Love & Hate

It took me a while to figure out how to use this unit. The MIO website makes the 520 sound real good. I am afraid it is marketing hype. This unit is tough to use. I have read major parts of the manual and I am slowly figuring out "how to". The manual seems to have been written by someone does not understand the concept of How to get from one location to another, how to interrupt a trip, how to recall a previous trip, etc. It is all there and sometimes it is easy to use but it very frustrating figuring it all out.

I got the MIO based upon a friends MIO 320 which seemed like a nice unit. It was easy to use and understand. The C520 is a product in the making. Its user interface seems to have terrific potential, but the actual full implementation is incomplete. This weekend I watched a friend's Garmin navigate a few trips. It was much easier to use and seemed to have all the features the MIO C520 had.

I found many of the directions for streets in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California to be incorrect. That would be OK if there was a way to correct the information.

Many street names, particularly ones based on Spanish words, are mispronounced. This can really confuse one when one is not familiar with the area.

Map updates are not free and they are expensive.

What is nice to say? The display on a trip is informative and relatively easy to understand.