Product Review – Mio DigiWalker C520

June 14, 2007

Mio DigiWalker C520

GPS Review

Wow.

That’s what I thought when I first saw the Mio DigiWalker C520. It’s sleek, it’s got a really nice display (4.3″ touch screen QVGA display,) 2gb of on-board memory, small stature and it weighs very little. The screen has a very good Anti-Glare coating that makes it much easier to see in the daylight than most units. Also, it’s got on-board entertainment – and not just music and pictures; this unit plays video as well.

To sidetrack to the entertainment aspect for a minute: this unit has a built in speaker as well as a 2.5mm headphone jack, which you can use to listen to the navigation, music or videos. The unit has 2gb of on-board memory for storage of pictures, music files and video files as well as POIs and maps. The built in Bluetooth hands free makes taking phone calls in the car a breeze – not to mention, with the new laws in some states making talking on a cellphone without a hands-free device illegal it’s much safer this way. I find the Bluetooth in GPS devices to be a much better solution than the earpieces, considering that it’s easier to hear the person you’re talking to, and it doesn’t look like you’re having a conversation with yourself. Also with this unit you can sync the Bluetooth to a Bluetooth-enabled stereo headset for optimal music listening while out and about.

The Mio C520 features full text to speech (it will announce upcoming streets by name) and also supports 16 languages (Including French and Spanish.) The text to speech will only work in English, however.

One really cool feature of the DigiWalker C520 is the interface. The split screen interface puts everything at hand without digging through menus. Your current route information, map, Points of Interest and upcoming turns are all on the display for ease of use. The unit has a really intuitive interface that should make learning the ins and outs of the unit a breeze.

The C520 comes loaded with over 6 million Points of Interest, in the form of restaurants, hotels, gas stations, etc. It also comes preloaded with complete North American maps (US and Canada.) For the other tech junkies like myself out there, the chipset it uses is a 20 Channel SiRFstarIII setup, similar to other major GPS units I’ve reviewed.

FEATURES: 6 million Points of Interest, Bluetooth compatibility for hands free calling and stereo audio output, Entertainment on board (music, movies and pictures,) complete North American maps, 2gb on-board memory, SiRFstarIII chipset, built in Lithium Ion battery (up to 7 hours,) car charger, household charger, suction cup mount, split-screen interface, text to speech, support for 16 languages

PROS: wide screen format, movie player (adds to the usefulness of the unit outside of the vehicle,) Bluetooth for hands free calling and stereo audio, long battery life, comes with home charger

CONS: running windows ce 5.0 (while I had no problems with it, some things I’ve read on the internet make me nervous about this choice of OS,) TeleAtlas maps (I don’t understand why people use TeleAtlas for the US, or NavTeq for Europe)

RATING: 4.6/5.0

Really cool hybrid navigation unit for the trendsetters and younger crowd, definitely a competitor with the Nuvis, IMHO.

-Bill

TheGPSGuy Blog – http://www.thegpsguy.info :: bill at thegpsguy dot info