Sony has released it’s second model in the nav-u line - a navigation system you can place in your car to guide you in getting to your final destination or simply to avoid traffic jams by finding alternate routing.

The new NV-U71T model is slimmer than the previous model. The device allows users to find maps, map a destination, get notified about traffic congestion, avoid traffic, and locate points of interest, and find your home and so on.

The new model delivers real time traffic reports to the user which makes this a very powerful tool. It uses a traffic receiver to relay the data, but more importantly it gives the user the choice of alternate routing so one can save time.

The real time feature isn’t free but at the same time is pretty cheap. It only costs $4.95 a month (free for the first 90 days after purchase), but if it saves me time I would definitely pay the extra five bucks.

Sony has created a user friendly interface that minimizes the use of drill down menus which then cause the driver to focus more attenion on the device rather than the road.

The NV-U71T has a very generous 3.5-inch display, which isn’t so large that it proves distracting, but large enough to easily view details. The display also has an anti-glare layer so that it can be seen regardless of the amount of light that fills your car.

The navigation system comes with maps of Canada and the US pre-installed. A speaker on the device delivers clear and crisp commands to the driver. Sony will make the new navigation system available by this winter for the cost of about $500.