Navigon 5100 and 7100

This says the 7100 does not...and if the higher number version does not, I suspect the other won't either.

Thanx for the reply KCH, could you please elaborate on where it says you cannot add your own poi's? The idea of free traffic plus the lane assist and reality view plus the Zagat ratings are very cool.. I just may bite the bullet on this unit based on those features alone. Nobody has anything like that available unless someone can suggest something similar to persuade me. All ideas are welcome!

Ray

bold added...

Thanx again KCH it sounds like this would be an excellent gps and I bet someone creates a hack so this feature could be added..

Ray

I spoke to Navigon's tech support based in Indiana and found them to be very helpful. The product development team is looking into adding custom poi's! If anyone here has looked into these gps's I am sure you'll be impressed by the features such as free traffic updates for life, lane assistant and reality view. All innovative ideas and industry 1st's. However if I cannot use custom poi files I can't consider these units and was very clear on this matter. I did mention poi factory in my conversation so we may get a visit from them so they can see what we're all about..

Ray

I just got the 5100.

I am impressed with the free traffic and lane assistance/reality view features. The one thing that REALLY sux is that many of my often used POIs (department stores like Target, Ross, etc., video rental places, and liquor stores) are not in the database. I emailed CS and they actually referred me here!!! Here's the original reply:

"Dear Mr Alan,
thank you for your e-mail and interest in our software and products.

About your request

POIs are included -can be updated and upgraded.

Of course you can add any download POI’s from an internet service, but please be
aware, that we do not grant any support for such products.

There some places you can even buy additional POIs - i.e. http://www.poi-factory.com/poifiles
"

They have yet to get back to me about HOW to add custom POI's. I notice a [dir]:\Poi\USA and Canada_Zagat\USA and Canada_Zagat.ovm which contains the Zagat information on the SD card. Anyone with insight on this subject or file format?

A few additional comments...
I used to have a Nuvi 360 which I gave away to my parents. There are a lot of things I don't like about the 5100 compared to the 360, but since buy.com makes you pay 15% restocking fees, I am keeping it...for now.

Compared to the 360, here are the negatives in my book:

1. calculation is not as accurate, it avoids smaller streets (believe me, i played with the settings many times) and try to make you take the main streets making you take a semi-loop instead of going straight.
2. no MP3 player
3. lack of useful POIs, POIs, POIs!!!
4. random hopping of position if you sit still, probably due to the lack of WAAS. the unit tells you to make a U-turn for no reason.
5. it can take a while for the unit to realize that i am on the wrong route, just parallel to the correct route. the recalculation assumes that you are adjusted your course and keep tell you to make right turn or left turn even if you are on an interstate! this is another lack of WASS i am sure.
6. when you type a POI name, the search does NOT show you what you typed. this is the dumbest thing of all.
7. "keyboard" and text are small, too small even for me (I am 31) sometimes. i wouldn't get this for my parents (who are in their late 50's). this makes it not as easy to use while driving.
8. no bluetooth (not a big deal since the BT hands-free is VERY low quality on the Nuvi, a well-documented downfall)
9. Navigon CS also told me that they do not yet have European maps for this unit and don't know when they will have it.
10. only 256MB internal memory, data is stored on SD...seems cheap.
11. NO mini-usb AC charger. i love the fact that i can charge the 360 using a wall outlet.
13. DOES NOT tell you that it's recalculating outloud. this is VERY usefull to inform you that you are not on the correct route.
14. 1 voice option, display only support 3 languages.
15. No 1-time free maps update.

Other than the obvious innovative features heavily advertised, here's what I like over the 360:
1. no fold-out antenna, still get strong signal...accuracy is another question
2. you can select a specific road that you want to avoid on your route.
3. according to some 370 reviews, which says that the 370 requires the external traffic antenna to be attached to receive info, the 5100 traffic receiver works (just not as well) without the external antenna.
4. the mount is VERY strong. it's 2.5 or 3 times the size of the 360's mount, but it works really well. my 360 fell way too often and one time actually dented the screen. the 5100's mount hasn't given up once in 10 days of use, the Nuvi fell several times in a week!

If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably go for the Nuvi 370 instead.

- Alan

I am going to bite the 15% restocking fee bullet of buy.com and return the unit. Navigon CS confirms that there is no software to upload POIs to my 5100. They suggest to look into POI-Warner, which costs almost $40 and subscriptions are required to download meaningful POIs. I am definitely getting the Nuvi 370 instead, and NOT from buy.com for sure.

I had the 5100 for a couple of days as a possible replacement for the Nuvi 350. Most of what has been written here was true in my case as well. NO POI for major retail outlets but it was able to find a local sandwich shop at the end of my street (huh?).
Two calls to the Indy CS center produced two different answers. One was that they were aware of the problem and were fixng it (but didn't know how long it would take) and the other was "that was how it was intended to be". Of course I returned it.
On the plus side the graphics were teriffic- easy to see even with sunglasses. I liked the fact the map shows what TOWN you're in as you're driving and the road is marked with the street name and route number if it's part of a state road; i.e RT16/Washington St.
Negatives have already been mentioned elsewhere in this thread with the addition of the fact that when you save a POI you have to name it again even if it's already in the database. That's a pain. In the end it's a nice unit, not ready for primetime. I bought a TomTom 720 and await delivery.
Oh, and for the gentleman that was put off by the 15% restock fee from buy.com... most retailers online and stores are charging that now. You're lucky to find a low price AND a no restock fee. I bought my Navigon at Amazon and paid full price, but avoided any fees (including return shipping) because the unit was "defective".

So can we finally put this one to rest? Can the gps support poi files such as the red light?
I have a TomTom XLone and I was looking to upgrade to this one??? But now I'm not sure....

this would help me determine whether I should get the navigon or look elsewhere

I have one and here are my criticisms as compared with other units:

- First and foremost, the routing algorithm is lousy. There are conditions where I've found that it would send me ways that are twice as long as the direct routing I konw. Just really miserable.
- Lousy interface. Hard to find things I know are there. There are a lot of other units out there; apparently they didn't want to look at anyone's (good) ideas; how else to explain how bad the interface is.
- Lousy configurability. For instance, its time calculations are grossly wrong and there's no ability to set your speeds for highways, etc.
- Stupid decisions. On some routing I take, it consistently steers me onto the HOV routing (which has different exits than the regular lanes). Most of the time I'm going solo; I can't take the HOV lane. Is there an option to override this? Of course not.

I got mine on sale for $100. If I had it to do over again, I'd spend double the money to get a better unit.

Has anyone tried Navigon Custom POI to upload their custom POI to their Navigon? Was Curious if anyone else had stumbled on this .... http://www.paultomlinson.co.uk/Main_Pages/Navigon_POI.htm

I POIWarner and have no problem using the Camera File from the Poi-Factory with it, or any other file from here.

http://www.navigating.de/cms/index.php?id=3142

I had both - They were great GPS Units, but then Navigon pulled out of the US. There is a site to look at called POI Warner - It is mostly setup for Europe but has pois for us. It is not easy to use and you have to set up to run parts on your gps which takes up drive space - I never got it working good and never got it to handle Red light cameras, etc. Read up on it before you make the commitment.