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Gadgetell Quick Review: Navigon 2200T

Cool:

• Low Price(about 200 bucks)
• Good mounting hardware
• Reality view and Lane Assistant Pro feature is really helpful
• Speed warning
• Small size
• Lifetime traffic service

Uncool:

• Sometimes difficult to navigate the screens
• Traffic alerts not factored into initial route plans, but instead notifies you there is a problem and gives rerouting options
• Limited voice selections

The Crux:

Overall, if you can get past some quirks, the 2200T is a very good GPS and the lifetime traffic service makes it a stand out device for the low price.

This is a guest review by Robert Borgesi.  Rob co-hosts the website review program, “ChannelFlip Web” with Iyaz Akhtar on ChannelFlip.com.  Additionally, Rob is a tech enthusiast with years of computer building experience.

Overview

The Navigon 2200T features a 3.5-inch touch screen in a thin form factor and comes with free traffic updates for life.  Navigon products feature the “Reality View Pro” which displays highway signs as they appear in real life to make navigation simpler.  The Navigon 2200T comes with mounting hardware and a car charger. 

Out of the box

This GPS has a low price at about 200 bucks.  The 2200T is a very compact device.  While it has a large and easy to read 3.5-inch screen, the whole device can easily fit in your pocket. 

The mounting arm is quite good.  It is easily adjustable, sticks to the window well, and it stays where you put it. 

Using the 2200T

The Reality View and Lane Assistant Pro feature shows 3-D exits and close-ups of turns which allow you to see the road as it looks in real life and tells you which lane to be in.  The Navigon 2200T also gives you speed warnings which tell you when you are over the speed limit and can be set to warn you when you are over the speed limit by 1, 5, 10, 15, or 20 mph.  More importantly, the warnings can be disabled all together.

This model comes with lifetime traffic service which give you traffic alerts without having to pay fees. 

Long term testing

Over the course of using the Navigon 2200T there were a few things that stood out.  First of all, navigating the screens was not intuitive and took a lot of getting used to.  You have to enter location, then press “navigate” more than once before you finally get to the actual navigation.  Also, it was difficult to figure out how to cancel or change navigation once you have started and get back to the home page.

Define: “Local”

Another issue I had while using this device was with the Points of Interest.  I was only 20 miles from a major international airport and when I asked to navigate to an airport close to me; the airport was not listed until I was within 5 miles of it.  I guess I didn’t know “local” meant within walking distance.

Avoiding Traffic

One feature I found very helpful was the traffic alerts.  There was a huge accident on one of the major highways I was traveling on and the Navigon informed me of the problem and rerouted me around the accident saving me hours of sitting in traffic.

Wrap Up

So overall, for a low cost, you get a very functional GPS unit with a few quirks that may turn some people off.  However, the benefit of lifetime traffic service set it apart from comparable GPS units and makes it worth buying.

Product Page: [Navigon 2200T]