-
Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
4.0 stars
"Excellent GPS/PDA combo."
Pros: portable, easy to use, great functionality
Cons: no Wi-Fi, maps require 2.0 GB SD card
Summary: I had been looking for a GPS unit for a while and eventhough I had found a few units that satisfied my requirements in a GPS (ex. NOVOGO V70 with voice activated GPS), MIO came on top b/c it is more than just a GPS that stays in my car.
MIO lets me keep track of all my appointments, reminds me of an upcoming appointment, allows me to run applications like Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, Outlook, play all my MP3's, and still provide me with GPS navigation. I had to buy a Wi-Fi card for $65, to have Internet access and to be able to receive my emails at various wireless hot spots.
GPS.
Pro's: I really like being able to add my current location to the FAVORITES with a tap of a pen. The Destinate button is so easy to use. View -> SHOW Route -> summarizes the trip with distance, arrival time, and trip time. View -> Driving Directions - summarizes the trip "turn by turn", giving you the option to AVOID certain roads the GPS picks for you. Voice prompts are very good and clear. I know the road names are not announced but a quick glance at the display reveals the road name. The screen is legible even on a bright day, and provides Night Color skin for driving in the evening. There are 2D, 3D, Bird's Eye display views. 3D and Bird's Eye displays don't show street names. Alert settings let you customize GPS Voice Prompts and Visual Notifications. The Automatic Zoom is an excellent function. While in the city you're zoomed in, but as soon as you hit the highway the GPS zooms out of the map to show you a larger area. You can also set up your units of measurement as MPH/KM. On map info can be customized to display LAT/LONG, Velocity/Altitude, ETA/ETR, Distance.
Cons: More POI's are needed; the current location marker should not snap to the nearest road when entering a parking lot or driving on a new road not shown on the map. There is not ability to trace the route and save it for later use. Mapping updates are impossible to get. Supposedly maps can be bought through Destinator, but I got lost on their website in a matter of a few clicks. A 2GB SD card is required to load all the maps of Canada and USA (1.5GB) for and additional cost of $50-$100. Maps are divided into segments and I would much rather prefer a seamless map for North America built into the unit. This would leave the card slot open for the Wi-Fi card.
The unit has excellent battery life so long as you remember to unload programs from the memory. Start->Settings->System->Memory->"stop all" will do it and preserve your battery.
Overall I really like the unit and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to have a PDA/GPS. Like all other GPS products, there are flaws, lengthy wish lists for options, but at the end of the day I am able to find my way around an unfamiliar city, know when and where my next meeting is, have my complete list of contacts at my finger tips, and I carry it all with me in a small package. All that for $399 US + $69 WiFi card. Other units are much more and don't offer as many features. I am giving this one 8/10.
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/pdas/mio-168rs-gps-pda/4864-3127_7-31322056-3.html){kind=small}