All Car electronics

The Bottom Line: The Venturi Mini is a stylish, all-in-one car tech device with an attractive design and an easy-to-use interface. While it lacks some of the robustness of in-dash systems, its portability and price tag make it an attractive option.

The Bottom Line: The sleek Mio DigiWalker C320 offers the navigation basics and solid performance at a wallet-friendly price, but you can get more bang for your buck with other systems.

Specs: Automotive

The Bottom Line: The Alpine CDA-9885 combines attractive styling and an easy-to-use music search interface with a host of expandability options, including HD Radio capability. However, those upgrading to HD Radio will have to deal with a clunky module and a hefty price tag.

Specs: Radio / CD / MP3 player, Radio tuner, CD / MP3 player, Audio line-out, Subwoofer output, System components control bus

The Bottom Line: Despite a sleek design and an attractive feature set, the HP iPaq 310 Travel Companion shows an ugly side with inaccurate route recalculations and poor voice directions that makes us say pass for now.

Specs: Automotive, Navigation instructions, 6.6 oz

The Bottom Line: Though the affordable price tag and text-to-speech functionality are nice, the Navigon 2100's sluggish performance and roundabout route recalculations are a turnoff; you can get a better entry-level portable navigation device in the Mio C230.

Specs: Automotive, Audible signal(s), 5.6 oz

The Bottom Line: The Alpine PMD-B200 is a decent portable navigation system, with good Bluetooth integration and traffic services. But the lack of text-to-speech functionality and inefficient route recalculations doesn't make it worth the high price tag.

Specs: 16 channel, Automotive, 8 oz

The Bottom Line: The Sony CDX-GT520 is a decent option for those wanting a reasonably priced stereo to play disc-based audio. While it does support HD Radio, it requires the connection of a clunky add-on module, which is almost more trouble than it's worth.

Specs: Radio / CD / MP3 player, Radio tuner, CD / MP3 player, Audio line-in, Audio line-out, Subwoofer output, System components control bus

The Bottom Line: The Blaupunkt Velocity 2Go 6 works well as a powered subwoofer mounted in a car, but less so as a portable speaker set for an iPod or MP3 player. But the fact that it works in both situations makes the Velocity 2Go a flexible solution for your mobile audio needs.

Specs: 18.9 in x 9.4 in x 8.7 in, 2-way Active, 24 dB

The Bottom Line: Though the Navigon 7100 offers some handy navigation tools and integrated Bluetooth, the confusing interface and sluggish performance prevents us from giving it higher marks.

Specs: 20 channel, Automotive, Navigation instructions, Voice command recognition, 6.9 oz

The Bottom Line: Sony's CDX-GT420IP is an affordable means of taking your iPod library on the road. While its basic user interface lacks the search functionality of some other systems, this is a competitively priced and decent sounding entry-level stereo for the digital-audio age.

Specs: Radio / CD / MP3 player, Radio tuner, CD / MP3 player, Audio line-in, Audio line-out, IPod docking