Photo gallery: Mio DigiWalker C320Design
You couldn't mistake the Mio DigiWalker C320 for anything but a GPS, primarily due to the large, Douglas-Adamsesque "GPS" logo that adorns the top of the screen in suitably large, friendly letters. It's an entirely touch-screen driven GPS with a generously sized 4.3-inch widescreen TFT display. Measuring in at 126mm by 81mm by 14.5mm, Mio optimistically states that the C320 is "slim enough to slip into a pocket or handbag". The handbag we won't argue, but you'd still need a decent set of cargo pants to accomodate something this size. A carrying pouch is provided, so if you do jam it down next to your keys, you won't scratch the screen. As with most GPS units sold in Australia, car navigation is the name of the game here, and the Mio C320 comes with an in-car charger and sturdy windscreen attachment arm that holds the C320 in very tightly indeed.
Features
What's under the hood of the C320 isn't actually all that remarkable. It runs on the same SiRFStar III chipset as just about every other major manufacturer out there. Likewise, as with a good 80-percent of the GPS population, it uses Sensis' map data rather than Navteq. With Navteq just a few regulatory hops away from becoming a full Nokia subsidiary, we'd expect that figure to rise, but we digress.
What is nice in a features sense is the intelligent way that Mio's designers have used the Mio C320's 4.3-inch display. By default, the left 70-percent of the display shows current position data and route direction information in much the same manner as previous Mio GPS units have done. The other 30-percent is an optional floating display -- a quick finger tap at the top of the screen will give a 100-percent of screen real-estate to navigation -- that displays time, speed and estimated destination time, as well as nearby points of interest and turn by turn navigation directions. The C320 also has support for TMC (Traffic Message Channel), something that's only been available for a short time in Australia, and only generally on much pricier GPS units. There is a catch with the Mio C320's TMC support however. It requires a hardware and software update, along with a modified cradle, which will set you back a further AU$149, which includes a lifetime subscription to the SUNA traffic channel. At the time of writing, only Melbourne had an operating TMC channel; Sydney and Brisbane are expected sometime in 2008, with Perth and Adelaide to follow.
Performance
We like a challenge here at CNET.com.au, so we pitted the Mio C320 against some pretty weighty competition; Navman's much pricier (and coincidentally TMC-equipped) S90i. Not only that, but we didn't just throw them in a car and drive around Sydney. Instead, we installed both in a car, threw in three young children (to provide the necessary distractions from GPS instructions) and drove them all from Sydney to Adelaide, and then back again. Don't ever say we don't suffer in the name of getting a review just right.
The Mio's basic GPS navigation screens were clear and easy to understand. It did take noticeably longer than the Navman to get a GPS signal lock; typically we found it took around 3 minutes from a totally cold start. Traffic instructions were mostly clear; as with most GPS systems there's always an odd disconnect between terms like "turn", "bear" and "veer", and the intermittent issue of being asked to perform illicit U-turns if you do go the wrong way. One factor that did irk us endlessly with the Mio C320 was its menu setup, which is needlessly sloppy. As an example, if you want to alter the volume (other than muting it), you've got to hit Menu > House > Exit > Yes > Settings > Volume. This will let you alter the volume, but as you've just exited (after no less than six finger jabs), you'll have to completely relaunch the GPS functionality and start your journey all over again once you've done that.
While most in-car GPS units will rarely be without charging, the need to run both GPS systems concurrently, as well as an in-car DVD player (for reference, the rather spiffy Philips DCP750) in order to keep the children in the back seat from killing each other meant that both GPS units had to run on batteries every once in a while. The Mio C320 acquitted itself well, lasting several hours before complaining of a low charge.
It's a sign of how competitive the low-end GPS space is that the Mio C320 is offered at a relatively inexpensive AU$449. It easily justifies the AU$50 premium over the entry-level C220, and competes well against units like the TomTom One XL and Navman S30.
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