Navigon 8100T 4.8-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Free Traffic Alerts

Other products by Navigon

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.9 x 3.3 inches ; 15 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001HN6CF6
• Item model number: 10000350
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 10, 2008

Product Description

Amazon.com

Manufacturer's Description (October 14, 2008) Stylishly crafted with a brushed-metal exterior, the Navigon 8100T sports an extra-large 4.8-inch wide touchscreen that serves as the perfect frame for a feature-rich navigation experience. Pre-loaded with maps of both the U.S. and Canada, the 8100T comes with free real-time traffic updates (for the life of the device) and allows users to reroute with the touch of a button. Other features include Bluetooth hands-free communication when paired with your cell phone, text-to-speech capabilities for turn-by-turn directions with street names, ZAGAT restaurant ratings and reviews, and millions of pre-loaded points of interest.

The Navigon 8100T features a widescreen 4.8-inch LCD, real-time traffic updates for life, Bluetooth communication capabilities, and voice destination entry (Reality View Pro screen shown above, Panorama screen shown below).

The features and functions of the Navigon 8100T are controlled via intuitive, easy-to-use animated menus that use predictive text input to quickly and easily select your city, state and address. It comes pre-loaded with complete maps of the U.S. and Canada (including Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands), providing you with superbly accurate, seamless door-to-door directions wherever your vehicular travels might take you. It's powered by a 533 MHz Samsung 2443 processor and runs the Microsoft Windows CE Net 5.0 operating system. You can load additional optional maps via Secure Digital (SD) memory cards or by connecting to your PC with the USB 2.0 port.

Free Real-Time Traffic Updates for Life
Navigon gives you free real-time traffic updates for the life of your device--no subscriptions or additional hardware needed. Just open the box, turn it on, and get instant access to traffic information ahead. The Navigon 8100T alerts you of traffic troubles and provides alternate routes for more than 80 cities across the U.S. and Canada. Whether the jam is caused by congestion, accidents or construction, the red-yellow color-coding with incident icons makes it easy to tell exactly what's going on, where it is and with one click, the best way to get around it.

Voice Destination Entry
With the Navigon 8100T, you can focus on the road ahead without having to manually type in an address again. Simply speak the city, street and number and the 8100T will input each one field by field. In case you need additional guidance, Navigon's simple to use iconic menus will lead the way.

Panorama View 3D
Navigon brings a new dimension to the navigation experience with Panorama View 3D. With this feature, the road ahead is displayed with surrounding landscapes and rolling digital elevations. Get your bearings with detailed geographic guidance so you know what lies ahead on your route. Enjoy a new dimension in navigation.

Reality View Pro
Never miss your exit again. The next generation of Reality View provides more coverage in more places. Reality View Pro displays photo-realistic 3D views with actual road signs and lane guidance for virtually every highway interchange and exit you will encounter.

Lane Assistant Pro
With the newest generation of Lane Assistant you'll never question which lane you should be driving in again. Lane Assistant Pro provides clear visual lane guidance complete with lane maps and arrows that indicate exactly which lane will keep you on course.

Bluetooth Hands-Free with Contacts
The 8100T features Bluetooth technology that turns your device into a hands-free speakerphone, so you can hold on to your conversations while keeping both hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. Plus, the touch screen allows you to access your phone contacts and with one simple touch place a call. As an added feature, you can import your Microsoft Outlook contacts to your 8100T with Navigon Sync.

Advanced Text-to-Speech Voice Guidance
Keep your eyes on the road and let Navigon's advanced text-to-speech technology audibly guide you turn by turn with actual street names. Providing you more than simple turn-by-turn directions, the 8100T gives you additional guidance with full street names. Advanced phonetic technology ensures street names are pronounced clearly and correctly.

Exit Guide
With Navigon's Exit Guide, you won't have to guess what points of interest are in the next exit or the next ten exits. This feature lets you scroll through each upcoming exit by number and search for the right restaurant, gas station, hotel, rest area, auto repair shop or store.

ZAGAT Ratings and Reviews
In addition to millions of POIs, the Navigon 8100T puts ZAGAT ratings and reviews for over 27,000 locations in 110 cities across the U.S. and Canada, at your fingertips. So whether you're looking for the best restaurant, hotel, golf course, nightclub, or attraction--you'll always know the perfect place to wine, dine, stay and play.

Fast and Friendly Software
Powered by Navigon's next generation software, the 8100T is fast and easy to use. You'll be able to enter your destination and generate a route in less than half the time. The Smart Speller feature anticipates and predicts the street you're searching for, requiring fewer screen "clicks" than any other portable GPS device to get you on your way. Smarter and more intuitive POI searches via our widescreen tabbed interface make looking for a special destination easy.

Other Useful Features

• Multi-Destination Trip Planning. Plan your entire trip at one time
• Millions of pre-loaded points of interest (POIs), including restaurants, gas stations, retailers, and more
• Speed Assistant. Displays speed limit and can warn you if you are exceeding it
• Auto-off Feature. Turns off your system when you turn off your car
• Auto Day/Night Mode. Adjusts your screen for better daytime or nighttime viewing
• Navigon FreshMaps. Optional subscription to keep your map up-to-date for three years

Specifications

• 533 MHz Samsung 2443 processor
• 4.8-inch touchscreen with 16:9 aspect ratio
• Fully integrated SiRF StarIII GPS chip
• SD card with preloaded software and maps
• 512 MB ROM/128 MB RAM
• Integrated traffic receiver and antenna
• Non-removable 1500 mAh lithium ion battery
• Dual microphone input for noise cancellation
• Measures 5.3 x 3.3 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs 9.4 oz
• Powered by Microsoft Windows CE 5.0

What's in the Box
Navigon 8100T, SD memory card (preloaded with software and maps), car mount, adapter for dashboard mounting, car charger, quick start guide

Product Description

The NAVIGON 8100T sports an extra-large 4.8-Inch widescreen that serves as the perfect frame for a feature-rich navigation experience. NAVIGON is the first to bring you Panorama View 3D¿giving you a true 3D experience. Only NAVIGON offers Free Real-Time Traffic Updates for the life of the product. Plus, features like Voice Destination Entry, Bluetooth Hands-Free Calling and Reality View Pro make navigating the road easier and less stressful.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little GPS with big features, December 11, 2008

By	A. Morales (West Covina, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've had a chance to play with the Navigon 8100T and it seems to be a solid performer. Graphically speaking, it features a graphics accelerator that allows for almost smooth scrolling in 3D mode and even more smooth scrolling in 2D mode. The visuals are very good, especially the 3D Panorama view where you can see surrounding mountains or hills in perspective with 3D shading. In 2D mode, the display is crystal clear with a lot of detail. One of the few gripes that I have is that the fonts chosen aren't the best and sometimes hard to read. Another is that the POIs aren't always easy to find if you do not know the exact city their located in. Fortunately, there is a feature called Direct Address which allows you to set up three POI categories for direct lookup without need of knowing the city. Upon choosing one of those direct address POIs, it will return all of that category that it has in its database for the surrounding area. The 8100T features millions more POIs than its 7200T relative (one of the glaring weaknesses of the 7200T), so consequently, there are POIS all over the place on your display if you are zoomed in at maximum. There are 32 categories of POIs each with its own icon, and fortunately you can choose which of these categories you want to appear on your display so that you are not inundated with them. The unit features an autozoom which zooms out the faster you travel and vice versa.

The traffic features from TMC are very good. When the unit picks up on a traffic delay, they unit notifies you with an on screen icon with distance from the delay, plus a voice announcement. You also have a choice whether you want to be rerouted around the delay area. I'm not sure if this was a bug or something, but I was traveling on a surface street and the unit told me that there was a traffic delay ahead and wanted to reroute me away from it... I didn't think that they tracked surface street delays.

The unit features quick recalculations and a choice of fastest time, optimum time & distance, and shortest distance routes. The routing seemed all right with no weird directions. It pretty much tries to route you in a straight line if it can depending on your routing choices.

Bluetooth pairing was a little flaky when I tried going to it from my Palm Treo 700p. Apparently it has to be done a certain way otherwise it will not pair. I had to open my phone to discovery, then when the Navigon saw the phone, it asks you to input any 4 digit code. You then have to input the exact same code into the phone otherwise it will fail.

All in all, this is a very promising device. If Navigon takes the suggestions given to it to heart, many of the weaknesses could be fixed. Personally I would like Navigon to add the 3D Landscape view that the 7200T has. The graphics system would easily be able to handle it. I don't know why Navigon chose to not include that in the 8100T (they probably thought the 3D Panorama view was enough).

An interesting sidenote of sorts.... Since this device runs Windows CE, some enterprising individuals added Windows CE Explorer to it and then was able to load other GPS software like iGo, TomTom, and Mio to it and be able to select which one they wanted to run. See this link here at YouTube: [...]

After playing with the 8100T, I would recommend it.

EDIT (5/31/09): Navigon has decided to no longer manufacture their PNDs in North America. This leaves support at a minimum and map updates will most likely end in 2-3 years leaving us with an orphan device. Navigon is no longer selling their FreshMaps product so North American map updates will be ending in a couple of years. Navigon will continue selling and supporting their European devices as normal. A shame really....it had a lot of promise...

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Features, Best Value!, January 22, 2009

By	M. J. Holland - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After much research (and after upgrading from the 7200T because the sale price made it hard to pass up!) I am thoroughly pleased with the 8100T. As mentioned, I did EXTENSIVE research, and was originally going to purchase the Garmin 765, which is also a great unit. By feature list, here's why I opted for the 8100T:

Largest screen available: I had an in-dash unit in my previous car, and I wanted something large and easy to see. 4.8" really does give you more viewing real estate!

Feature set: with voice address entry (which, once trained in the environment it will be used has worked flawlessly!), Exit guide (see what's ahead and get there with a screen touch) and the 3D Terrain View, not offered by any competitor, the choice for me was obvious!

Lifetime Real Traffic: I need traffic that works, not some dumbed-down ad-based version. This has worked like a champ and the option to auto-reroute or manually ask to recalc/ignore is a great feature!

Inexpensive Map Updates: at $79 retail (even less on Amazon!) you get 3 years, 3 YEARS of map updates (up to 1 per quarter!) including POI's! That's a fraction of the next competitor! And yes, there is already a 1st quarter 2009 update available (as of 2/15/09).

Mounting Option: This unit is powered through the window mount, so all you have to do to install or remove is "click". No fumbling with the cord, since it attaches to the mount. This allowed me to "hide" the cord through the dash for a really clean look! Plus, the mount has an arm that's almost a foot long! this brings the unit much closer to you for better viewing.

Customer Service: I had lots of questions (yes, I kinda geeked out a bit - what can I say). So I called the folks at Navigon, and the folks at Garmin. The Navigon folks were courteous, knowledgeable, and genuinely concerned that I have a great buying experience. Can't say the same for brand X.

Functionality summary:

I was quite surprised by some of the nay-sayer reviews and I have found little weight, if even truth to some of the negative comments.

The voice recognition works great (it has dual mics and noise cancellation!).

Street name pronunciation, though kind of humorous at times, is very accurate (she even pronounces `Pumpernickel" correctly!).

The touch screen is quite sensitive. No lag.

Despite no QWERTY keyboard, the predictive text works so well, most of the time it displays my choice with only 2 or 3 letters keyed.

Yes, yes, while in Terrain Mode, the map does not show street names, however:
It does speak and show the street names while navigating, even in Terrain Mode!
...and, if you want to see the street names in 3D mode, just touch the Options/Settings key and turn off "Terrain Mode" and you will see the map just like every other 3D GPS out there (only with the 8100T, you'll see it larger, and smoother due to the 4.8" and an onboard graphics accelerator!)

Oh, and can you believe, you actually have to touch the screen TWICE to get it to display the map ("Options" then "Show Map") unlike all the other guys who have a "one-touch" button on the home screen. The shame of it all! But wait! On the Home screen you have 4 options, instead of only 2 with the other guys! (Nobody mentions that!) I know I'm being a bit sarcastic, but I find it hilarious that people would make such a big issue out of on extra click. (The Home Screen includes a "Take Me Home" button. Very handy! In short, yo have "Favorites", "Take Me Home", "Voice Destination" and "New Destination".)

It's more complicated to use: and that's because you have access to options and settings that are not offered on other units. It's completely customizable. I like that...A LOT.

The screen looks realistic: not "cartooney" like the other guys.

Traffic is spot on! Updates come through regularly and are quite accurate, even down to routine construction. Very impressive...and it's free!!

One point to note (as compared to the NUVI 765T that I almost bought), while navigating, the 8100T shows the street you are on at the bottom center, and the street you will turn on next, immediately above it. As I understand it, a common complaint with the NUVI line us that they don't show the road you are on while in Navigation mode - only the next turn.

Finally, it doesn't play MP3's or videos. So, is this supposed to be a GPS or a personal entertainment device? (as you can see, I don't give a hoot about playing MP3's or videos on my GPS. That's why I have an IPOD.)One thing to note, it will not play through your car stereo, but the speaker is loud enough to where it doesn't have to.

Finally, there are volume up and down, as well as a mute button on the outside of the unit as well as on the touch screen. Very handy!

As you can see, I think this is a great unit. I've been using it for over a month and I'm thoroughly pleased with it. And at the price it's now being offered, I believe that the 8100T is not only the most useful-feature-packed unit out there, but by far the best value.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The BEST I've EVER had!, December 31, 2008

By	M. Laytos (NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a person who does a lot of driving for my job a GPS was a must. I've been through many GPS's from Tom Tom (One, 720, 920), Garmin (360, 760, 765T), and one or two other brands.

I decided to upgrade my Garmin 760 and my first choice was the 765T. Man, what a let down! It seemed slower at everything my 760 had done and was not worth the upgrade. When I purchased the 765T they had all the Navigon devices there. I wasn't going to pay $[...] for a GPS (plus the states cut) so I looked at the Navigon 7200T. It was on sale for $[...] and also had a $[...] rebate for a total cost of $[...]. I had seen the device on the net and was familiar with Navigon from what I read but never owned one of their products. So now my dilemma became buy the $[...] garmin 765T or the $249 Navigon 7200T..........

Well I think I did what a lot of people do. I looked at the price of the Navigon and said to myself "There is no way this device can be good as the Garmin". MAN WAS I WRONG! Like I said, the Garmin 765T was brutal. Maybe I had a bad device but I actually got lost and drove an extra 15 mile route to get back home from NYC using it. I returned it and at this point I figured I had nothing to lose and got the 7200T. I WAS AMAZED....
The half the price of the Garmin unit worked awesome. The maps are the best I've ever seen. Smooth and quick. YEAH I KNOW, I KNOW... Is this a review of the 7200T or the 8100T?

After having the Navigon 7200T a few days the company decided to offer 25% off all products on their website. So back goes the 7200T and the order is placed for the 8100T. First thing I can tell you is that it was a nice releif to have a mount that takes the power directly as opposed to needing to plug the adaptor directly to the unit. (NOTE: THIS WAS THE ONLY THING I DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THE 7200T). The 8100T mount is large but lets the unit get closer to you, no more reaching to operate your GPS. It's actually a pretty decent looking mount that goes great with the look of the 8200T. Actual operation of the 8100T was no different than the 7200T. Entering a destination via Voice worked as advertised. (Only time I had an issue was when I gave an incorrect street name, Main St. instead of Main Ave.)

The maps on Navigon IMHO are the best. They scroll seamlessly unlike my Garmins which were very "jumpy". The 765T's screen actually went blank a few times when refreshing. The Panorama 3D view is excellent. No it does not show the street names like the 2D/3D view but you need to see it in action. The device displays just about any info you could possible want and then some. *** Hey Garmin, how about displaying what street I'm currently on?!? *** Routing has been fine in the weeks I've used it with nothing to complain about. The unit itself is built like a tank.

Lane Assistant Pro for lane guidance and Reality View Pro works. Unlike many complaints I've read about Tom Tom & Garmins attempt at this pales by comparision. In the short time I owned the Garmin 765T I only saw there version come onscreen on one exit of the NJTP. The 8100T has shown every major (and some minor ones) exit to date.

Is (was) this GPS system worth the $599.99 when it first came out?
Is it worth the $449 you can now get it for?

That's up to you to decide for me I would say yes. AND I will say it again, this is the BEST GPS I'VE EVER USED!

Good luck & Happy New Year