Mio C520 GPS - Design
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Design
I like the look of the C520 a lot, because it is very simple. Most of the front of the device consists of the large 4.3 inch TFT LCD touch screen. The LCD display is WQVGA resolution quality, which is 480 x 272 pixels, and it is capable of displaying up to 65,000 colors. Mio has made good use of the widescreen's space by offering split-screen capabilities in the C520. This feature allows you to multi-task while on the road. The touch screen works very nicely on this model. It has to, because all of the controls are manipulated through the touch screen interface.
The only external button or control on this device is the power button on the top of the unit. Although this does make the device less cluttered, I would have liked to at least see some volume controls on the body of the device. A few commonly used controls are always a good thing to have as external controls, but that is just my preference.
Surrounding the display is the charcoal-grey and silver border, which almost makes the device look like a picture frame from the front. The rear of the device sports the antenna, speaker, and a port to add another antenna. The bottom of the unit is where you would find the mini USB port and 18 pin connector. The side of the unit offers an expansion slot for an SD or MMC card, as well as 2.5 mm headphone jack. I would have liked to see a 3.5 mm headphone jack, but since Mio is primarily a European company, it isn't a surprise that this device uses a 2.5 mm jack.
With the interface being used to control all of the functions of the device, Mio has designed it to be very user-friendly. The icons and buttons are large and colorful, and it is easy to navigate through the menu system. This is one of those devices where you probably won't need the user manual to get started; you can just pick up one of these devices and start playing around with it to figure it out. The ease of use is very refreshing, and I think that is important for people looking to purchase their first portable GPS unit.
This device uses an internal full QWERTY keyboard, which is used to type in addresses or find points of interest. Mio has also integrated a predictive text function which will grey out any numbers or letters which don't match street names or addresses in its internal memory. This is a great feature which will speed up your searching, as well as help eliminate accidentally hitting the wrong button on the keyboard.
Overall, the look and feel of this device is good. The C520 is relatively small, measuring in at 4.9 x 3.2 x 0.8 inches, and weighing at just 6.7 ounces. In other words, it's very portable and can easily fit into a purse, handbag, or briefcase. It's kind of nice to be able to easily carry around a widescreen in your bag!
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