[11 of 11 customers found this review helpful]

Sony NV-U83T 4.8'' Portable Navigation System Review

Tried them all - Sony the best!

"I daily go to unfamiliar towns throughout New England. I demand most for my $. I must have traffic reports to avoid delays. I must be able to give clients an accurate time of arrival. Tried Garmin & Magellan however they either had expensive traffic report options or required cell phone to get reports only to find their bluetooth didn't sync with my LG popular phone. Tried Navigon 7100 for 9 months, I tried hard to like it (a lot of features), but poor tech. & customer support pushed me away. Navigon screen sensitivity, country road routing and non- highway ETA all bad. I sent Navigon weekly emails of suggestions only to get automated replies telling me of all their awards. After 9 months they finally send me an email admitting they had uncorrected issues still present after a May update. Of course it looks like all corrections will be in new model 7200 soon to be released. All the other units weaknesses are Sony 83T strengths plus it has all the "high end / luxury" features. With the Sony I get a great screen, accurate routing and ETAs. I love the way it shows traffic delays(in terms of minutes) being posted on screen automatically. If you want to know where/ how far away simply tap a large yellow traffic icon. My own rule of thumb - If less than 15 minutes I'll stay on Highway route. As delay times are updated so does the ETA. I love being able to tell clients when I'll arrive "accurately"! When I was using Navigon on country roads where there were never speed limits under 30 mph I knew that a 12 mile country road commute should be less than 25 minutes Navigon would say 50 minutes! For some reason they insisted on using a fixed 12 to 15 mph calculation probably based on downtown Chicago traffic (their USA home base)! There is no perfect GPS out there. They all have routing flaws compare to human "shortcuts". But if you don't know how to get to your destination it sure beats using a map.The only CON I can stretch for is that since a new windshield was installed 2 weeks ago twice out of maybe 50 times I had to hold the GPs out the driver's window for 10 seconds before it got a sat. "lock-in". I believe its the windshield not the GPS. But then that raises another plus for the SONY - it has the best base! Base has a "sticky rubber" suction that holds real tight on any dash without the need to "glue on" a disk. The traffic antenna and power cords plug into the base not the GPS. It snaps in/out of base easily so you can safely take it with you to prevent theft or keep it away from extreme temperatures. You can buy a second base (with cables) for about $60 so you can move it from car to car easily.Bottom line - I have tried 4 prior GPS units none of which met my high standards and expectations, but was pleasantly surprised that Sony is the best!"