Sony NV-U83T

Getting where you need to go has never been easier than with the Sony nav-u portable satellite navigation system. Sleek and compact, the nav-u system easily mounts within an arm's reach in virtually any vehicle. Featuring a brilliant display with intuitive touch screen, graphic interface, and a wide range of additional features, a navigation system is the perfect companion for either a long trip or short ride across town. High contrast touch-screen display and easy installation let you clearly see your position and route. Measuring less than 1" thick, the nav-u portable satellite navigation system is an elegant, slim device that matches style with ease-of-use so you can find what you need and get there efficiently. The nav-u portable satellite navigation system's wide-screen display features an anti-flare and anti-fingerprint coating. The display has an 80-degree viewing angle, so you can clearly see the information you need from virtually any driving position. Meanwhile, an intelligent brightness control system even senses the amount of light around the unit and automatically adjusts both the brightness level and map color scheme for daytime or nighttime driving. An intuitive interface provides clear visual and spoken directions. Whether typing in your destination using the on-screen keyboard or searching by name or category, the nav-u portable satellite navigation system's graphic interface uses simple icons and touch-screen buttons that make navigation incredibly easy. If you miss an exit or take a wrong turn, intelligent rerouting instantly recalculates your route. The NV-U83T includes text-to-speech capability for spoken commands that are always in sync with your location. The nav-u portable satellite navigation system contains a state-of-the-art GPS receiver for superb satellite reception. Step away from standard GPS mapping and towards a more complete navigation solution.

Sony NV-U73T

Traveling to your favorite destinations has never been this easy. The Nav-u portable satellite navigation system has a sleek, 4.3" touch-panel widescreen display and can be easily mounted in any vehicle. The brilliant, high-contrast full-color graphical interface is also intuitive and fun to use. Whether it's a trip across town or cross-country road trip, the Nav-u satellite navigation system makes the perfect travel companion. The NV-U73T comes pre-loaded with Map Content covering the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Dual View capability displays dynamic route information to provide an even clearer view of what's around the bend or in a highway merge scenario, which Junction to take. Commonly used commands such as Take Me Home may be accessed by gesturing an inverted V(R) on the screen versus paging through numerous menu screens. Step away from standard GPS mapping and towards a more complete navigation solution. Real Time Traffic Information radio reception allows the NV-U73T to constantly monitor relevant traffic conditions and automatically re-route you around trouble spots. TTS (Text to Speech) also eliminates second-guessing when making a turn; the device utilizes spoken commands ensuring you are able to follow the directions by street names. Using the Sony-unique Super Suction Cup, mounting a Nav-U portable satellite navigation system to either the dashboard, console, or windshield in virtually any vehicle is quick and easy. Stable and secure while driving, the Nav-U portable satellite navigation system can be easily removed whenever you want to take it with you. Interfaces - DC Input 5-5.2V Jack, USB Jack, External GPS Aerial Jack, and TMC Aerial Jack 87.5 - 108.0 Mhz Reception Frequency RDS-TMC Traffic Messaging Channel Dimensions - 3.7 x 2.1 x 4.3 (95x54x109mm) Weight - 7.4 Ounces (210 Grams)

Navigon 7100

The Navigon 7100 is equipped with a SiRFstarIII GPS chip and all maps of the United States and Canada are preloaded on the included SD card. As with most GPS devices, you can enter a location by specific address, point of interest, recent destination, user-defined home, and so forth. The 7100 can calculate routes in one of four ways--fast, optimum, short, or scenic--and gives you the option to allow or avoid highways and toll roads. There are also pedestrian, bicycle, and motorcycle route options, and our favorite, slow-car mode. Other standard navigation features include automatic route recalculation, multistop trips, simulated demos, speed alerts, and, of course, text- and voice-guided turn-by-turn directions, including text-to-speech functionality for specific street names.

You can view maps in 2D or 3D mode, and with day or night colors. The map screen shows you plenty of data, such as the name of the street you're on, distance to next turn, estimated time of arrival, remaining distance, a compass, signal strength, and more. You can always choose to hide some of these elements via the Settings menu, since the screen can get pretty overwhelming with all the data and points of interest.

Speaking of which, like other Navigon products, such as the Fujitsu Siemens Pocket LOOX N100, the Navigon 7100 has a comprehensive POI database that includes branded icons for major corporations (e.g., McDonald's, Chevron, Shell). In addition, you can now search for POI by Zagat Survey ratings and reviews. It's available for hotels, night life, attractions, golf courses, and restaurants, and once you've selected your category, you can refine your search even more by top service, best buy, and so forth. Tapping the information icon on a business listing will then bring up specific ratings and reviews. The Zagat Survey data is particularly useful when you're in a new town and need recommendations of where to eat or go out. Overall, we found the database to be fairly up-to-date, though not perfect.

The Navigon 7100 also includes several other helpful and beneficial navigation features. First, it has an integrated traffic receiver so you get subscription-free traffic updates. You'll see a little exclamation point on your map screen and by tapping it, it will bring up a list of congested areas. You can select a specific incident and get more details on the problem. The system has the ability to plot an alternate course, as well. To make for the smoothest ride possible, there's also a lane assistant function that will recommend the optimal lane for your route. Last but not least, in complicated intersections, such as major highway exchanges, the Navigon 5100 will present you with a 3D image of the road. For example, you will get a semirealistic view of what the road looks like ahead of you, including road signs, so you're not completely confused as to what exit to take.

One additional feature the 7100 has over the Navigon 5100 is integrated Bluetooth, so you can pair with a compatible Bluetooth-enabled cell phone and use it as a hands-free speaker system. Once paired with your handset, you can make calls using the system's onscreen dial pad or if there's a number associated with a POI, you can dial out directly. Unfortunately, however, you can't transfer your phone's contact list or call history.