Sony Nav-U NV-U92 user reviews
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User reviews6
Bob Buchanan 18 February 2011
Good: Great screen, good vocal instructions
Bad: Can't upgrade, does not like MAC takes ages to locate signals on start up.
Comment: I have had from the week it came out, so maps are 3- 4 years out of date. Can't update maps on line. It does take ages to start up, sometimes as long as 30 minutes, in the car. It is quicker if done out of the car.
I do like the fact that it relocates if overshot and is unusual if it tells you to make a Uturn. It has been brilliant in France once it has the signal located.
Because of the above and that Sony appear not to want to support the satnav I am considering buying a Garmin or TomTom.
evanstim 24 October 2008
Good: Style, soothing voice of unit
Bad: Reliability, lack of Vista support, slow
Comment: Sony, Sony, Sony... how could you get this so wrong?
Where do I start... the unit lets me down whenever I need it most. It completely hates being turned on in a new location from where it was turned off. When you power it on afterwards, for example, when you get off a plane, it takes ages (up to 40 minutes!) to hook on to a satellite. This is not acceptable! I'm in a new country, sitting in a hire car, no idea where I'm going, and this stupid thing is just sitting there, teasing me, not finding any satellites.
The number of times it has let me down because of this...
The lack of Vista support is just astounding, as is the stonewalled response from Sony - they told me to locate an XP computer. This is NOT acceptable!
The unit also suffers from operating system problems - about once a week it crashes, telling me that the memory card has been removed (it hasn't). This means the system needs to be reset.... and you can guess this always happens when I am relying on it.
The TMC system on it is slow. It reports problems too late, and does not remove problems after I have passed them, so it still reports red alerts even though the route to my destination is clear. This is REALLY annoying, I have to keep going into the screen to see if it is reporting someting new.
Even when it does find something in your route, it's too hard to tell it to avoid the trouble spot. Why? Why isn't there a button you can press to say 'Avoid this incident'?!?!?!?
The "full" postcode search does not work. Too many missing post codes. Including my own home postcode!
The touchscreen is not the best - you press one button, it selects another. The way the 'keyboard' isn't a qwerty keyboard is just nuts.
POI is okay, but out of date. How do I update this? Oh, that's right. Sony won't support me because I have Vista.
Speed cameras - this is a good feature - but why doesn't it tell me what the limit is when it is telling me the speed? It knows my speed - when I am not in navigation mode it displays your speed - but when you are navigating it hides this. Why?!?!? It also reports cameras which are off piste, sometimes way of your route. Why?!?!?! Oh and the cameras are out of date, I need to upload an update. Oh that's right, Sony won't support Vista.
The maps are out of date. No downloadable updates. I have to fork out £70 to get a DVD sent to me. Probably which I can't update because I have Vista.
In short - DON'T buy this unit. It's expensive, unreliable and not fit for purpose.
Steve K 3 January 2008
Good: Looks good
Bad: Does'nt do what it says on the lid
Comment: What can I say, when it worked it was brilliant. Trouble is, it didn't work very often, as more often than not it wouldn't find a satellite and as to updating the software with camera positions and TMC via the Sony web site, it's a mess as you have to go around the houses to do something that should be quite simple and then when I tried to log back in to the site my profile just wasn't there. So I gave up and sent it back, oh sorry didn't I say, this was the second unit as the first one didn't work either so it wasn't a one off.
On a good note the Customer Support is excellent, apart from once when the bloke couldn't be bothered.
Conclusion don't bother, buy from a manufacturer with experience of these things.
uptown bob 18 October 2007
Good: Big Screen
Bad: Unreliable
Comment: Always wanted a sat nav and purchased Sony U92T sat nav recently and used it to assist? us when we travelled down to St Austell Cornwall, initially loading an hour later still loading then could not find a satalite? then programmed destination confirmed M6 & M5 mile however just a few miles or so on M6 Sony U92 T instructed to do a U turn? and turn off at the next exit. Still on motorway advising to turn off at next exit 30 miles on Silence and then whilst on move product voice demo mode was activated? As we were about to join M5 the motorway it was silent absolutely nothing then we were instructed to turn off at the next exit? When we pulled into Bristol motorway services I turned the unit off and when it was turned back on it was LOADING and then cannot find a satalite? and was switched off. Basically this product could not find it's way out of the box it was purchased in, but I have to say it did keep us all amused with incorrect instructions to either turn off at the next exit or do a U-turn. Ialso tried to retrieve the free safety camera locations prior to our departure the SONY site is awful and almost impossible to activate this 12 month Free function SONY this Free 12 month Service should be pre-loaded what if you don't have internet access. Verdict This product does have a large screen, I repeat this product has a large screen and sadly that's about it. Sony should stick to what it knows best, although I suspect that the operating system it uses NAVTEQ I feel is the real problem, so if you see Navteq on the side of a box "steer well clear" Product was returned to John Lewis who admitted that many had been returned. Now Tom Tom or Garmin?
Hugh Battenbo 11 September 2007
Good: Big bright screen, superb suction mount
Bad: No speed limit display/warning, battery lasts not much more than 1 hour - always take the car charger.
Comment: I have owned this (UK version) for 2 months. The screen is excellent (set the brightness to maximum in the menu). The "sticky gell" mount is superb - it would stick to ANYTHING without leaving a mark (on my Honda Jazz, it sticks to the dashboard like a limpet - it takes all my puny strength to prize it off!). Keep a cloth (I use a glass cleaning kit) handy to clean the attachment area. Without the cigar lighter lead attached, it looks like it came as standard with the car - real neat and classy. The battery only lasts an hour, so always take the car charger. Sitting on top of the dashboard, about the same distance away as the instruments, I don’t need to move my head to read it - just move my eyes a fraction. I reckon this is better than the position of most built-in sat navs which are positioned quite low in the centre console. The screen is bright enough to read even when wearing sunglasses.
The default route setting of "fastest" can take you miles out of your way to keep to the major roads - select the "shortest route" from the menu for sensible routing for short journeys. You have the option of selecting “fastest”, “shortest” or “optimum” route - it is a good bet that one of them will give you a route which suits you. You can request to avoid motorways. With “shortest route” selected, the literal computer will add a few additional turns to cut off the odd corner to save a yard or two, but otherwise gives an excellent, sensible route. The “optimum” route is a compromise between the fastest and the shortest. Ideally, the nice lady would balance the saving of a few yards with the benefit of making fewer turns, but she will always get you there, so what’s the odd extra few yards or turns?
Downloading the speed camera data (1 year free at www.navu.sony-europe.com) needs at least 2 PhD's (I only have one, so took me ages to figure it out). Expect to go around in circles for 20 minutes or so (SONY take heed - TERRIBLE site). Contrary to the information given on the site, you will not find your model number on the base of the unit; it is on a sticker on the box. If you have thrown the box away by this time you are in trouble! There are a number of NV-U82 designations for different countries; the one for UK is NV-U82G. The nice lady warned me about the speed camera just down the road - impressive as it has only been there a few weeks (Beware! Watch your speed! - an icon also appears on the screen to show you exactly where the camera is). Activating the speed camera data does not switch it on; you have to dig into the menus and switch on “warnings”. You can switch on speed camera, distance camera and traffic light warnings.
One of the menu screens will tell you how many satellites you are connected to (4 for south Manchester), your latitude and longitude and your height above sea level.
The nice lady does not speak the road names. For major roads, the A/B name is spoken, (eg "turn right in 100 yards on the A354). You have the option to show road names on the map (got them all right pronto, even the smallest local roads). The display shows the road name you are currently on and the name of the next road at bottom left.
Amazing how it shows the names of small pubs, cafes, major premises in our little villages (cafe JemAndI, Saints and Scholars cafe - just down the road). Cafes, chemists and petrol stations are all shown. Major premises such as large car vendors, museums etc. are shown and are a useful landmark.
If you decide to detour from the nice lady's instructions, she calculates the new route with adequate swiftness - no panicky "do a U-turn" (unless you are in a supermarket car park - when off-road she assumes you are on the nearest public road).
The kit comes with a pouch for the main unit but you will need a carry case for the total kit- display unit, mount, car charger and cleaning cloth (I use a spectacle cleaning kit) to keep the attachment area (and therefore the sticky gell mount) clean.
Ther
Hugh Battenbo 22 July 2007
Good: Superb screen, mount that would stick to ANYTHING
Bad: No speed limit display/warning, battery lasts not much more than 1 hour - always take the car charger.
Comment: I have owned this (UK version) for 2 days. The screen is excellent (set the brightness to maximum in the menu). The "sticky gell" mount is superb - it would stick to ANYTHING without leaving a mark (on my Honda Jazz, it sticks to the dashboard like a limpet - it takes all my puny strength to prize it off!). Keep a cloth (I use a glass cleaning kit) handy to clean the attachment area. Without the cigar lighter lead attached, it looks like it came as standard with the car - real neat and classy. The battery only lasts an hour, so always take the car charger.
The default route setting of "fastest" takes you miles out of your way to keep to the major roads - select the "shortest route" from the menu for sensible routing. You can request to avoid motorways. The literal computer will add a few additonal turns to cut off the odd corner to save a yard or two, but otherwise gives an excellent, sensible route.
Downloading the speed camera data (1 year free) needs at least 2 PhD's (I only have one, so took me ages). Expect to go around in circles for 20 minutes or so (SONY take heed - TERRIBLE site).
Contrary to the prof. review, the nice lady does not speak the road names; for major roads, the A/B name is spoken, (eg "turn right in 100 yards on the A354). You have the option the show road names on the map (got them all right pronto). The display shows the road name you are currently on and the name of the next road at bottom left.
Amazing how it shows the names of small pubs, cafes, major premises in our little villages (cafe JemAndI, Saints and Scholars cafe - just down the road). Cafes, chemists and petrol stations are all shown. Major premises such as large car vendors, museums etc. are shown and are a useful landmark.
If you decide to detour from the nice lady's instructions, she calculates the new route with adequate swiftness - no pannicky "do a U-turn" (unless you are in a supermarket car park - when off-road she assumes you are on the nearest public road).
The kit comes with a pouch for the main unit but you will need a carry case for the total kit- disply unit, mount, car charger and cleaning cloth (I use a spectacle cleaning kit) to keep the attatchment area (and therefore the stick gell mount) clean.
There is no mains charger. You can charge from your computer with the USB lead (only when your computer is switched on?). Best to get a mains charger - I have a universal charger which suffices (you need a charger of 5.2v with the central pin + [most universal chargers will cover this[)
Just wish it told me the curent speed limit with warning beeps if I am exceeding it (help keeps your licence!) - I think the TomTom does this.
In summary, GREAT! Really plesed with it.
Regards
Hugh