Get Lost? Never!

I have been looking at many different GPS units because I am a traveling salesman and I am constantly driving places that I have never been before. I decided that I there were certain things that I wanted to have in a GPS unit and the Sony NV-U70 fit what I was looking for very well. The Sony Nav U70 has clear and loud audio turn-by-turn instructions, an automatic dimmer for the screen and it can run off of battery power if needed.

When driving down a road with traffic, the last thing you should be doing is staring at a little screen to try to figure out where your next turn is going to be. It is imperative that any GPS unit has the ability to be heard in the car. This is where the Nav U70 really steps up. Not only are there 2 little high-end speakers in the front (tweeters) but there is also a nice big midrange speaker in the back. This provides a crisp, but rounded sound to the verbal directions that the unit gives but also makes it able punch out the sound. To test the unit, I got onto I-10 in Phoenix Arizona with the windows down to see if Nav U70 could over come the noise. Sure enough, the wind was not able to overcome the power of the sound from the Nav U70.

A common problem with GPS is that when you do need to look at it in the day, the brightness on the screen needs to be cranked up so that it can overcome the daylight. But then at night you need to have the brightness turned down or it fills the whole car with light. Not a problem for the Nav U70. The unit has an auto dimmer that will detect when there is not a lot of light and (figuring that it is night) will automatically dim the screen as to not blind you at night. The auto dimmer is a very nice feature to just set and forget.

Most people do not buy multiple GPS units so that each car that they own can have one. The problem becomes when you decide to take it from one car to the next. In steps the Nav U70 with a battery. The Nav U70 can be taken from vehicle to vehicle and used (for shorter trips) without the cigarette adaptor. This means that people can tuck the wires in nicely in the vehicle that will get the most use out of the GPS, and use it in other cars without un-tucking and re-tucking. The Nav U70 can also be taken off the car cradle, taken inside to program a trip with destinations and then taken back outside to the car. Wow that makes trip so much easier then Mapquest!

The only drawbacks to this great little driving helper are the price, the not easy input of addresses and the lack of updates. GPS is not cheep. But you get what you pay for. In this case, I caught a great clearance at Best Buy and got the unit (Regular price $499) for $150. This is by far not the normal but I probably would not have purchased the unit at the full price. I will say that the addresses are not hard to put in, but the keyboard that is on screen is just a little small to use. The last complaint is really the updates. Almost every time I turn the unit on it lets me know that my maps are over a year old and I need to update them. HA HA HA! I went to Sony.com and even asked if there were any updated maps and the response was none yet!

Overall, the ups far out way the downs and I feel that if you travel a lot and are in your car, the help that the Nav U70 gives is worth spending a few extra bucks on. Since you can hear, see and use the Nav U70 however you want, I give it 4 out of 5 stars!