Mio's Digiwalker C520 GPS Reviews

Introduction to the New Mio Digiwalker C520 GPS!

Mio has really started to make a name for itself in the GPS industry. I’d say it is right up there now with top companies like Garmin and TomTom. Their newer line of navigational devices has become a favorite because they are feature packed and affordable. They all use 20 channel SiRF star III GPS receivers and TeleAtlas maps.

Released earlier this year in the DigiWalker series is the C520. For a mid-priced device it sure packs in a lot of nice features like Bluetooth technology, text-to-speech, a full multimedia viewer, and about 6 million POI’s. There’s a little more to the menu system on this C520 so if you’re brand new to GPS navigational devices and not so good with computers you might want to stick to the cheaper C230. It also has a larger than average 4.3″ widescreen that is a bit brighter than earlier devices in the series and is very lightweight and portable which makes it also great in pedestrian mode.

Getting Started with your Mio C520

Your Mio DigiWalker C520 portable navigator will come with the the actual device, device holder, windshield mount, AC power adapter, DC in-vehicle power adapter, USB cable, CD/DVD with MioMap, CD/DVD with user’s manual, license agreement, information booklet, mount installation guide, quick start guide and warranty information.

To initially turn on the device you will need to hold the power button for five seconds. After this initial turn on you will just have to tap the button unless it freezes or something where you will have to hold it for five seconds and you will be able to choose to either shut it down or restart. When you turn it on you will need to charge it completely for at least eight hours. Make sure the charge indicator is amber so you know it’s charging. On first use you will be asked to chose your language and enter the date and time. After this you will be taken to the main menu and you will be able to start using your device. Initial setup is that easy.

From the home screen or main menu there are eight options. You can use the MioMap which is the actual navigation software on the device. You can play videos, audio, or look at pictures. You can use your mobile phone with the Bluetooth technology. You can access the stereo system which will allow you to search for Bluetooth headsets. There is a list of extra tools like a contact list, a calculator, and a file manager to manage files on your memory cards and the internal storage. The last option is a settings menu where you can customize your device.

You might want to play with the settings before you start navigating anywhere. Your general settings from the Mio Map menu are shown in the picture above. Your options in the settings menu from the main menu include the backlight brightness, volume, screen calibration and alignment, power saving features, date and time, language, Bluetooth/auto-answer preferences, and restore which will resort manufacture defaults.

Design and Technical Specs of the Digiwalker 520

The Mio C520 has a great design. The color scheme is a cool charcoal grey mixed with some silver. There is only one button on the whole device which is on top. Unlike the Mio C230 which has an on/off switch on the back and a power button on top the power button can be held to completely turn it on and off or just pressed to put it into a sort of hibernation mode. There’s no little reset button that you have to jam something small into to press. On the front of the device there is a charge indicator that glows amber while charging and green while fully charged and a Bluetooth indicator that glows blue when Bluetooth is on. On the back of the device there is a spot to connect an external antenna just incase there is some reason like your window tint that could block the internal antenna from getting a signal. The headphone connector can only support a 2.5 mm jack which is a bit smaller than average.

The mount this device comes with is very nice. It has a suction cup for the windshield or if you live in California or Minnesota where that is illegal you can use the dash mount to stick it to your dashboard. This kind of sucks because it is a little more permanent but what can you do, the law is the law. There are some add-ons you can purchase like the Bracketron Nav-Mat Portable GPS Dash Mount that make it so you don’t have to put that sticky pad right onto your dash. It comes with a non skid surface that you can stick the suction cup to.

With an extremely small size of only 4.9 inches by 3.2 inches by 0.78 inches and a weight of only 6.7 ounces the C520 is extremely sleek and having a built in antenna makes it even more portable. Its large 4.3″ LCD widescreen with a 480 x 272 resolution is very easy to ready and the speaker is nice and loud which are two important features while driving. It runs with 64 megabytes of SDRAM so you should have no problems multitasking with things like the mp3 player and Mio Map which is its navigational system. The lithium ion battery has a 4.5 hour life and can be charged with the AC adapter, the car charger or even by connecting it to a computer with the USB cord. There is 2 gigabytes or internal flash memory along with a SD/MMC memory card slot. The device is backed by a one year warranty.

I played around with a bunch of GPS devices at Circuit City and was really impressed by what the Mio C520 Digiwalker had to offer. I found one problem was the street name of the next turn was hard to read on the screen. I know Samantha reads it for you but she can be a bit robotic at times so you might need to glance at it. I was able to find out how to enlarge this text from 16 point to a nice big 25 point bold type by reading some online forums. There is some really amazing things you can do if you play around with the Mio code although I don’t recommend doing it without backing all the files up first. Aside from that problem which was fixed I really like the interface of this device. It’s a bit more on the advanced user side but there’s so much more customization with it then what is offered by other manufacturers.

Rating:
Review By: Donnie

I used to own a Mio C310x but decided to upgrade to the Mio C 520 for all the extra features and new interface. I really love it. The new interface still isn’t the easiest to use but the customization is great. If you want simple go with Garmin but you’ll get more out of the Mio interface if you spend the extra time figuring it all out. Something the C310x had but the C520 doesn’t is a 3.5mm headphone jack which is strange.

I bought myself a Mio 520 because it offered great features that I could only find from other GPS companies for way more money. I had no problems with any of the maps or the satellite signals which were my two big concerns. I thought for such a low price they must have had to compromise quality but don’t worry, they didn’t. I like I can even watch videos on it and play mp3’s in the background while navigating. I use the Bluetooth all the time for hands-free calling and have had no problems pairing my phone to it. I was actually able to save my contacts from my phone onto the device and then take them off my device and put them on my computer.

I bought a Mio Digiwalker C520 before I took a trip from Mississippi to California and it was a lifesaver. I had some videos I converted and loaded up before we left and it kept the kids entertained. I also had some MP3’s on there to listen to along the way. I even found lyric files online for me and my husband to sing along. There were no problems with inaccurate maps although I had heard TeleAtlas was supposed to be not quite up to par with Navteq. We also got great reception.

Before purchasing the Mio C520 GPS I went down to the local electronics store to test drive a few of them. They had some on display to try and I really liked the C520’s menus and extra features. It seemed a little more complicated than some of the others but it seemed to have a lot more features. I bought myself one online from Amazon.com and I love it. The Bluetooth is very high quality I find. I was able to import my contacts list off my phone onto the device and even save it on there in the contacts list tool.