120V A/C adapter (from most stores) results in rating this unit 9 out of 10.