Despite providing a rather interesting set of products, the Navman PND manufacturing division has changed hands a few times over the past couple of years, the current owner being yet another famous player on the GPS navigation devices' market, Mitac. However, despite its problems, the company kept pushing new and highly innovative products on the market, including here the S-100 model, launched back in September 2008 and providing a very interesting set of features, whether we're talking about its ultra-slim form factor or the advanced navigation functions.

With a thickness of just around 13.5 mm, the device has been equipped with a 4.3-inch touchscreen LCD (480 x 272 pixels resolution) that can be used in order to access the “Spirit” software, with its Glide Touch user-interface that allows users to simply tap and slide the touchscreen to open, dock, pan and scroll menus.

The two main components the PND has to offer are represented by the Samsung 2450 / 400 MHz processor, accompanied by the SiRFInstantFixII GPS chipset, which allows for faster satellite tracking and improved satellite reception. Additionally, the device comes equipped with 1 GB of internal flash memory, 128 MB of SDRAM memory, plus a micro-SD memory expansion slot.

Another very interesting and useful feature provided by the S100 is Smart Economical Routing. This function calculates the most economical route for your journey following postcode or address entry and, by assessing the number of turns ahead, helps drivers use less fuel without significantly increasing the time to their arrival.

Another very useful navigation functions is the European Local Search service, the result of a partnership with local directory search partner, Infobel, which helps users search for data regarding certain POIs via the NavDesk computer application. And speaking of POIs, it's also interesting to note that the device has also been equipped with a Capture button, enabling users to save their own POIs as they discover them.

Similar to the Mio devices out there, the Navman PND also incorporates NavPix technology, which allows users to navigate by using geo-tagged images, a pedestrian mode, as well as a Speaking Keyboard that speaks each letter and number as it’s typed, making inputting postcodes and addresses more accurate.

The Navman S-100 sells for an estimate 200 pounds sterling (340 US dollars), which, by all accounts, quite an OK price point, given the numerous features and specs it can provide.