Navigon 8100T info needed.

[UHF]

Hello. I'm currently playing with a Garmin 775T. Well, don't care for it and its going back. There is no way to change routes. I.e. you are stuck with what it picks. Then the removed a lot of detail. Zoom at .3 miles shows all roads where as before it was .5 miles. Touch screen sucks and is insensitive; auto zoom is not able to be turned off.
So, I'm interested in the Navigon 8100T NOT the 7200 Max. I'd like the terrain feature over the buildings. I tow and think it would be handy to know when the next hill is to build speed and such. I love terrain.
So, can anyone help me with the following questions on the 8100T?
1) How is routing compared to Garmin Nuvi 7x5 series, logical, good, or poor?
2) Can the Navigon auto zoom be disabled?
3) At what zoom level is all detail shown to? Hopefully 1/2 mile or more.
4) Confirm that I can upload custom POIs? With the 755 I have loaded 720,000 POIs that are relevant to me.
5) Is the touch screen responsive? 755 doesn’t drag with poop when panning.
6) Is the screen polarized or coated? Garmin has a coating that prevents me from viewing it with my polarized sunglass on. I have to tilt my head or the GPS unit.
7) Can POIs be removed off the screen? Probably. At what zoom level are they viewable? If I'm at 1/2 mile zoom, can you still see them?
8) Can I select individual POIs to display like only Wal-Mart or speed cameras, but not all shopping, individual vs. categories?
9) Does the unit shut off when the car is off or must you manually turn it off? I know it has a suspend mode, but I'm refereeing to a power off mode.
10) After reading the online manual, I think I must hold the power switch off for 2 seconds to power off/on. Is this true?
11) I see there is a speed limit sign displayed on the screen to show you the current posted speed limit of the road you are on. Can this be removed? I don't care about knowing when I speed since I do it often.
12) There are three screens? 1. 2D, 3D, and terrain? Hopefully the terrain didn't replace the 3D with street names. So many reviews only show terrain view for pictures.


I see the reviews say several things negative, but many I don't care about.
Bluetooth, voice command for navigation, voice command for dialing a phone, FM transmitter, MP3 player, Pictures, all which I don't care or won't use. I've been using GPS for years and don't care about sync with my computer or transferring phone numbers, contact listings, etc.

I like recent destinations, favorites, good routing, and ability to change the route, cancel a road, and see lots of detail on the map while zoomed out.

Are there any negatives that people would like to comment on besides the Bells and whistles that I don't care if they work or not?

I just want good routing, control over the route when it’s not good, and the terrain map.

[hendrik_1]

Hi UHF,

first, only things I can tell you are about the european modell 8110, which has similar software. But I also know the software of later Navigon devices which are more similar to the 8100T.

So to your questions.

1) I don't know the Garmin 7x5 series, so I cant tell about the routing, sorry. The Navigon makes sensible routes. In rural areas sometimes it makes sense to switch to short route, especially when there is an interstate which way would be much longer.
2) in 2D View the auto zoom can be switched off
3) I can't tell you the exact zoom level, but the Navigon maps are detailed and the map view is very good. You may have a look at screen shots.
4) Sorry, no custom POIs. That's the big flaw in Navigon software.
5) The screen could be more sensitive sometimes, but all in all it's ok for me.
6) Since I don't have tried polarized sun glasses in the last year, I can't tell you about that.
7) POIs categories can be removed from the screen. The display of POIs is dependent from POI and zoom level. Landmarks, resting areas, parking, gas stations are also displayed at higher zoom levels, wheres restaurants, hotel and shopping centers are only displayed in lower zoom levels. In normal 3D mode (without terrain view) the POI-symbols are also zoomed, when they come closer.
8) only the higher categories can be switched on/off like shopping, but not WALMart etc.
9) The units goes in standby after adjustable time (10 mins, 20 mins...) when it recieves no changes in GPS-Position. It does not shut off and on with the turn of the car key like the Garmin units.
10) If you press the Power button the device goes into standby mode. Battery holds then for some days. The good thing about this is, that the device is ready at once, when you turn it on again. There is no time for booting or starting the software.
11) Yes, a sign is displayed and yes, you can turn it off. The devices also gives an acoustical warning ("Achtung!" in German) if your are going to fast. The warning limit is adjustable. You can adjust the acoustical warning from 5 to 25 mph over speed limit.
12) There are 3 screens as you say 2D, 3D and TerrainView. However if errain view is active you cant select the "normal" 3D. Then you can switch between 2D and TerrainView mode. If you disable terrain view (in the settings it is possible) you can switch between 2D and 3D mode.

The navigation of the Navigon software is among the best in Europe. The map view is very distinct. Some details are not displayed at higher zoom levels, but the map view still is very detailed. My father has a Garmin and I don't like the Garmin Map at all. In relation to garmin the Navigon Map is overloaded with details. In TerrainView you have less detail than in the flat 3D View (no street names, smaller roads only in your close vicinity). In terrain view the zoom level is not as high than in normal 3D, but with some tricks an can be adjusted:

You can get to the desktop on your Navigon device (for this look in the German pocketnavigation.de or Navifriends.de and search for "Desktop freilegen"). It runs with a simple Windows CE. It is possible to change some features, for example the routing or the time when it switches to night mode (seconds before/after sunrise or sunsets). You have to adjust some XML files for this. You also can change the zoom levels for all display modes and the number of POIs displayed. One user has created a software for making the changes in zoom levels for 2D and 3D, not in terrain view. But watch out. If you don't know what you are doing you can brick your Navigon. Always make a backup of your files and if you are very unsure, better don't do it at all.

Hope that helps

Greetings from Germany
Hendrik

[BigPerk]

Just to add to point (4). navigating.de produce 'POIWarner' which supports user POIs on Navigon devices, including the latest software release MN7. It can also synchronise with pocketnavigation.de and poihandler.com. I have it loaded on my 8110 - I presume the 8100 will be similar.

See thread on this site for more detail if you are interested or go straight to the english section (or german, if YOU are interested Hendrik)

[UHF]

Thank you for your help. The Desktop freilegen search on google only turns up German sites. I've only been studying German for 1 week. Is there an English version of the site? I did not see a language tab to convert it.
I have read the review on POI Warner on this website. I thought it only pertained to speed cameras and red light cameras. Can other POIs be loaded by POI warner such as restaurants and stores? If so, can the new POIs of restaurants and stores be searchable withing Navigon?

On the speed limit signs you stated:
11) Yes, a sign is displayed and yes, you can turn it off. The devices also gives an acoustical warning ("Achtung!" in German) if your are going to fast. The warning limit is adjustable. You can adjust the acoustical warning from 5 to 25 mph over speed limit.
For clarification:
Can you prevent the speed limit sign from being displayed? I know that you can disable the warning, but will disabling the warning remove the speed limit sign or will it still be displayed?
Thanks again for your help.

[BigPerk]

You can load any POIs such as restaurants and stores; they need to be in asc format - if necessary you can convert other formats to this using a free converter like PoiEdit.

POIWarner runs independently of the Navigon software, interfacing with it when required, and provides the POI search facilities. POIs can be monitored and displayed on the map as required. When you have the POI you want to go to it is then transferred to the Navigon software as a destination. The POI lists are NOT integrated into the Navigon POI lists.

Certainly on the 8110, you can separately turn the speed limit display off as well as all the warnings. You can get hold of the various Navigon User Manuals from their site under 'Support' which is quite useful.

You can get some idea of the POIWarner facilites from the short 'tour' on navigating.de and from their guide at

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