Product Description

MIO Mio C310 DigiWalker Pocket-Sized Navigation System, 3.5" TFT with touch screen and 65k colors Model: mio c310 The Mio DigiWalker C310 is a stylish, handheld personal navigation and entertainment device. It is targeted at the mobile consumer who would enjoy real time direction while driving and is unique as it combines high fashion, highly accurate GPS functionality, comprehensive point of interest location and a feature-rich MP3 audio player all in a single device which fits easily into pocket or purse. High Sensitivity GPS Receiver SiRFstarIII GPS receiver for fast, accurate navigation in challenging environments such as: dense forests, deep canyons, and cities with tall buildings. Easy to Use Larger icons and a brighter display with a user-friendly touch screen make it easier to set your destination. 1, 2, Go! Built-in Media Player While navigating, the integrated MP3 player plays music or audio books transferred from your computer for entertainment or education on the road. Pre-loaded Maps Maps of USA and Canada are preloaded and ready to use out of the box, from Halifax to Huntington Beach. Voice Guidance and Choice of Languages Clear voice instructions and user-friendly menus in English, French and Spanish. GPS Receiver Channels 20 (SiRF star) Memory 2GB ROM, 64 MB RAM Display 3.5" TFT with touch scren and 65k colors Storage Format SD/MMC memory expansion module TMC Support Supports external TMC Battery 1200 mAh Li-ion (up to 5 hours) USB V1.1 Weight 6 oz (170 grams) Dimensions (WxHxD) 4.33"x3.03"x0.78" Minimun System Requirements Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP or later MIcrosoft Outlook 2000 or later Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later USB port DVD-ROM drive Open Box. Unit is Brand New.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26565 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Mio
• Model: C310X
• Dimensions: .78" h x 4.33" w x 3.03" l, 2.10 pounds
• Native resolution: 320 x 240
• Display size: 3.5

Features

• Combines GPS based portable navigation with a fully featured MP3 audio player
• Large, easy-to-read icons, a bright 3.5-inch display, and a user-friendly touch screen
• Comes with preloaded maps of the entire U.S. (Alaska and Hawaii included)
• Preloaded points of interest (POI) database lets you easily locate restaurants, hotels, gas stations and more
• Weighs only 6 ounces and measures 4.33 x 2.76 x 0.79 inches (W x H x D)

Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description The Mio DigiWalker C310x is a stylish, pocket sized device which combines GPS based portable navigation with a fully featured MP3 audio player. Whether you're heading across town or across the country, the Mio DigiWalker C310x is the perfect travel companion. Wherever the road ahead takes you, the C310x makes it easy to get where you're going.

The C310x is a stylish and powerful handheld personal navigation and digital entertainment device. See more detail: Back - Memory Slot. You can also see it in action.

Large icons and a bright display make it a snap to use.

Built in audio player plays mp3s or audio books.

User friendly menus in 16 languages.

Design
One of the most striking features of the C310x is its stylish design, which invites you to take the device with you no matter where you're going. Completely self contained and ultra portable, the C310x slips easily into pocket or purse and truly adds a new dimension to the concept of portable navigation. The unit is also easy to use; large, easy-to-read icons, a bright 3.5-inch display, and a user-friendly touch screen make it simple to set your destination.

The C310x weighs only six ounces and measures 4.33 x 2.76 x 0.79 inches (W x H x D). Under the hood, the unit features a WAAS-enabled, SiRFstarIII GPS chipset for extreme accuracy, 1 GB of onboard ROM and 64 MB of RAM, as well as an SD/MMC card slot for memory expansion. The unit connects to your PC via USB, and the included lithium-ion battery lasts up to five hours.

Navigation
The C310x comes complete with preloaded maps of the entire U.S. (Alaska and Hawaii included) to make sure that you're up and running right away. You also get a huge database of preloaded points of interest (POIs) so you can easily locate restaurants, hotels, gas stations and more. The device guides you every step of the way with clear voice instructions and user-friendly menus in 16 languages, including English, French, and Spanish.

Entertainment
To make sure your road trips are complete, the C310x also features a full-featured MP3 player. Great for listening to your favorite albums or audio books while you're on the road (or on the plane before you get on the road) the C310x MP3 player boasts a number of customized EQ settings, a built in speaker and a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack. And for the ultimate in convenience, you can use the integrated SD memory card slot to easily carry your music collection with you.

What's in the Box
C310x, USB cable, car charger, mapping DVD, device holder, mount

Customer Reviews

BEST GPS UNIT ON MARKET FOR MONEY
I researched all GPs units for over a year. Two GPS's I have experience using plus I spent countless hours researching on the Internet and I played for hours in the store demonstrations.

Some generalities one needs to realize concerning "ALL" GPS units. You will not find any GPS unit that is 100% accurate 100% of the time. You will find that "ALL" GPS units at one time or another will not always take the shortest route or fastest route no matter what you try. This is due to many reasons which include the number of satellites tracking you, weather, map accuracy, etc..,. I have heard often that to buy a unit using NavTeq mapping and avoid the TeleAtlas mapping. Personally, I have ran 2 different GPS units that used "current" NavTeq mapping and I was not impressed. Locally I would sometimes find myself being shown off road with no roads existing while the roads I were on were major secondary roads and had been there for 10+ years and then while driving several long trips on major highways, I would be shown as being off the interstate driving ¼ to ½ mile off in the pasture somewhere. I have found just the opposite with the TeleNav mapping. I have run the TeleNav mapping in the same spots that I had trouble with the NavTeq mapping and I have not had one problem with its mapping navigation. Locally, the NavTeq mapping would sometimes only take me within 1/4 to 1/2 mile of my destination saying I was there when I wasn't. Not with the TeleAtlas, most of the time right on the money but has never been off more than 200 feet. Even running address look ups and points of interest in the demos at the stores, the NavTeq mapping did just not show updated information. Just the opposite with the demo of the TeleNav. "Personally", I like and support the TeleNav mapping over the NavTeq mapping, but please remember this is based on using the TeleNav mapping only with the Mio C310X with the note that this GPS unit comes with the most up to date mapping available (Aug 2006) to this date.

You will find that the majority of GPS units in the GPS market are Garmin and Magellan units. "Personally", I do not like the interface of the Garmin GPS units. In general, the public has Magellan units rated less "overall" compared to Garmin units plus Magellan is known not to have good customer service. "Personally" I do not know but that is the general consensus you will find when one researches. There are many brands out there now which are trying to compete with Garmin and Magellan GPS units. Some are rated pretty good and some are rated quite average or below. BUT there is now a unit that competes head to head with the best of Garmin and Magellan GPS units and depending on your taste, leaves them in the dust. Such a unit is the Mio C310X.

I was very impressed when I bought the Mio C310X and now after driving several long trips, it has not only lived up to its new reputation on the market but has even exceeded my initial review. Here are my thoughts and please realize when you read anyone's pros and cons that some pros and cons can be things that are not "NEEDED" but just nice to have.

Pros:

Uses 20 channel SIRF GPs satellite tracking
Uses TeleAtlas mapping. Has been accurate 99% of the time I have used it
Auto screen dimmer switch from daytime to nighttime use
Speaker is loud and clear
Over speed limit alert on some roads
Can play MP3 while navigating
Small and lightweight unit
2D or 3D viewing with automatic angle viewing
Displays mountains of information for you to see on the screen to include your speed, distance to destination, and time remaining on trip. Also displays cameras at stoplights.
Power is provided by DC car plug, computer USB , or built in battery (approx 2 hours)
Superb windshield mounting bracket
Some units will have 1GB extra memory (check box)
Impressed with customer service (used twice to ask a general question)

Cons:

Comes only in white color
For some people......No built in wireless Mp3 transmitter (easily fixed by using headphones, cassette adapter, or wireless fm transmitter unit and do remember that the built in speaker is a pretty good speaker)
For some people.....does not announce the name of the road you are turning onto ( I don't find this a problem as it displays the name on the unit's screen)

You should be quite happy with this GPS unit. Its fast, accurate, and has lots of bells and whistles that only come with much higher GPS units. Good hunting deciding on which GPS unit that will fit your needs and budget.

Does far more than you'd expect - for much less
There are a whole bunch of presumptions about this GPS and GPS systems in general. Don't let them get in the way of your buying this system. This is what I've found from using the Mio:

(1) Just about any GPS is better than no GPS.

(2) This isn't a device to check the "rightness" of the routes you travel regularly. It's best when it gives you directions when you don't know where you're going.

(3) No GPS will have 100 percent correct maps. One day, you'll have the worst map, and the next day, when you get the update, you'll have the best. So don't compare the maps with those of other companies.

(4) What the Mio has is sufficient. You have things that some other GPSs don't have, like the whole road system of the U.S. already installed, rather than having to buy a flash card and load the info yourself.

(5) The voice in the Mio won't tell you the names of the roads. I'd rather have something that told you to turn right at the next junction rather than something that told you to turn onto "Shubablub Street," which is spelled completely differently to how it sounds, and you have to look for the name sign on the street.

(6) The screen is small compared to original equipment navigation systems, but in fact it's large enough for what's needed. The backlight makes it easy to understand. And the fact that it cost you well over $1,000 less than the car manufacturer's version is a pretty good thing, too.

(7) Also, unlike those expensive built-in navigation systems, you can use it in any car that you own and any one that you don't own, like a rental car, or a friend's car. And when you replace your car you can easily transfer it to the new one that you buy.

It's very easy to become a GPS dweeb, because many are based on Windows CE PDA's, and people want to do things that are astounding because they're done on a GPS system, but they aren't very useful.

My advice is to get the Mio, or if there's a comparable GPS that costs less, get that one. You won't like everything about it, but that's true of any GPS I know about.

Very good unit for the money
Ok, answering Steven's post on December 1st, I think he needed a bit more time with the unit.

First of all, the quickstart manual IS a joke. I fully agree with that. If he had spent a bit more time with the unit, he'd have found that there is a full manual on the included DVD which is great and goes into detail on settings, etc. The interface is fine, although you do have to drill down and back out for several options. However, to me, they are all very logical straightforward programming. I have absolutely no problem reading the street names, and if you're on a plotted route, the bottom of the screen tells you the street you are on and the top of the screen tells you the one you are next turning onto. Very intuitive, and very easy to see at a glance.

His complaint on the cockpit mode is valid, but while navigating, you don't have to use cockpit mode. You can turn on a full map view as well. However, you lose some of the nicities (such as that street name top / bottom view) available in the cockpit. If I don't have a plotted route but want to see a map, I prefer a north up map view. If I have a plotted route, I'm listening to the directions more anyway with a glance over to see the street name I'm turning on, and thus use the cockpit mode.

I don't even know what he's talking about regarding seting up destination and the unit doesn't tell you automatically how to get there. It certainly does! You can scroll around the screen or look for POIs (Point of Interest) even when a route is plotted. The popup lock button just then takes you back to your current position and then tracks on you as you move. This is a good feature, as maybe I want to scroll / look ahead (ok, more like my passenger...I'm driving).

MP3 function works fine. And you most certainly CAN have MP3's playing at the same time as GPS. In fact, the GPS voice prompts pause the music and then auto-resume so they're not competing with it. Again, he might know this if he had either used the built-in help screen (yes, there is built-in help to explain every button / setting choice) or the full manual on the DVD. My one criticism of the MP3 player is that you have to build a playlist on the unit rather than on your computer to transfer as it does not use a standard format (aka Winamp).

All in all, the interface is VERY nice, the maps scroll fluid (unlike Garmin units I've seen), and can seamlessly rotate in full 3D, in fact zooming out and in / rotating based upon your speed, how close your next turn is, etc., and this can also be controlled by the user in settings. It's simply the best looking GPS I've seen. If this unit were widescreen (for a bigger view in cockpit mode) it would be ideal.

One additional criticism / bug. The fast flyover feature that quickly shows your route does not function. My only flyover is in real-time, which of course is not practical. You can zoom out to preview the route, but if you want to generate a "watch-the-path" on the map or cockpit mode with a simulation of the car moving, you really need the fast-flyover. I've got a call into Mio regarding this issue.

Tomtom has only switched to NavTech on one unit, and in fact, just released updated TeleAtlas maps for their products. Mio is set to do the same in 6-9 months, and this map update has been stated will be FREE for those that purchased this device. That will not be true (like all other GPS companies) after the first free update. The 2006 TeleAtlas maps are much improved due to a previous company acquisition here in the USA that are incorporated into this set of maps to be released.

One final note: users in Washington DC are reporting some major map problems with many routes / bridges unavailable (in red). This error is making DC about useless with the Mio. If you live there, I suggest you get another unit or wait the 6 months till new maps are available, although I'd be surprised if Mio doesn't issue a fix before then.