Lowell Conn
Sun
Delphi has a good thing going: Plenty of contracts to make profitable OEM equipment and a powerful foothold in entry-level satellite radio — after-market dominance by any measure. And, with the launch of the NAV200 GPS, the company seems destined to rise to the top of the navigation field. Feature-rich at a mind-blowing entry-level price, one can only rationalize that the NAV200 was intended to be a loss leader, subsidized by the zillions of dollars Delphi makes through other sector supremacy.
Chock full of MP3 and movie-playback modes, photo viewer, games, world clock, calculator and SD-card capability, it arrives pre-loaded with Canada and United States map data, all of which plays out on a bright 3.5-inch anti-glare LCD screen. It is easily among the most impressive low-cost GPS/entertainment hybrid systems on the market. Delphi is going to sell plenty of these puppies. $400; www. delphi.com.
MULTIMEDIA MACK
Mvix’s MV-5000U Multimedia Player is a consumer device fraught with existential angst. Is it an external hard drive capable of connecting to your home PC via USB and backing up important files? Or is it a portable entertainment device capable of playing a wide array of video and music formats? The sold-separately car kit seems to suggest this is meant to be an entertainment device capable of answering rush-hour boredom.
But the design and shape make it look more at home in your living room connected to both stereo and television. The car kit hardwires the device to your car stereo, but the MV-5000U already arrives with FM transmission. That makes one wonder whether the carkit is worth purchasing in the first place, not to mention whether this device even qualifies as a car product.
In fact, the only clear answer when it comes to the MV-5000U is that it is extremely cool. This, of course, makes up for all the ambiguity. $280; www.mvixusa.com.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
