Mio C520 Car GPS Receiver

I own a Garmin Nuvi and this was the second navigation system I bought. I bought it as a gift for someone in Israel and before giving it decided to spend a week to check that it works.
I put both the Garmn and Mio in the car a few times to compare them side by side for this test. But I also drove a few times with the Mio by itself to make sure the other Navigation sytem isn't affecting their navigation system.

The Mio is elegant looking and easy to set up in one's car.

They have a few main weaknesses:

ONE:INPUTTING DIRECTIONS.
They have endless menus. Even more than the GARMIN NUVI 760.
Seems like there's an option for everything.
So for the laymen, inputting directions is complicated. It involves a few steps while with the Garmin it's a very simple and straightforwad thing.
This device has a lot of options.
It seems there are more points of interest. More options of where to go and how to get there.
But the price one pays for the additional information is time in programming it which can be a hastle if one just wants easy simple navigation.

TWO: Screen
The screen isn't easy to read while driving.
Some of their choices of color are awkward and are hard to read during the day.
While the Garmin limited the amount of information on the screen so that everything would be large and easy to see- the Mio has a lot more info but the price is that everything was made much smaller and so it was nearly impossible to read while driving.
It's hard to look at the map and truly figure out the name of the streets before or after the place one has to turn. So it's harder to figure out where one is.
Mio decided to allow the driver to get all the information all at once while they drive, including various data numbers and perhaps it's a mistake cause the screen is too small to include all that info.
Another smart move Garmin did is put a square on top in easy fonts and colors with the name of the next turn. That allows one to look at the road instead of try to figure out where is the next turn needed.

Three: NAVIGATION
The maps was a FEW YEARS old and outdated.
I got an old map with my new Mio and calling MIO they told me I need to pay over $100 for an update to the old map.
If they have a new map why don't they include that with the system?
Garmin also had an old map with the Nuvi, but they supply a code that allows the user to update for free their maps from their website for a period of 30 days, so I got the most updated map.

FOUR: VOICE DIRECTIONS
The Mio's voice directions is a little off. Seems their navigation system is too.
Too many times they would give the directions of turning too late once I had already crossed the junction. This was especially difficult in freeway junctions where it would totally confuse me and cause me to miss the needed turn.
It seems their satellite signal is off or perhaps proccessing it is a little off. The Garmin also isn't perfect but the Mio was way more off than the Garmin is.

FIVE: DIRECTIONS
It seems that not only their voice directions are off but all their directions are a little off. Too many times, relative to the Garmin they gave the directions to turn too late or with an innacurrate distance from the junction.

SIX: WEBSITE
Their website is hard to navigate. Limited in options. Not user friendly.

BOTTOM LINE:
There's a reason GARMIN are the current reigning champs in the United states. They are easier to use. Focused only on neccassery info while one drives and have chosen easier colors to see while driving during the day. Also, their maps are all updated and there isn't an additional price for current maps.
Lasty, their directions are more accurate and when they announce an upcoming turn- it's before the turn and not after it.


NOW FOR THE MIO's PLUS:
For an additional fee one can buy from outside vendors maps with additional languages both onscreen and for the voice guide.

Most GPS systems today have a few languages- but the range is limited and for some languages one has to do some online work to discover which manufacturer has what additional language.
Sometimes, like in my case- Hebrew- Mio is the only GPS that outside vendors made a special version of the maps and voice guide.
That said, it's not cheap and not easy to find online.
The price of the Mio+the card that had Hebrew was nearly $500.
An expensive price for an old GPS, with old maps bought in summer 08 where many new GPS's with Traffic options as well as many other additions go for much less.

But as mentioned, the Hebrew card currently isn't sold for any other GPS competitor and it does have the benefit of having Hebrew both for the US, Europe and Israel. As I was buying this as a gift for someone in Israel this was a huge plus.

Bottom line.
Some people love Mio because they have so many options in their menu and can show a lot of info on the main screen.
If you need it for World travel or for any other country except the US you should check if perhaps in your own country it might be more useful.

I use the navigation system mostly to get from one point to another- so all the extras are less crucial. Thus the Mio turned out to be problematic.