Customer Reviews:
 Great GPS, September 17, 2008
I owned a MIO C310x for almost two year so I can say with confidence that MIO produces excellent GPS devices. This Mio C520 therefore is an upgrade for me. I like the text-to-speech, which is definitely a major plus but the voice could use a little more help, it doesn't sound natural. My old mio C310x has much better voice. I also would like to see hot buttons like for volumes and main menu....it's inconvenient to navigagte your way around to look for them while driving. Lastly, the bluetooth function works great but the speaker is too damn quite and hides in the back of the unit....
Well, if you can get over those little things (which can be annoying at times), it's a great GPS unit. The GPS function i think is flawless and takes you where you need to be. It's simple to use. A+++. The routing is not perfect as for all other GPS as well, but my point is this: if you never been to one location and this mio gets you there (maybe couple extra turns), you would never know the differences because, duh, you never been there. I found it rather funny that people actually compares the routes that GPS calculates and comments negatively when it doesn't give the best route. If you know the best route, then you should not rely on the GPS. I personally only use the unit when i have no idea where i am going.
That being said, this is a 4 stars, it would be 5 if mio fixes all the little annyoyances.
 best for the price August 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After my previous Mio320 was stolen (some buggers busted into my car window while i was out for 10 min only), I explored the newer possibilities and fell for this one- and that was a good decision. For this price, the service is JUST LOVELY. It got all the things that one may wish to have: mp3 player, bluetooth for handfree (works well with my Samsung Blackjack), text-to-speech, fast enough computation, somewhat outdated map (but you can update it). The look is great and sleek, fits into the shirt pocket easily even with a large enough screen.
Few minor downsides:
1) Don't particularly like the shrill voice- last version was soothing
2) Could not figure out any hard-button for the VOICE (volume)- so if you are running mp3 player, you need to go to that application (via touchscreen) and then control the volume.
3) Few more hot-buttons for easier access would have been helpful, e.g., connecting to cell phones while on move, instead of going through the whole touch-screen
These are just little hick ups, but, all in all, THE PRODUCT IS GREAT for the price and rating any less than 5 would be misleading...
and now the last sentence: its too good, do not ever leave it in the car even for 1 min; i learned it the hard way :)
nice gps July 27, 2008
I use this gps on my motorcycle. I bought a bluetooth stereo headset to go with it(plantronics pulsar 260) it mate fine with now problem. I control the tracks and volume control and even pause and play on the gps. I could not get to listen to the navigation thru the headset though, so I glance down and watch the high lighted route.
I have trouble creating music playlist with this device. I wish if it was something similar like windows media player. All the albums that you put on the sd card go in one playlist, so if you put 1000 tracks and you want to get to 920 you have to travel from 1-920.
gps passion forum have a section dedicated to the mio devices. search playlist.
The battery life is short with the gps but longer while listen to mp3. I always keep the charger connected while in the navigation mode. In the reviews it said the screen is difficult to see in direct sunlight. I have mine on a motorcyle facing up and I could still see the routes and with no voice to assist. I did had some difficulties going to jersey but that was probably due to the fact that I couldn't hear the voice guidance.
My sister and girlfriend left queens with mapquest in the car to go to a party in linden, new jersey. I left the bronx over a hr later and I pass them park in a wendy parking lot. The problem they encounter was the street that they was suppose to turn on didn't have any sign, so they follow me and we was there in a few minutes. I reluctantly give her my mio 520 to go back home.
Once you go gps you don't go back to the paper map. You just have to realize that gps in general is not 100% accurate.
Better than Garmin and Magellan's July 24, 2008
I had the Mio C310x first, but it got stolen. Then I bought a Garmin Nuvi350, but it was so bad I had to return it (I didn't use the C520 before I tried the Garmin, so I was only really comparing it to the older C310x). After that, I decided to look for the C520, seeing it has an upgraded version of the interface of the C310x.
Here's why I stick with Mio's older C series even now:
- A lot more options, compared with other brands, for tweaking to make it work the way I want it to (could even be overwhelming for some users, but I like it a lot)
- Animation of the map is the fastest and with highest refresh rate I've seen so far of portable GPSes. This is a BIG HUGE plus while on the road.
- Split screen view, which I've been used to on the C310x (though it had less functionality on the C310x), is immensely useful. If you've never had one with it, you won't know why it's so useful!
- POI search is extremely fast, unlike Garmin.
 Poor routing algorithm June 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After using the Mio C520 for over 3 months now I truly regret I bought it. the device performs poorly in route calculation choosing the most bizarre routes you would ever imagine.
Fortunately also owned a Garmin 200W and the TomTom One. both outperform the Mio in suggesting much faster and more logical routes. THIS IS THE MOST BASIC FUNCTION OF A GPS DEVICE!
The bluetooth speakerphone is useless as there's so much background noise. besides, you have to pair the phone each time you turn the Mio on.
Overall nice feature/function but poor design, stay away!
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