Portable GPS systems are very popular right now and the name of Navigon probably will never be confused with names like Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom. This does not by any stretch of the imagination means they cannot produce a quality product. Navigon has been a leader in the industry but recently have been making inroads in North America. They are entering one of the hottest markets right now and that is the portable GPS market. More and more companies are entering it because of the profit that can be made there. Today we will take a deep look at the Navigon 5100 and see how it stacks up.

Now I must say if we were handing out design and looks than the Navigon 5100 would win easily. It has a mirrored chrome finish that makes it look very appealing to almost anyone who sees it. You can tell they took great care to make sure it was not a designed just thrown together for the purpose of putting a product out. The 5100 is a very portable unit and compact which in a way is a nice clean design that should do well in the marketplace. This means transporting it from car to car should be no problem at all. It sports a 3.5-inch touch screen with LCD display, which at one time was very popular, but many companies are upgrading to the 4.3-inch screen. The touch screen works very well and the on screen buttons are good size so you can see what you’re doing. Screen is easy viewable at day or night with features built in. Even glares from the sun do not seem to affect this model very much. The screen passes the entire test to make it a very popular model. Let us check out some of the great features on the Navigon 5100.

Do not think this model does not have features because it has some very nice ones indeed. It comes with a 400 MHz processor from Samsung and 64 MB of Ram an 256 MB of Flash ROM so that should be no problem at all. With the easy to navigate touch screen and predictive text feature, it will finish words while you are typing which is a nice added touch I like. It shows all the information you need at a glance, which is something I really like about this model. It even shows street signs and exit signs which is also something I like about it. Other useful features include the text to speech functionality, which allows you to keep your eyes on the road more and gives you less chance for an accident. The points of interest database are also very vast with restaurants, nightclubs, gas stations, and hotels included. Now one option that many companies charge for is real-time traffic data. This is where you can get updated traffic movement so you can avoid trouble spots. Many charge for this but with the Navigon 5100, it is included. Speeding features alerts you if you go over the speed limit, which can save you a ticket. Most models all have the same features, but the 5100 put in some that you tend not to find on other models. This will set it apart from others in today’s market.

Looking at its performance in the field the startup time for it to get a fixed on the satellite, which is the only real drawback to this unit. It performs real well in every other test you put it through. The battery will last around 4.5 hours before a recharge, but besides that, this unit is almost flawless. It has an easy to use interface with loads of features that you will use often. The portable GPS market is very populated, but it had better make room for another player and that is the Navigon 5100 portable as its features and good price will give others some very stiff competition.

The Navigon 5100 portable is a new breed of GPS system that may just change the way the others look at the market. Many times companies really do not outfit portables with all the goodies, but Navigon has forced their hand with this model. This means in the end the real winner could be the consumer, as they will get much better handheld GPS systems in the future, which benefit everyone in the end. The Navigon 5100 is a portable GPS unit that you will want to take a second look at if you want a portable model.