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Author Topic: New Sat Nav review  (Read 2799 times)

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Admin

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New Sat Nav review
« on: 19 December 2006, 16:43:00 »

Well after the debacle with the Medion sat nav I have recently got a new system.

The Mio C510E http://www.gps-systems.co.uk/mitac_mio_c510e.asp

Here is my review of it so far...

This is brilliant! :D

It is small, lightweight and will take me a month to figure out all the damn functions!

Ok, as far as navigation goes this is by far and away the finest I have ever used.
I have tried Tomtom, Garmins, Medions etc, but this is just so quick and fluid.

It has a 400mhz processor driving it and the SIRF III receiver.
When I turn it on it takes approx 8 secs to acquire a lock.... in the house!

The mapping software is Mio Map 3.2 (downloaded the free upgrade easily enough), very very impressive with full 7 digit postcode search.

On the road it gives clear instructions and so far has been totally accurate.
You can customise the display to give as much or as little information as you want. The 3d map view is particularly impressive.

It comes with the UK maps pre-installed and a DVD containing full street mapping of the rest of Europe! All you need is a 1GB SD card and you can drive pretty much anywhere.

There are just so many other features I am getting to grips with (it has an automatic night mode so it is not too bright at night for instance) that it will take an age to figure it all out.

For £200, the price of a Tomtom One, it is a complete bargain!

VERY highly recommended. :D

Review: http://www.yournav.com/content/review/180/C510E_Mio_takes_a_giant_step_ahead.html

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STMO123

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #1 on: 19 December 2006, 16:50:35 »

Hmmm..sat nav..something I've never even considered. Guess I'm just an old fogey but I actually like a map :(
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Tony H

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #2 on: 19 December 2006, 16:53:00 »

Pretty impressive spec for the price Dave :y nice and slim profile so it fits in a pocket I recently got a navman one of the reasons I chose it was its portability
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Marks DTM Calib

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #3 on: 19 December 2006, 17:07:44 »

Bet it still couldn't find a route through the maze of roads in Prague!
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TheBoy

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #4 on: 19 December 2006, 18:20:38 »

I am impressed with TomTom 6 on my iPaq. Very similar to V5, but the new European map is one large 1Gb map, rather than country based maps before.

Mine being Windows PDA based means software like Checkpoint can do camera warnings better than the TomTom built in one, and the update process is simpler than any other I've tried (and cameras more accurate as well).

Currently using a StarSirf II receiver, takes a few seconds to acquire.
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Taxi_Driver

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #5 on: 19 December 2006, 18:23:25 »

Sounds very similar to the Tomtom 510 i have....altho over £100 more for the tomtom510 :(
Im undecided wether to buy a remote control for it  :-/

Tomtom have just recently bought out an upgrade for the *10 series for locking onto sats....tho it doesnt show on their site as an upgrade...the tomtom software on my laptop downloaded it.....apparently it downloads the satellites positions of where there are going to be if you turn it off and then back on again at a later time.....i did try it a couple of times after the upgrade and it locks to satelites within a few secs  :y

Whats it like with bus lanes? Tomtom is crap with these and tries to direct you down most bus lanes as a 'shortest' route!  :(

Did you get a TMC arieal for it as well? I paid an extra £68 for one for my tomtom....still testing this out....its pointed a few delays....but when ive hit recalculate quickest route its chosen the same route.....i think the delays havent been bad enough for it to choose a new route  :-/

Has it got 'avoid motorways' option? Very useful last saturday i found  ;)
Went to Birmingham airport......fastest route it choose from Swindon was ....A419/417 to M5.....then M42...bingo airport in 1hour 30mins  :y . But on the way there the M5 was stuffed southbound, closed due to accident.....so after i dropped passengers i hit the 'home' button but choose avoid motorways option......it took me cross country... down the foss way.....1 hour 30 mins i was back in area (lechlade) and did 10 miles less  :y Oh and got hit with a job in lechlade.....so carnt be bad  :)
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Big Rod

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #6 on: 19 December 2006, 20:21:13 »

That's pretty cool Dave!!

I have to admit, for the first time I'm seriously tempted to buy one!!

See what Santa thinks huh?!?!?
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Admin

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #7 on: 19 December 2006, 20:41:13 »

TD yes you can avoid motorways. :)

Not sent me down a bus lane thing yet...  :)

TMC aerial is an extra £40 (will get one in the new year). Has to be said though, this function is still in relative infancy.

Rod, if you want sat nav, I would say you won't go wrong with this....

It still has to undergo that most rigourous of tests thiugh... The Marks DTM evaluation!  :o

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Markjay

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #8 on: 19 December 2006, 23:11:55 »

This is interesting…

A while ago I was involved in a project that was suppose to introduce a new SatNav software to the UK market, called iGo and developed in Hungary. I got myself a Mio A201 – then the latest model, also with SIRF III – and the developers sent me a copy of the iGo software.

What was supposed to be unique about iGo is that they had all of Europe on a 1gb SD card… at street level. This is very significant, keeping in mind that the main competitors i.e. TomTom (the PDA software version, not the turnkey TomTom Go and One series) and CoPilot had the UK at street level but only main European roads on a 1gb card.

Also, they used the Teleatlas maps, rather than the Navteq ones, which they said were superior.

Anyway, I drove around the UK with it for a couple of months and unfortunately my conclusion was that the software as it stands was buggy, and also it did not have a full 7-digit postcode at the time (only 4-digit), or TMC, or speed camera locations, which was a serious handicap compared to the competition. It did tell you when you were over the speed limit, but this was the only extra feature it had.

In the end the whole project fell through because iGo signed a deal with Mio to have their software re-branded and bundled with the Mio GPS – and that was the end of their plans to market it separately in the UK.

My understanding is that the MioMap v3 is actually the recent version of iGo – the screen shots definitely look familiar. As for my Mio, I found the version of iGo I had to be far too buggy for actual use. The developers never sent me the latest version as they were no longer interested in marketing it here (or perhaps even prohibited from doing so by their contact with Mio) so although I still have it in my possession, I loaded TomTom 6 onto the Mio and it is much much better than the iGo I had.


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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #9 on: 20 December 2006, 08:30:29 »

Yes, MioMap V3.2 is a tweaked version of iGo software.

Buggy? Not that I have found yet, but it is early days. :)

I have to see what its mapping of Prague is like though, if it does that well then I will be impressed!
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Markjay

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #10 on: 20 December 2006, 09:27:28 »

Keep in mind that I was testing an early version of the product – in my opinion it was just not ready for marketing at the time.

Problem I had included:

1. When loading the software on the PDA, several error messages came up – none of them were of any actual importance, but as my company was supposed to provide the support for it I was concerned that users might call the help line for clarification and as result overload the help desk unnecessarily. I imagine this was resolved but at any case you should have received it pre-installed on the Mio so this issue is not applicable any more.

2. There were only two English speaking vices to chose from – a girl (called Philippa) with a British accent, and a man with a strong US accent – in addition to Romanian and some other ‘exotic’ languages, again I didn’t think this was right for the UK.

3. In general, the terminology used through-out the product was very strongly US-biased, these things do not go well in the UK. Also, the default country was not the UK – you had to change it to UK on the first use – which I thought wasn’t right either.

4. As for the product itself, there was a serious problem with the distance estimates – 100 meters according to it were around 30-40 meters in real life. Oddly this is not really a problem while driving, because you get used to it and compensate, but again I was concerned about the support calls this might generate.

5. On a couple of occasions the SatNav took me into private roads – one of them was actually closed-off by a barrier – but to be fair I suspect that this is really a problem with the Teleatlas maps rather than with the product itself.

6. There were other minor niggles, such as the letters on the touch-screen keyboard when choosing a street address being too tiny for finger use, and required the stylus – the TomTom’s on-screen keyboard had much larger keys.

7. The most important shortcoming as mentioned in my previous post was the lack of additional features other than speed limits – it had no TMC support, no speed camera locations, and did not support 7-digit postcode. All of these should have been resolved by now. Also, there was no real website for support or product updates – the iGo website at the time was very basic only provided general information about the company in Hungary.

iGo’s biggest asset was the compression technology they developed which allowed them to cram the whole of Europe at street level into a 1gb SD card. Also, they were the first to offer seamless transition between countries in Europe – you could drive from Hungary to London without changing maps or settings.

But I think that iGo were a relatively small company at the time, and did not have the resources required to produce a rounded and well finished solution that could take-on TomTom in the UK market. The deal with Mio would have given them a serious cash injection which is just what they neded in order to get the product right.

On another note, the loadable PDA software market is different than that of the turnkey devices, which is why the TomTom Go and TomTom One were such a success when first introduced – but this is a separate matter…



« Last Edit: 20 December 2006, 09:33:40 by markjay »
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Taxi_Driver

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #11 on: 20 December 2006, 13:29:34 »

Quote
Yes, MioMap V3.2 is a tweaked version of iGo software.

Buggy? Not that I have found yet, but it is early days. :)

I have to see what its mapping of Prague is like though, if it does that well then I will be impressed!

One place to try if you wanna.....is try Halstead......see if takes you down the M11 then directly onto the A120 eastbound.

My old Tomtom go didnt know the A120 was joined upto the M11......and used to take you cross country to get to the A120......even tho it the latest maps on it.

Tho my tomtom 510 knows it does.......was up there this morning  :y

Tho wasnt impressed this morning with the TMC addon......all the way there and back it said no traffic info available  :(
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TheBoy

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #12 on: 20 December 2006, 14:16:29 »

Quote
What was supposed to be unique about iGo is that they had all of Europe on a 1gb SD card… at street level. This is very significant, keeping in mind that the main competitors i.e. TomTom (the PDA software version, not the turnkey TomTom Go and One series) and CoPilot had the UK at street level but only main European roads on a 1gb card.
TomTom 6 European version now has the whole of Western Europe on a single map, down to street level, and is around 1Gb. This is what I use now.

It is only Western Europe though, old Eastern Bloc countries are not in there, and apparently Ireland mapping is weak...
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Markjay

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #13 on: 20 December 2006, 14:39:44 »

Quote
Quote
What was supposed to be unique about iGo is that they had all of Europe on a 1gb SD card… at street level. This is very significant, keeping in mind that the main competitors i.e. TomTom (the PDA software version, not the turnkey TomTom Go and One series) and CoPilot had the UK at street level but only main European roads on a 1gb card.
TomTom 6 European version now has the whole of Western Europe on a single map, down to street level, and is around 1Gb. This is what I use now.

It is only Western Europe though, old Eastern Bloc countries are not in there, and apparently Ireland mapping is weak...

Another selling point for iGo was suppoed to be the fact that they were going to give away maps for the entire charted world, including the USA and parts of the Middle East, with the basic package at no extra cost - though I don't kno if they actually do this with MioMap v3.

Incidentally, most of the world has not been commercially charted for GPS yet - which includes most of Africa, South America, and Asia. Apparently neither Teleatlas nor Navteq think there is enough commercial potential to justify this...

« Last Edit: 20 December 2006, 14:40:16 by markjay »
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Markjay

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Re: New Sat Nav review
« Reply #14 on: 20 December 2006, 14:45:53 »

Regarding the Mio, I was told at the time that in spite of being little known compared to some other brands, they were the world's leading GPS manfucaturer. Indeed, the A201 I got works very well, and I particularly liked the way the screen rotates automatically from portriat to landscape when you rotate the aerial at the back of the unit...

Having said that, I only bought the Mio because I had to test the iGo software - I don't use a PDA and had I needed to chose my own GPS it would have been a turnkey unit like the TomTom Go or TmoTom One etc. I would still prefer the OE units every time, this business with the sucktion cap and power cord is far too fidley in my opinion.

So if anyone out there knows of tow CID's for sale... (I say two because I know Mark DTM will snatch the first one  ;D)





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