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“The Mitac Mio C320 is my first SatNav, and it seemed a...”

written by Ieuanfawr on 29/08/2007

Good Points
Initial setup very easy.
Bright large screen - auto-night mode calculated from date and latitude!
Speedy re-calculations.
Very good maps, few inaccuracies, great in town.
Auto zoom at junctions.
Easy address entry/full 7 digit UK postcodes (not been out of the UK yet)
Finds satellites quickly despite athermic windscreen.
Comprehensive menus/lots of options.
Large database of speed cameras (many warnings of non-existing mobile speed traps).
Huge and surprising list of POI - personal POIs can be added.
E-mail support from Mio better than expected.
Can be used when walking - keeping tracking restricted to left (or right) side of the road can be disabled.
CD with full back-up maps.
WinXP and Vista compatible.

Bad Points
Menus not as intuitive as they could be.
Very lengthy (laboured?) user guide, which seems to miss out on a few essential basics.
Only essential minimum accessories supplied - no cover/screen protection, no mains adaptor for charging (only car or USB port)
Touching the screen needs to accurate - small fingers are best!
Only one (male) British voice.
Updating &c. from website seems temperamental.

General Comments
The Mitac Mio C320 is my first SatNav, and it seemed a complete jungle, with devices often being sold on the strength of Bluetooth links or as an iPod substitute. I wanted really good SatNav, and was not really interested in the rest.
Despite pressure from friends and colleagues to get a Tom-Tom, I went for the Mitac Mio C320 on the strength reading a series of reviews and comparisons from largely seasoned users and journalists.



This model is just SatNav with an option to store and play MP3s from an optional SD/MMC card which is not supplied. There is an option to add TMC (Traffic Message Channel) but as this is a commercial RDS service (transmitted primarily by ClassicFM) I gave it a miss. The necessary hardware can be added later if required. I understand that the C320 and its bigger brother C520 use the latest generation of technology, and also run on Windows CE.



I had some difficulty finding a good price and reliable delivery, but eventually a new C320 arrived on the day I was leaving for my holiday in Scotland.



I eventually open the packaging when we stopped for lunch on the motorway, and within a few minutes it giving instructions for the route to our hotel north of Glasgow. It really did work straight out of the box - all the maps of Europe are pre-loaded, and it was just a matter of switching on, waiting a few moments for satellite detection and setting the country, date format and time zone.



The default settings are fine, but it takes some time to figure out that only two favourite destinations can be pre-set (Home and Work?), to get the warning for approaching speed cameras sorted, to realise that the POI database is huge with all kinds of surprising things and to get the re-calculation procedure under control.



A point not made clear in the instructions is the USB computer link must be plugged directly into the C320, not into the cradle which is solely a power input - there is no data link.



After a couple of weeks driving around Scotland - including using several ferries in the Western Isles and getting out to Cape Wrath(!), I am extremely pleased with C320.



To sum up, it works straight from the box without problem, but you need to persevere to find and use all the features. I have now ordered a case to prevent any damage to the screen when it is in my pocket.



I'm really pleased, and looking forward to testing it on mainland Europe later in the year.