Getting from place to place used to be easy, but traffic, ever-present construction, and the mercurial nature of the road makes it so we need all the help we can get. Sony's foray into the portable navigation realm is the NV-U70. Known as the Nav-U, it's a small but useful tool in the never-ending battle to get where you're going without hassle. As a die-hard fan of live music, such a device could come in handy when traveling to exotic locales where scruffy folks attempt to entertain me after separating me from my cash (not to mention the cost of gas getting there). But would it pass muster? I'd have to do some serious truckin' to find out.

The Nav-U comes basically ready to go out of the box. Here's what I found:

• Nav-U main unit
• Suction-mount cradle
• Car battery adapter
• AC power adapter
• AC power cable
• USB cable
• Mounting plate and 3 screws
• Adhesive tape
• Pad
• Carrying pouch
• DVD-ROM with additional maps and languages
• Instruction manual
• READ THIS FIRST card
• Warranty card

After extracting all the needed accessories from the package, I checked the Nav-U out. I was quickly enchanted with the Nav-U's size. It fit into my hand, though admittedly my hand is larger than average. It's also surprisingly light, about the weight of a baseball. The Nav-U looks like it could probably fit into my jeans pocket, but Sony includes a soft carrying pouch for transport. There are two buttons on the top of the unit; a voice/position button and an on/off button. On the side are inputs for the included power adapters and USB cable, plus the auto dimmer sensor. Underneath is the cradle connection input and the power button, and the rear of the unit holds the external woofer, which complements the small speakers on either side of the screen.

I checked the READ THIS FIRST card, which was tucked in under the box's lid. It demonstrated with clear diagrams how to mount the suction cup and cradle apparatus to my windshield. I then turned to the owner's manual, which featured instructions in French and Spanish as well as English. After thumbing through the manual for a few moments, I powered the Nav-U up using the power switch, clicked the user agreement/warning button on the screen, and took the Nav-U and its accessories out to my car.

The menu screen is easy to follow, with options for searching nearby or for a specific location. Notice the quick-release button on the handy windshield-mounted cradle.

The Nav-U comes with a couple of different mounting accessories. For permanent installation on the dash, there's a metal mounting plate and three screws, plus some adhesive tape to hold the plate in place while mounting. The cradle then mounts to the plate on the dash with the suction cup. I decided to affix the cradle to the windshield via the suction cup. It took about a minute to get the cradle to click into place and in a stable position, but otherwise there were no installation issues. Plugging the cradle in with the included car battery adapter was simple, and without turning my car on, I left the Nav-U in its cradle for twenty minutes to allow the GPS satellites to find it (this is only necessary the first time you use the unit — after that it locks on to the satellites in just a few moments). When I returned, I saw that the unit had located my car on the planet right down to the block and street name. The battery was running low (as I hadn't turned my car on to charge the unit) so I brought the unit back inside, turned it off, and plugged it in with the power cable and AC power adapter setup so it could charge overnight.

The first trial for the Nav-U was getting me to work. Using the touchscreen menu, I selected the street name for Crutchfield headquarters, hit the START NAVIGATION button, and took off for work. The unit recognizes names and instantly provides a list of possible names once you start to enter a city or street, and you can choose from the list using the arrow selector on the touchscreen. Admittedly it's not a difficult route to get to work, but the Nav-U got me there without any problems as I followed the map and voice prompts. The display showed me my vehicle speed, the distance to the next turn, and how far I was from my final destination. The soothing female voice told me I was at my destination when I pulled into the parking lot — success! It was a cool morning and I drove with my windows up and could hear the voice prompts easily, plus the screen was easy to see and read. For this trip I used the 2-D map view with my car always pointing towards the top of the screen. The 2-D map display is also available in compass view, with the top of the screen always pointing north.

I positioned the Nav-U for visibility. The adjustable windshield mount holds solidly, and you have the option of mounting the unit to your dashboard.

Next up was navigating the mean streets of Washington D.C. and northern Virginia. I changed to the 3-D map view on the Nav-U, and I was impressed with its mapping capabilities. With bodies of water, railroad tracks, and large structures clearly outlined, it made unfamiliar surroundings seem less threatening. The Nav-U got me to the heart of Manassas with ease, and after I met a friend we set out for the nation's capital. Once we hit I-66 and starting cruising at high speed, the volume on the Nav-U became a small issue. I set the volume for the voice prompts to the highest setting, but it was just barely loud enough to overcome the noise of the wind as the windows were down. This is something that can be frustrating to a driver who doesn't like to use air-conditioning, but luckily I got the voice prompt to repeat just by pressing the voice/position button on the top of the unit.

As we approached D.C., I decided to try to follow the Nav-U's suggestions instead of taking my usual route to my destination, a popular music club which I've visited dozens of times over the past decade. The Nav-U took us on a route which apparently is slightly shorter distance-wise, but it involved several more turns (my usual route entails 2 turns), which are usually difficult in the nation's capital. Eventually the route brought us to an avenue which would have been a straight shot to the club, but there was construction in the way, so we had to veer off the route. The Nav-U got us back on track but overall the trip took a bit longer than my usual path due to the number of left-hand turns and long traffic lights.

Accessing the touchscreen from the driver's seat was a breeze.

After the concert was over, we headed back out to my friend's house which is located in the rural recesses outside Manassas. Finding the residence amongst the thick forest and gravel roads was no problem for the Nav-U; it showed me every nook and cranny of this nearly-untouched area, with the winding gravel road marked clearly. Navigating in the dark wasn't an issue thanks to the Nav-U's well-lit display, which is controlled by its auto-dimmer function.

Finding a nearby point of interest, such as a restaurant, took seconds.

The following weekend brought a return visit to the land of government sprawl as I took my brother, his new wife, and another friend to see a concert at a large outdoor venue in Columbia, Maryland. I had visited this venue a couple of times before but was not intimately familiar with how to get there beyond taking I-95 from the beltway and looking for signs. We took two cars on the trip and I was able to move the Nav-U from one car to the other in about a minute; it was an incredibly smooth transition. We had written down the name of the road the venue was located on, and though I couldn't find the venue under the points of interest setting on the Nav-U (I'll admit I didn't spend more than two minutes looking for it), we were on track to the concert in no time. As we approached the venue, we decided to get something to eat and the NAV-U found us a restaurant and got us back to the original route posthaste.

After the concert was over and we began to make our way back to central Virginia, a strange thing happened with the Nav-U. First of all, I was unable to bring up the 3-D map view on the screen, despite several attempts to change the settings from 2-D to 3-D. These changes appeared to be correct, but whenever the map display returned, it was in 2-D mode. This problem persisted all the way back home until I took the unit back inside and recharged it, though there was no indication during the trip there was a problem with the battery. At no point on the return trip did the navigation itself develop a problem, and the route was still easy to follow and correct. Very odd indeed, but perhaps we'll chalk it up to too much rocking on the part of the Nav-U.

Ready to go in my hand for safe keeping, recharging at home, or use in another car.

Although there was a minor hitch encountered on the second long-distance trip with the Nav-U, it still performed admirably. It's difficult to overemphasize how easy the unit was to use, and how helpful it was in navigating. I wouldn't change much about this device besides raising the maximum volume of the voice prompts. There are other navigation units which offer features such as MP3 playback and live traffic reports, but for the price the Nav-U is tough to beat. Sony's Nav-U appears to be an excellent gadget for intrepid travelers and lovers of live music alike.

NOTE: Drivers in Minnesota and California should be aware that windshield-mounted devices are currently prohibited by law. Please check all state and local traffic regulations before attempting to use this product.