Review: Four GPS Devices That Will Drive You Sane

Alas, not everything here is gold. The C710's screen washes out in direct sunlight. Its windshield mount doesn't pivot easily. Its interface is the worst of the bunch. And it supports a limited roster of Bluetooth phones. Plus, I found it sub-par in the all-important area of navigation. While no GPS is perfect, this one fumbled the ball a few too many times for my comfort.

Mio C710 Click image to launch image gallery.

Four buttons span the right side of the receiver: power, menu, and volume up/down. Kudos to the C710 for being the only GPS in the roundup to include dedicated volume controls, a feature I consider essential. The other models make you wade through menus to adjust volume.

Unfortunately, the C710 has menu problems of its own. The Mio Map interface suffers from an overcrowded keyboard (which makes for a lot of fat-fingering when you're entering address info) and unintuitive design. For example, although the main menu is fairly straightforward, it provides no direct access to the settings menu. To reach it, you must first tap the Map Look & Feel button -- not exactly logical. Meanwhile, navigating the POI database (five million strong, according to Mio) can be difficult, as you often have to choose the right category in order to find the desired listing. Mio should strongly consider adding a name-search feature for POI lookups.

		Four GPS Devices
		•  Introduction •  Averatec Voya 350 •  Garmin Nuvi 360 •  Mio C710 •  TomTom One •  Conclusion
		•  Image Gallery

This is also the place to pair the C710 with your Bluetooth-equipped cell phone. Although my Sony-Ericsson T610 wasn't on the short list of compatible phones, I was able to establish a connection and use the C710 as a hands-free speakerphone -- a really nice perk. However, although you can receive a call while in navigation mode, you can't place one without first exiting Mio Map, then delving into the aforementioned settings menu. What a hassle.

Navigation Issues
I could overlook things like this if the C710 delivered consistent, reliable navigation, but in my experience it didn't. I had trouble navigating to certain addresses in my home state of Michigan. For starters, the C710 doesn't remember what state you're in; you have to enter it every time you input an address. Upon tapping the first few letters, I was presented with a choice of "Michigan[N]" and "Michigan[S]." Huh? Where's the dividing line between "North" and "South" Michigan? I could only assume these were references to the Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

Even worse, the map data (which otherwise seemed very current) didn't include my parents' house number, which is strange, given that it's been there for 35 years and no other GPS had a problem with it. On the return trip, the C710 chose a decidedly out-of-the-way route to bring me home. This happens sometimes when a GPS tries for "quickest" route rather than "shortest," which is the C710's default setting, but there's no question the route it chose would have taken longer.

On the plus side, the C710 can access traffic updates broadcast on Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network. I didn't like the FM antenna snaking across my dashboard and up my windshield (suction cups keep it in place), but I did like the free 90-day trial (it costs $75 per year after that) and the way the C710 offered to create a new route around congested areas. All GPS receivers should have this feature.

Needless to say, the Mio C710 is a mixed bag. It's loaded with great features, but its interface feels scattershot and unpolished. It's not difficult to use, but the included manual doesn't even cover Mio Map (you have to venture online to find that one). It comes with millions of points of interest, but even a simple address can cause it to choke. Ultimately, it's my least favorite GPS in the group, if only because it doesn't quite live up to its lofty promises.