102 of 113 people found the following review helpful:
An excellent GPS, misses a few features
Got this GPS a few days ago. First impressions overall positive. I am upgrading from a TomTom PDA, so comparisons in my mind are inevitable.
The good:
o - nice packaging, minimalist, not a huge box filled with junk. Good job.
o - GPS InstantFix works like a charm. Satellite fix was established very quickly, a matter of seconds rather than minutes...
141 of 150 people found the following review helpful:
Wish I had the eyes I did 20 years ago
I have owned Garmins and Tomtoms. This gps looked very promising. It displays all the info Tomtom displays but Garmin doesn't plus it has a nice bright screen like Garmin, not TT. I was hoping for the best of both.
The good is that the 7200T routes well, no problems there. The lane assist works well although Garmin and Tomtom's implementation is a little...
This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
I have owned Garmins and Tomtoms. This gps looked very promising. It displays all the info Tomtom displays but Garmin doesn't plus it has a nice bright screen like Garmin, not TT. I was hoping for the best of both.
The good is that the 7200T routes well, no problems there. The lane assist works well although Garmin and Tomtom's implementation is a little better I think. Whereas Navigon displays the static reality few for a long time. Garmin and TT pop it up for a few seconds then go back to showing the lane assist diagram.
The Navigon is very wordy with its verbal instructions which is good. But with all the words, it doesn't speak 90% of the highway exit numbers. It rattles off the town and road, etc, etc but no exit number. What it does do though is display the exit number on the screen. This is ok if you have the eagle eyes. The fonts on the 7200T are tiny. It takes my old eyes 5 - 10 seconds to focus on the screen's small print after driving. It doesn't sound like alot but taking your eyes off the road for that long is dangerous. Don't know why they don't include exit number in the instructions.
The 7200T also displays street names. Unfortunately, every road that is not part of your route is displayed as a pencil line and each road is displayed with its street name in micro font size. Forget about being able to read them.
Another short coming is the 7200T's POI database. It is very small and is missing most national retailers, gyms, health clubs, doctors, dentists and who knows what else. Its POI search is also horribly broken. You have 3 choices. NEARBY - gives you POIs within a very small radius, too small. The next choice is CITY. Unfortunately, you have to know the exact city. Most other brands search NEAR CITY but not this. If the POI you are looking for is actually one town over, you will never find it. If you are in unfamiliar territory and don't know the adjoining citys to search individually, you are out of luck. The third choice is STATE. Most POI categories are not included in STATE so this choice is totally worthless.
On top of this all, the screen sensitivity is not great and the buttons are small. You will have to enter and address multiple times as you tapped the wrong letter or have to tap the same letter multiple times because it didn't pick it up.
So to summarize, it routes well but the screen fonts are so little its dangerous to look at while driving and the whole POI thing is terrible. Maybe a firmware fix will improve font size and change exit number verbal instructions. Maybe new maps will increase POI database size and add good search functionality. Until then, this is just another gps with lots of potential.
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This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
Got this GPS a few days ago. First impressions overall positive. I am upgrading from a TomTom PDA, so comparisons in my mind are inevitable.
The good:
o - nice packaging, minimalist, not a huge box filled with junk. Good job.
o - GPS InstantFix works like a charm. Satellite fix was established very quickly, a matter of seconds rather than minutes. No complaints there.
o - Response times to screen input are quick. Previous versions generated complaints of slow response; that's clearly been fixed. The only delays I noticed were when I updated settings.
o - Nice design, compact, frameless screen. Matte finish on screen and on the case, hides fingerprints well, unlike the previous version which was a fingerprint magnet.
o - Screen is large, bright, and has nice sensitivity to touch, both fingertips and fingernails.
o - Reality View of exists is certainly appreciated.
o - Free Traffic was a major selling feature. Keep in mind here, the traffic radio receiver is built in, but you still need an external antenna. The supplied Mini USB car charger cord doubles as an antenna, but I also found out that any old USB cable with a mini USB plug will work. Would have been nice to have an antenna built into the unit, but I don't know if that's possible.
o - Charges via a standard mini USB connector - a huge plus - can plug into a PC or a USB hub, or any mini USB cell phone charger. Very nice.
o - When you plug it into a PC, it becomes a Mass Storage Device, assigned a drive letter, you can just copy files to it if you want. No need for custom software
o - Text-to-speech is very good, accurate and easy to understand.
o - Speed limit display and alerts are good.
o - Speaker sound is plenty loud enough, easy to control from main screen.
o - Bluetooth speakerphone feature was easy to pair with my cell phone, and works flawlessly. It allows me to dial either from the phone and speak through the GPS unit or dial directly from the GPS when I look up Zagat reviews or any listed POI.
o - Automatic night/day display brightness switching worked great. It switched to night mode just as it started getting dark. I assume it calculates the sundown times based on exactly where you are.
Now the bad:
o - Box came with no user manual, just a URL of where to find it online. The website says there would be a CD in the box; there isn't. Either poor QC on packaging, or a poor design choice. Even the cheapo gadgets come with a tiny CD with a PDF manual.
o - first time I turned it on, I got an error message, then the thing crashed and needed a reboot.
o - Fist night it instructed me to go the wrong way up a one way street, even though the map showed it as a one way street. What's up with that?
o - The current position displayed (GPS coordinates) is useless most of the time, takes up a sizable chunk of screen, and there is no way to get the hell rid of it.
o - The altitude calculation is incorrect. Even with as many as seven satellite signals, it tells me I'm below the sea level. I'm not.
o - there's no way to switch orientation from horizontal to vertical. Sad. I might like to know more of what's ahead of me than what's on the sides.
o - Simulation of route goes at one speed only, no way to speed up or slow down. The TomTom allows you to play simulations at any speed from 10% to 5x speed, other ways too.
o - Map display is mediocre. Not anywhere as nice as Google maps on my phone. You guys could have done much better.
o - screen is really cluttered. No way to get rid of right side bar and bottom bar, which together take up almost half the scree space.
o - information display is limited; Either ETA or time to destination, not both; no current time.
o - browse route only shows text and 2d symbols of turns; not 3d map images, no map.
o - no ability to play either music or video. This is a Windows CE device; it has a micro SD card and a speaker and an audio out. All you would need is a program to play music; yet it is not supplied. At this price, I would expect that little bit of functionality. On long trips, it might be nice to be able to play podcasts or recorded books. Fortunately, there is likely to be a way to hack the device to do that. [...]. It refers to a Mio device, but the same principles apply here. I haven't done it, but it should be possible.
o - the MicroSD card is impossible to remove without using a tiny screwdriver.
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This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
I've had the 7200t for about two months and overall, I'm very pleased with this unit. I live in Atlanta and have tested it around Atlanta, as well as trips to Knoxville, TN and Augusta, GA.
Display - very good. The street names are white against a black background which is very easy to read. The other screen options are also clear and easy to see. When passing things such as chain restaurants, gas stations, banks, etc. the display will show the company's icon instead of the generic POI symbol. Mostly this is eye candy, but a neat little feature.
Reality View - very good. This only works on interstates and major highways, but so far, I've found it to be very helpful in guiding you to the right lane for your next turn.
Text to Speech - good. The older Navigon's (2100 Max) had an annoying habit of mispronouncing street names and giving highway numbers as opposed to actual names ("turn right on U.S. Hwy 23" instead of "turn right on Buford Hwy"). Navigon has corrected this with the 7200t and pronunciation is much better. On the down side, when you approach your destination, it will not announce which side of the street your destination is on until you are literally at the destination. This is offset by an icon on the screen which will show a finish flag with an arrow pointed right or left to tell you which side of the street your destination is on. Hopefully, a firmware update will correct this. Volume is very good. I've actually had to turn the volume down a notch on mine.
Satellite acquisition - average. From a cold start, the unit can take up to 2 or 3 minutes to acquire a fix (sometimes it's faster). When started from standby mode, this seems to be much faster. After it has acquired your position, it does a very good job of keeping your position, even when walking into a house.
Routing engine - very good. This is the heart of any GPS, and the 7200t does a good job in routing. Occasionally, it will pick a quirky route, but I've never used a GPS that didn't. The only time this seems to come into play is when there is a side street or a short-cut, but overall, the route selection is very good. Routing time is very fast and rerouting is also very fast. Other units I've used have an annoying habit of telling you repeatedly to make a U turn as soon as possible when you miss a turn instead of simply rerouting you to allow for this.
Touch screen - average to good. Many people have complained about the touchscreen not being sensitive, and this is true up to a point. I've used the unit a good bit over the past few months and I've found it to be very responsive for the most part. The only part of the screen that seems to be a problem is the lower right hand corner. When scrolling through a menu list, it's best to keep your finger on the arrow instead of tapping and lifting your finger repeatedly. The icons in the middle of the screen don't seem to have this problem.
Keyboard - average. My only complaint here is that the keyboard is ABC and not QWERTY. Other than that, entering destinations is easy. The keyboard will gray out letters as you enter to aid in choosing a route. As you type, it will bring up a list of possible streets to pick one to speed up the entry.
POI - very good. Although my use has been limited to GA and TN, the database seems to have a full listing of POI's in the area you're in. You can also search by city or nearby. A nice feature is the ZAGAT reviews which will give a quick review of certain POI's in your area (generally restaurants and entertainment). This isn't available in all cities, mostly mid to major size cities, but is helpful if you're out of town. You can program the unit to show an icon for 3 POI categories that you would use the most and have one touch access to those POI's instead of going through the full menu.
Traffic - very good. Around Atlanta, this seems to be very accurate. I've checked some of the traffic conditions and on occasion, it has listed traffic problems all the way out to the AL state line. It also picked up the fact that there was road construction on I-75 South between Knoxville and Chattanooga, which is certainly not near a major city. If there is a traffic problem along your route, the unit will announce this and display a red icon on the screen. Touch the icon and it will give a summary of the problem and give you the option of rerouting around the problem. Again, I've only used this in GA and TN, so I can't comment on how accurate or effective it would be in other areas.
Menus - good. You can save a home location, then from the main menu press a button called "Take Me Home" and the unit will calculate your route to that location. Entering addresses and searching for POI's is also fairly quick and easy. You can see a turn by turn list of your route and exclude certain parts. Some of the lesser used options can be a little hard to find, such as saving a favorite location other than your home. When you enter a new address, you have the option of entering a new address or picking from a list of previously entered addresses. You can delete old routes from that list, but you have to do a little digging to find the right menu. Overall, the main items you'll need are quick and easy to find. The items that are harder to find are generally ones you won't use too often.
Other - the mounting bracket seems secure and I haven't had any problems here. The car charger plugs into the unit instead of into the mounting bracket. I can't comment on the battery life as I always have it plugged into the cigarette lighter. I haven't used to the Bluetooth function, so can't comment there, either. There is no manual included, but a HUGE manual on Navigon's website. There is also no USB cable included, which is a little odd. I've never had to call technical support so can't comment on this, either.
Highs - good routing that is quick and very fast rerouting. Menus are easy to use. The traffic feature is free and is lifetime, so you won't have to renew a subscription. Good text to speech and good list of POI's in a wide variety of categories.
Lows - touch screen can be insensitive at times, mostly this appears to be limited to the bottom right of the screen. Apple seems to have cornered the market on super-sensitive touch screens for their iPhones and iPods. Won't announce which side of the street your destination is on until you've arrived. Hopefully, this can be corrected with a firmware update. Until then, you'll have to glance at the screen to see which way the arrow is pointed when you get near your destination. Keyboard is ABCD instead of QWERTY.
Overall, this is a VERY good unit for the money. The price has dropped to half what it was when it was released a few months ago. For $250, you're getting a full set of features for a substantially cheaper price than Garmin, Magellan or Tom Tom's comparable units. To me, none of the down sides of the unit are deal-breakers. In my experience, all GPS units have their quirks, regardless of manufacturer. Overall, I think anyone would be very happy with this unit.
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This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
I was a previous owner of a Garmin 750. I must confess the features that I really admired in the 750 were its ease of use and its multimedia capability. However, the lack of bluetooth capability (useful in states where answering your cell phone while driving is illegal) and the lack of free traffic updates (which required an optional reciever and subscription) were a turnoff and did cause some inconvenience. Then I discovered the sheer joy of the Navigon 7200T. It's the best GPS you've never heard of. The free lifetime traffic updates, optional freshmaps service-which provides 12 map updates over 3 years for less than what Garmin would charge for one update, the Zagat ratings, logically arranged POIs were just what I was looking for. The cons were the lack of Mp3 playing capability and the lack of an FM transmitter. However, I do carry my ipod around quite a bit and i already have an FM transmitter for my ipod. So, I could easily forgive Navigon for this minor infraction. I highly recommend this product over any similarly priced item from any competitor.
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This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
This GPS has so much potential. It is ridiculously feature-rich and has so many great options. I've had the chance to use it for a few days now on some fairly lengthy trips. And to my advantage it sat side-by-side with a Garmin 760 the entire time. My final consensus was to switch to a Garmin 765T which includes free traffic. But anyhow, here's my review of this unit.
PROS:
-Ridiculously fast recalculations. If you make a wrong turn, literally within 10 feet of making that wrong turn, it has already recognized it and re-routed you. It is just insane that way.
-Routing is pretty good compared to the Garmin. For the most part they were the same routes.
-Tons of features (avoidances, etc...)
-Lane assist was dead-on for me, and was very helpful.
CONS (or things you should know before you buy it):
-Almost packed it back up 5 minutes after opening it because I got the illegal operation screen like 6 times in a row after turning the unit on for the first time. I almost gave up, but on the 6th time it let me in finally.
-My biggest problem with this unit is that it does NOT turn on automatically when you start your car. I know it may sound petty, but I like my GPS on all the time because I check out street names, and keep an eye on the speed limits where they aren't posted. Having to turn on the unit EVERY time I get in the car is a nuisance (dealt with that for a year with a Mio C520; never again).
-Speech recognition kind of sucks. For the NJ Turnpike it kept saying "New Jersey TPKE" (try pronouncing TPKE as a word and that's what it sounds like). It does this numerous times with major roads, including the "Garden State P" (why can't it just say PARKWAY???). The Garmin does a much better job with this.
-As well it does not announce 95% of the exit numbers. It DOES show it on the screen but it is so stinking tiny it's almost impossible to see it (and I have fantastic vision).
-The screen is feature-rich, but almost a little too rich. It's hard to see everything. Fonts are small, icons are small, buttons are small, etc... Just annoying overall. I kept seeing tiny icons pop up but I couldn't tell what the heck they were (gas stations, etc...?).
-Traffic assist is a little more detailed than the Garmin. BUT one huge downside is that it does not tell you how major the delay is (other than color coding the icon). Garmin tells you how many minutes you will be backed up (ie 14 minutes); while the Navigon just tells you there is slow traffic, or stop and go traffic, or whatever. Makes it difficult to determine if you should route around it, or try and go through.
-Automatic traffic rerouting is a joke. We had the GPS set to automatically route around traffic, yet on numerous occasions it took us right into traffic jams that it already knew about. The Garmin kept trying to tell us to get off (which we should have listened to).
-Automatic daylight/nighttime display isn't working right. The time shows correctly but it was night for at least an hour before it switched over. If it is going to be wrong it needs to be wrong the other direction and switch to night display earlier rather than later. Having a blinding white light in your eyes for an hour while you're driving is NOT a good idea. The Garmin's switch was pretty much dead-on with sunset.
-HUGE inconvenience is that you cannot search by name in the POI database. This renders it almost useless, though I have to say Garmin's is pretty well useless also. Numerous times both GPS's wouldn't show major retailers we were looking for and were only a few miles away.
-Windshield mount is kind of obtrusive. Garmin really has the best mount out there as it is small and out of the way. This one is about twice as large which means it takes up twice as much of your windshield space and view of the road.
-Speaker isn't that great. On the top two volume settings it is crackly, like a cheap alarm clock radio. On the third highest setting it is just about the right volume when driving on the highway, so it works out anyway.
So in all, there are a lot of negatives, especially when comparing it to the Garmin units. If you've never owned a Garmin then you probably wouldn't rate it as negatively as I do. In fact I would probably have given it 4 or maybe 5 stars if I wasn't already spoiled by the Garmin GPS units. My advice? Spend the extra $100 and go with the Garmin 765T (or 755T). It's worth the price!
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This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
I love this GPS. I originally started out with a Garmin nuvi (not sure of the exact model. 760 maybe?) The Garmin was nice, I really liked it, but in order to hear it you had to turn it up to max volume which was always scratchy/static-y. So I did some research and found this GPS.
I was a little unsure at first, since it's not a common brand and some of the reviews were a little skeptical to me. I purchased it however, and I am so glad I did!
The demo mode is great, which is a mode that works when there are not enough satellites to completely calculate your route. (like if you're in your house) This mode starts you at a location close to your final destination and highlights the route, so it shows you part of how to get there. Very nice to me since I like planning.
The lane assist is also VERY helpful. It highlights all the possible lanes that you could be in so you are never doubting if you need to switch lanes, etc. I feel this would be a very nice improvement for Garmin.
The 3d views are also very nice and realistic. I especially like how this GPS highlights fast food restaurants, rest stops, car dealerships, etc. VERY helpful when driving and you need to make a quick stop.
The only con I've found with this GPS thus far is the fact that you can't search for something by its title. For example, you can't search for McDonald's. You'd have to search for a city and then find McDonald's from there. So if the city doesn't have a McDonald's but a city 5 minutes away has one, you may not find it.
However, I've found that you usually know what city you're in, so searching for restaurants, etc. is easy by searching nearby instead of a specific city. But still just being able to type in a certain restaurant would be nice and my Garmin was able to do that.
Overall, I love this GPS. I don't regret buying it at all. Major improvement over my Garmin. The Zagat rating feature is very handy, as is the traffic alerts. It also says "caution" when you drive 10mph over the speed limit (if you turn this feature on. my dad found this to be annoying, but i find it handy). I feel that Garmin has a lot to learn from this GPS! Great buy, especially for the price!
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This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
I've had the 7200T for a few days and, after getting used to it, I do think it holds promise. Or perhaps I should say it did hold promise - until earlier today when I learned that Navigon has decided to drop out of the Personal Navigation Device (GPS) business in the US. To confirm, checking their US web site reveals that the GPS Products are no longer listed. As far as I can tell, this applies to the Freshmaps activations as well although in a statement from the CEO, they say they will continue to support existing customers. You can read more, including the CEOs comments, here: http://www.gpsbusinessnews.com/NAVIGON-stops-PND-business-in-North-America_a1497.html. What a dissapointment !
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This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
Near perfect GPS unit. There are some kinks to work out, but thats what software update is for. My Motorola cell does not connect, but the brand isn't the most compatible.
Key Pros. The route planning improved over the 5100 I had.
Hardware upgrades gives more speed to the system.
The spoken address entry is very helpful.
Key Cons. The reset button doesn't make sense, its too small for car use.
I'd like physical buttons or wheel for the volume control.
The screen remains cluttered, but its text to voice, so not a huge problem.
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This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
First off, anybody considering buying this GPS, PLEASE do not listen to the many misinformed reviews here. You also don't have to listen to mine, but I will state the facts and not misinformed opinions. For the price and bang for the buck, I just can't see this GPS being beat. Just hear me out.
To start, YES, Navigon has exited the North American market. But they have blatantly said that they will still support owners of their current products and honor anybody who has or acquires FreshMaps (Navigon's map update service). Please don't let people tell you otherwise. The Q2 2009 maps were just released a few weeks ago.
With some digging, you can still find FreshMaps cards available to buy. And they WILL still activate on Navigon's website and they will honor it, whether it be a 2-year or 3-year card. I just purchased one the other day from TigerDirect for $39.99. They can be found with some deep digging.
Also, within 2 or 3 years, would you REALLY need the most updated maps? Do streets in your town change that often? Within 2 or 3 years you will probably want to upgrade your GPS anyways. And if not, I'm sure the most current maps will get you where you want to go 99.9% of the time for a couple more years to come. For reference, before I got this device I was using 3 year old maps on my Garmin StreetPilot C320. I never had any major problems getting to where I needed to go. I believe map updates, for the most part, are overrated unless you are constantly going places with new roads. If that's the case, then you and only you will know how many updates you need per year or years.
Moving on to the GPS itself, for around $200 new and $179 refurbished, this GPS cannot be beat! The feature set is incredible at this price and it all works as advertised regardless of what some people have said here. I've tried it all.
Routing is great. Satellite lock is great. Voice entry WORKS! You just need to train it in the environment and have the GPS in the location that it will be in daily. Once you do that, it works like a charm. Bluetooth WORKS! Let's face it, not EVERY bluetooth phone will be supported. That's just reality. Not even TomTom or Garmin can make that claim, so don't knock Navigon for it. All I can say is that I paired my Verizon HTC Touch (XV6900) with it flawlessly, it imported my contacts flawlessly (with names and numbers) and I have been making many calls with it flawlessly. No complaints.
Traffic works exactly as advertised. It has given me very accurate updates, and it offers to reroute you if you would like. Flawless. And please DO NOT listen to people who say since Navigon isn't in the USA anymore that the free traffic for life will die. IT WILL NOT! The traffic updates have nothing to do with Navigon providing it. It comes through TMC (Traffic Message Channel) which pulls traffic updates from your local FM radio stations. Unless all of your local FM radio stations go out of business at the same time, you will still receive the free lifetime traffic updates. Don't let misinformed people fool you.
This thing comes with a great mount and I have had no problems with it. It stays secure, and it's very easy to pop off the device if you want to take it with you or secure it somewhere else.
Reality View Pro and Lane Assist Pro are vital features and work as advertised. Reality View Pro has helped me so much already since owning this device. It gives you a beautiful and accurate graphic on the screen showing you of highway interchanges and which side of the highway you should be on to stay on your course. The Lane Assist Pro pops up a little lane graphic with arrows in the lane you should be in so you can be in good shape for your next turn. Both are vital features to me and just are the icing on the cake of this feature loaded device.
To put a cherry on top of all of this is the Landmark 3-D View and the Zagat ratings on restaurants and attractions in your POI database. Landmark 3-D View is a very cool, albeit cosmetic feature of this device. It will show "major" landmarks in 3-D. And the Zagat ratings of thousands of POI's is also a nice feature. That usually sells separately for other models. It will give you reviews and ratings for thousands of restaurants, attractions, etc from Zagat's database.
In conclusion, maybe this device was released buggy, etc. But I haven't seen a GPS from any other company that hasn't. With a software update and much use so far, this unit has been fantastic and every feature works as advertised for me. Beware of nitpickers and misinformed people. I am glad I wasn't swayed by negative reviews and that I gave this device a shot. Well worth the money and for this feature set, you will not find anything close. Thanks for reading and enjoy the 7200T if you have or get one!
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This review is from: Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts (Electronics)
I was so excited when I got this....then I used it. It has taken me at least 10 miles out of the way 3 seperate times. It has sent me down dead end streets, and it can't seem to find my home address. I have set to take me to work and it will bring me home a different way. It has twice taken me across a major highway to a "T" road and then angled me back to the major road that I just crossed. DEFINATELY NOT WORTH THE MONEY!!!
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