Mio C310s Again, and the Mio C310sx
After a few days of dithering, I decided that I could live with the C310s GPS I blogged about a few days ago. Even though the device itself doesn't support geocaching, I believe you can manage points of interest using the PC software that you use to transfer things to it, and I figured I'd find a way of entering my own points of interest. So I picked up the same box at Staples.
Well, what I got is a completely different GPS!
I mentioned that there's a C310x that uses basically same hardware platform but with different software; what was in my C310s box was a C310sx, a combination of the Canadian flavour of the C310s and the updated software of the C310x.
Take a look at the small image of the sticker on the bottom - it says "Model No: Mio C310" and then underneath it, "SX". The Windows CE sticker on the bottom says "Windows CE .NET 4.2 Core", whereas the previous version said "Windows CE .NET 4.1 Core".
Okay so it's a differnet GPS. What's different about the navigation software?
- It's faster. The 3D view updates at approximately 5 frames per second instead of approximately 2 frames per second.
- It has tons of extra options:
- Automatic Night Colors (based on time of day)
- You can turn off-route recalculation on and off
- Pick your vehicle - Bus, Taxi, Bike, Walking, Car
- Dynamic volume, based on your current speed
- More routing options
- Cooler voices (though still no TTS)
- Smart Zoom - zooms based on your current speed
- You can control the angle, not just the altititude, in the 3D view.
- You can have it show points of interest on the map while you're driving. Nice. Combined with angle control, this lets you see upcoming points of interest.
- Nicer rendering of 3D maps.
- You can have it do an animated fly-over of a route - I guess this would be useful if you wanted to use the GPS to show someone how to get somewhere.
- You can add Via points to a route.
Basically, this is a much more desirable product than the C310s. So how is it that I have one?
The box says C310s, and so does the CD, but the manual says C310x:
The box I got is a "Repacked" (so, possibly refurbished) box from Staples; I wonder if they simply messed up when they repacked it and put the newer model in the box? I'd be interested in hearing if this has happened to anyone else.
A few more (blurry) screenshots:
