Out of the box the Navigon 7100 vehicle GPS receiver impresses you with its sleek euro-style design and large 4.3 inch widescreen color display. The styling alone should move a large number of these beauties off shelves and onto dashboards. Even the car mount looks sleek. But the great looks are not the best part of the receiver. The best part is the free, life-time traffic alerts available in about 65 metro regions across the United States.

On a good day, I spend about an hour on the road getting to work. On a bad day, my commute takes more like 1.5 hours. When I first got the Navigon, I hoped that it could reduce my daily commute to more like an hour. I tested the Navigon to and from work in Phoenix rush-hour traffic for an entire week. I found that if I listened to the receiver, I got to work in about an hour.

I tested both the auto-route and the prompt modes. The auto-route mode automatically routes around all traffic alerts. The prompt mode describes the type of congestion (e.g., accident, lane restrictions, construction, road closed, slowing) and asks if you want to avoid the traffic or ignore the alert. While testing the receiver, I ignored traffic alerts only to find that it took 1.5 hours to get to work. When I avoided traffic reported by the receiver, I got to work in about an hour. The receiver routed me around traffic alerts using alternate routes that were better than my usual alternate routes. The receiver is so smart, one day it routed me through an apartment complex. I had never even imagined that short-cut.

After a few days, I noticed other features that I really enjoy. The first was voice activation to select a destination. The kids thought it was cool, too. Another feature was auto-zoom. The auto-zoom determines how much of the map is shown on the screen. Driving faster makes the map zoom out, so you can see where you are going. Going slower makes the map zoom in, so you can see local street names and turns.

Another feature that I really found useful was the Lane Assistant, which shows a picture of an upcoming freeway interchange and shows you the lane you need to be in to get to your destination. The Navigon has all the other features you expect in a car receiver like current speed, time of arrival, remaining distance to your destination, audio and visual turn prompts, and compass direction.

There are two things that I would change about the Navigon, but they are minor. The antenna that receives the traffic alerts is a three-foot-long wire that seems to get in the way. It would be nice to have an antenna built in to the receiver or the mount. Meanwhile, I simply tuck the antenna under my dashboard mat. Also, the SD card was a little hard to insert, but once it is in there, it does not need to be removed.

Key Specifications:

• size: 5.1 x 3.5 x .9 inches, 6.9 oz
• display: 4.3-inch diagonal; 480 x 272 pixels; WQVGA LCD with resistive Touch Panel
• battery: 1200 mAH Rechargeable Li-Ion. (up to 5 hrs. use)
• data storage: 256 MB ROM, 64 MB RAM, SD card slot
• operating system: Microsoft Windows CE Net 5.0
• I/O: USB 1.1, Integrated Bluetooth. Integrated TMC
• MSRP: $649

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