Given that you can now pick up a decent GPS device for less than $150, it’s not easy to justify spending $599 on a premium navigator. So what makes the Navigon 8100T that much better? In addition to free real-time traffic updates for life, it features a gorgeous Panorama View 3D feature and the ability to enter destinations with your voice. However, the voice recognition doesn’t work very well, and the topographic maps—while very cool—aren’t as informative as they could be.
Design
Navigon broke with its glossy black designs to give the 8100T a brushed-metal bezel. It’s rich-looking, but we prefer the black. It comes with a large one-piece window mount that might not fit your glove compartment but allows you to pivot the screen in any direction.
When we initially plugged the power cord into the mini-USB port on the 8100T, it wouldn’t start up. Only after much head-scratching did we realize there’s a second mini-USB port on the mount that’s used for power. A Navigon rep told us there would be a sticker on the package of shipping models explaining the difference.
Interface and Input
The 8100T offers a spacious 4.8-inch screen and the same easy interface as other Navigon devices, with buttons for selecting a new destination, a saved destination, or your home address. The 8100T also offers voice input via a large button. Entering an address by hand was perfectly easy, but the voice entry was a challenge. Even in a quiet car, with no traffic or radio noise, it simply didn’t hear us correctly most of the time, even after the calibration test, so we had to repeat information many times.
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