Navigon GPS System Giveaway

Are you going on the road this summer? Maybe with gas prices high enough to draw blood you're planning on staying closer to home but whatever you're doing, today's giveaway will help with your travel plans.

Navigon, a company specializing in GPS systems, recently released their 2100 max unit and asked if I'd take a look at it and see what kind of fun I could come up with to share.

Unfortunately there was a snag. A big snag called "Alaska" because while the Navigon 2100 max comes preloaded with maps of 48 of the United States, it doesn't have maps of Hawaii or Alaska, only the "contiguous" states. If you haven't noticed this word before it means "connected to each other." It's not accurate to say "continental" United States because even though Alaska and Hawaii may not be touching the rest of you guys we are, quite thoroughly, part of the continent. Please forgive the vocab lesson but I find this little point to be kind of funny when you see a site that says "We only provide shipping to the continental United States."

At any rate, no maps, no first hand review. Which is too bad because I liked the screen and how easy it was to stick up on your car and was able to view the sample maps and see what this little baby is capable of and it looks very handy--we really could have used this when we were driving all over Florida last March getting lost and paying out a fortune in tolls.

You can of course get basic info like your altitude, latitude, longitude, direction and speed and you have maps to take you to the nearest restaurant, gas station or hospital. The Navigon 2100 max can talk to you, giving you directions and once you're there you can hit the "take me home" button to save locations for future reference and the return route.

Anyway, it's too bad we northern folks are out of the picture on this one, I've written to the folks at Navigon and asked if there is a way around this limitation and will update as I gain more information. In the meantime here is a post at GPS Tracklog that does a review which you might find more helpful.

My online research indicates that another model, the Navigon 2120 max fills in where this one lacks and contains maps of the missing states as well as the Canadian provinces (much better, eh?) If I'd known the full picture when they contacted me I would have requested this model instead.

But . . . good news for you because I'm giving away this Navigon 2100 max that I can't use to one of you nice readers. If you're planning on hitting the road this would be a great thing to use for your trip--avoid the toll roads, plot the straightest route, find the nearest pit stop. You'll love it.

Here's how to win:

Before 12 am Monday go to the giveaway entry form on this page and enter your name and email. I will pick one of the names at random, contact the winner via their email and publish the winner's first name and home town in next Tuesday's post. See the bottom of the entry form for more details.

I'm sorry but this giveaway is open only to U.S. readers.

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Thinking about entering this month's Write-Away Contest? Prize is a Zune MP3 player and the theme is "Wonder Woman" but the deadline is this week so you'll have to hurry!

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Technorati tags: product reviews, giveaways, navigation, GPS