Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38466 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sony
• Model: NVU53G.EUR
• Released on: 2007-09-11

Manufacturer's Description

The Sony NVU53 offers reassurance & peace of mind for those familiar & unfamiliar journeys. This widescreen navigation unit is ideal for everyday use as well as day trips to France and Ireland.

NAVTEQ With NAVTEQ you get the latest maps for the UK & Ireland as well as Northern France as far down to Paris. So now you can explore even further a field and still enjoy the peace of mind of your personal guide.

Unique Cradle Design The unique cradle design for the NVU53 has multiple installation options. It can be placed on the dashboard, windscreen or even on the centre console for improved safety.

Gesture Command Tired of having to always put in your route to find your way home or to find a petrol station? Sony now include Gesture Command on all models, simply draw a pre-designated shape on the screen to take you home or to find a petrol station.

Dynamic Route Information Provides a host of information along your route such as petrol stations, parking and other points of interest, making sure you know what's around the corner.

Safety Cameras The NVU53 comes with 30 days free subscription to safety camera positioning. See box for details. It couldn’t be easier.

Full Postcode Search Using the alpha numeric keypad you can enter the full postcode of your destination to get precise directions, making your journey even easier!

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Great for the money
I'm not going to bang on because Mr Haddrells review really is spot on.

Just a note about the speed (sorry, 'safety') camera download, it works quite well actually. As you approach the money-machines you get a verbal - "please watch your speed" (or words to that effect) - which works just fine.

It is worth mentioning that you get the speed camera free for 12 months, which isn't bad also. A quick glance over the Sony Nav-u website confirms that add-ons are somewhat cheaper than it's navigational rivals.

I have to say I haven't had any problems with the screen not responding to my taps, but I have read that it does occur in other reviews.

I'm not a fan of TomTom and I do think Garmin equipment is brilliant. But for £130 - this is an absolute STEAL. The screen is superb and the commands clear. The fact is gives you the actual road number is brilliant. The screen is so good in fact that you can see plenty around you, not just the road immediately ahead and to the side, this gives the Sony opportunity to display any POI that is near to you.

It gets 4 stars purely because of the fact that you do not get a case or indeed an AC adaptor with it. But, you can get these for peanuts if you shop about.

If you want a SatNav that does nothing more than be a SatNav, then you really cannot go far wrong with this little belter.

An accurate sat nav with some nice touches.
Before reading this please note that as of April 2008 Sony no longer produces Sat Navs for the European market so there will be no further updates for these products.

After much consideration, and research, I decided that the Sony was exactly what I wanted - a basic system that would replace the hassle of map reading and, thus, save a marriage! I liked the screen size and the look of the wonderfully drawn maps. And, at current prices (around £100), there seemed no other option.

I ordered the goods from Amazon and they arrived quickly. I knew exactly what I would get in the box but the lack of AC adaptor didn't seem important enough not to buy this product. The unit charges via the USB port of the computer, or via the cigarette lighter socket of the car, with the cables supplied. I don't foresee myself purchasing an AC adaptor as, so far, I can't see any need for it.
The battery life of this unit is no more than an hour so if your car doesn't have a cigarette lighter socket then this sat nav is not the one for you. If you do, then there is no need to use the battery power. Most sat navs are the same though.

The screen, as with screens on all Sony products, is superb. Whether you use it day or night it won't disappoint, and it automatically changes its brightness so you don't have to. Having the large wide screen also means you can see lots of the surrounding area including nearby villages/towns etc, which are clearly labelled. You would be looking at paying at least £30 more for the equivalent screen size on other makes.

I also love the ease of operation of this device. From the moment I turned it on I knew how to use it instinctively. The on-screen buttons are big so even those with larger fingers shouldn't have a problem with using it. The menus are clear and well set out, with the major options easily accessible.
The screen includes all of the information you need to know and optionally you can include nearby Points of Interests (POI). There are plenty of POIs to choose from. My only complaint is that they are very small on screen.

The estimated time of arrival (ETA) is very accurate and you really can trust it - depending on traffic conditions that is! A few forums have raised an issue with the clock on this model. It has been known to re-set itself or show the wrong time, affecting the ETA. This happened once with mine after connecting it to the computer. However, I took it outside and as soon as it got signal the correct time was showing.

The unit will show your speed but only when you haven't programmed a route. I don't know why this is but personally I don't see the need for it. The speedometer is right in front of you! Having seen a TomTom in operation I know that they tell you when you are exceeding the speed limit, though in the course of a 40 minute journey it got the limit wrong twice!

Having previously registered with Sony for other products setting up the speed cameras was quick and easy - though I don't find their web site the most intuitive. I did however have a little help from some online forums to properly activate the `safety' cameras so I would be verbally warned. This works well though it does tend to warn you about cameras that are in nearby roads as well!
I also didn't find the software provided that brilliant. This is something Sony has failed on with other products. The main issue was the constant `connecting' sign on the unit when it's connected to the computer. I have since found out that this is normal and it will say this even when synced and not transferring information.

I found the major advantage of this unit to be the very clear voice instructions - she tells you which road number to follow i.e. A123 which is something a lot of competitors don't offer. She also gives plenty of warning to keep to the left or right etc so you know which lane to be in. This makes the journey so much more stress-free.
The maps are also very clear and don't look like a childs drawing unlike other manufacturers. So far, I have found the maps to be very accurate, including some fairly recent roads, and haven't come across any unknown roads as yet.

Signal is usually picked up within a minute - it's never taken any longer than that for me. I guess it depends on where you live though. Even when signal is lost going through a tunnel it is a matter of seconds before it's back on track having come out the other side.

As with many portable devices (cameras, ipods etc) there is no case supplied in the box. At the price I paid for the sat nav an extra £10 for a case from halfords did the trick. This is a definite must if you intend to take it around with you. Put it this way, I wouldn't leave it in the car.

Another aspect which attracted me to the Sony was the attachment. This, in my opinion, is much better than the TomTom, which is prone to falling off the windscreen (seen it happen) and cannot be attached to the dashboard unlike the Sony - unless you purchase a separate attachment. This also makes your car much less of a target for thieves who look out for suction marks on the screen.
Attachment to the dashboard is very simple and very sturdy. The Sony also clips nicely onto this attachment with ease.

I have seen many reviews talking about the unresponsive touch screen. These are true to a point - sometimes it takes two or three pushes to get it to respond. However, this is no problem especially as most of this is done prior to the journey. The TomTom I used had a similar problem.

As a Mac user I was disappointed to find out that the Sony isn't Mac compatible. Although you can work it from the box there are a number of features such as adding/removing maps and languages that do require a computer. Thankfully I also have a PC for such situations.

I I have previously mentioned I have also seen a TomTom in operation. I can see that they do have advantages. Firstly the TomTom seems to be more accurate, to within about a metre whilst driving along. The Sony seems to be about 5 metres. So when you are passing a road junction the Sony may show you as still coming up to it.
Even though the TomTom I saw was about a year or two older than the Sony I noticed that even when it was in a tunnel and without signal it carried on going. Can't see a great advantage to this but it's still clever. Only the top of the range Sony's have this ability.
I also noted that the TomTom was marginally quicker at re-routing should you take a wrong turn. Although not sluggish the Sony was noticeably slower, but not enough to ever cause a problem.

Some nice features that I'd like to mention about the Sony are:
If you select the 2D map you can search the entire pre-loaded map (close up or far away) and tell it where you want to navigate manually. So if you don't know the postcode but know where it is on the map then this is a handy feature.
Also, if you happen to particularly like the area in which you are currently at you can save your current location and it will store it for you.
Gesture commands are another nice touch. These are like a speed-dial on your phone. Simply draw a `^' on screen and it will navigate you home. Draw a `-` across the screen and it will take you to the nearest petrol station. I think this is an excellent, and safe, feature that really does work.

For those who like the celeb voices that the TomTom has to offer the Sony (as yet) will disappoint. The female voice included is currently the only one available. I'm sure this will eventually change but you have to remember Sony haven't been in the market long.

Overall I'm very happy with this unit. It does exactly what I want i.e. navigate me to where I want to get to without the stress of map reading. The few nice extras are a plus and selecting the `nice route' instead of the obvious `fast route' has taken us through some lovely places nearby which we would never have seen otherwise.

Not up to Sony's usual quality! Don't buy this unit.
Great looking unit, great price on Amazon etc etc BUT...when you get the unit you cannot register the product on Sony's nav-u web site to get the free 12 months traffic camera offer. The disc supplied does not seem to allow you to set up the unit and Microsoft closes it down. Then, Trying to type in my home address - street unknown! There is no AC adaptor supplied (penny pinching) and the unit cannot be charged up via the USB cable! So you have to take the unit with you in the car plugged into the cigar lighter with cables everywhere looking untidy just to set up the thing. Compare this with a mobile phone where you charge it up at home and can use within hours! You get so many instruction books & bits of additional instructions more bits of paper in the box to me proves there have been many problems with this unit. I think Sony are trying to get into the established Sat Nav market served very well by Tom Tom, Navman & Garmin (I have had a previous Tom Tom which was so simple to set up!) Very disapointed, This is surely NOT a Sony, must be made under licence by a 2nd grade manufacturer without Sony's normal high standards. AVOID!!