Mio C520 Review:

Mio  C520 Portable Car Navigation System is an easy-to-use. Both affordable and stylish, the Mio C520 GPS makes it easier than ever to get where you are going, even when you aren’t quite sure where that might be. Boasting fast and accurate GPS reception, top-notch mapping, and a comprehensive POI (Points of Interest) database, Mio C520 GPS navigator helps make sure that every journey you take is a good one.

Ready to go virtually straight out of the box, the Digiwalker Mio C520 comes complete with full TeleAtlas maps of the US so you don’t need to make any additional purchases to get out on the road. All you have to do is power the navigator on, insert the SD card, clip it on to the included car mount and you are ready to go anywhere. Larger menu icons combine with a brighter user-friendly wide-screen display to make navigating the intuitive user interface a breeze. Intelligently designed, the wide-screen display has a split-screen function that lets you see the full map view on one side, and a selection of route information on the other, so you don’t have to quit the navigation screen to make changes. Clear voice instructions are provided in up to 16 languages including English, French and Spanish, giving you turn-by-turn guidance so you can keep your eyes on the road while you drive. For added safety, the Mio C520 also enables hands-free calling when used with a Bluetooth-enabled phone.

Designed to be completely portable, the Mio C520 easily travels from car to car, pocket to bag, or suitcase to briefcase. For this purpose, this unit is constructed with an internal GPS antenna that will not catch or snag, and has a semi-gloss finish that resists wear so your navigator stays looking as good as it performs. Containing over 3.5-million POIs such as restaurants, hotels, gas stations and more, you are never more than a few keystrokes away from your destination. Simply select the category of your desired location, make your choice from the provided list, and you are ready to find just about anything you are looking for, giving you a local expert as a traveling companion. As an added convenience, the Mio C520 tells you the likely locations of fixed safety cameras and mobile traps, and includes free safety-camera updates from Mio’s website for a full year from the time you register. More than just a navigator, this unit lets you listen to your favorite digital music or to have a look through your latest digital photos as well. When the MP3 player and photo viewer is used with the SD/MMC memory card slot, you can play all your stored music and look at your favorite snapshots, or show them to other people, all while on the road.

The Mio Digiwalker C520 utilizes a 4.3-inch transreflective LCD touch-screen display with full color and 480 x 272 pixels of resolution for easy at-a-glance information. This unit includes 64 MB of on-board SDRAM, with 1 GB of memory built in, and infinitely expandable memory via the built-in SD/MMC card slot. The GPS receiver is a high-sensitivity, 20-channel SiRFstar III with complete accuracy and quick refresh times. The Mio C520 includes a USB 2.0 connector, a built-in speaker, a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, and an internal rechargeable 1,300 mAh lithium-ion battery. The included cradle doesn’t just hold your navigator, but will also charge the battery while you drive when connected to the power cable. Combined with the windshield mount, this cradle forms a very solid device holder, providing investment security and preventing vibrations. The Mio C520 portable car navigator weighs 6.7 ounces, measures 4.9 x 3.2 x 0.78 inches (W x H x D).

Mio C520 User Review:

The Mio C520 is my first standalone GPS. I’ve used others on laptops, cell phones, PDAs and the like, but this is the first dedicated unit I’ve tried.

I was sorely tempted by the Garmin models, but figured that I really didn’t need a more expensive unit for my relatively limited needs, knowing that I could return it to Amazon if it wasn’t suitable.

I don’t think I’ll be returning the Mio C520.

Physically, it’s a very attractive unit, about 3 by 5 inches and perhaps a half-inch thick. It slips easily into a shirt pocket. (Mio, by the way, does not provide any kind of case or protecetive sleeve. I would strongly urge you acquire a screen protector immediately and an inexpensive belt case.) This portability is a major plus because the 6 million item POI (Points Of Interest) library is truly blowaway caliber. If you’ve ever been a stranger in a city, particularly with a sign restriction, finding a place to eat can be a major hassle - not with this little hummer. Just about any category of goods, services and conveniences are represented. Some of the listings can be strange, such as the inclusion of McDonald’s under Mexican restaurants. But on the whole, the POI catalog is a major selling point for the Mio C520.

The 4.3 inch display is excellent. Like almost all devices, it is difficult to read in direct bright sunlight, but performs quite well in all other situations. The information display, if you choose to use it, is excellent.

Even indoors, I had no trouble getting quick satellite fixes. As I write this, I am sitting indoors about ten feet from the windows and have solid fixes on six satellites. Outdoors in obstruction free areas, there is no problem.

Route calculation so far has proven to be quite good. I took it out for a test today as a passenger, while the driver took a very, very circuitous route to our destination, ignoring the unit’s suggestion. Recalculation was acceptably fast. The Mio C520, by the way, doesn’t as many mapping programs do think that a U-turn is the first remedy and sometimes only remedy.

All the menus are accessible. I really have no complaints about about the hierarchy.

The video, photo, audio and Bluetooth functions seem to work okay, though I haven’t spent a great deal of time with them.

Overall, I am very pleased with the Mio C520. I am looking forward to being able to slip it into my shirt pocket on my next out-of-town trip and being to depend on it as a handy and accurate guide.

By Jerry

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