Black Friday GPS Mop Up - The "Mio C310x Fest"

Scott,

Can you post a link to Register the c310x? I browsed around the MIO website with no luck. Thanks!

=Farid=

I dropped in on CompUSA's 9-midnight sale last night and managed to get one. I had the CompUSA and Circuit City ads in hand and asked if CompUSA would match CC's price. The lady said she's certainly try, and the register took it. She said I wouldn't get an instant rebates which prompted me to ask what my price would be. She said, "$150". Sounded good to me! $150 and no rebate hassle! Then I noticed that I did in fact also get a $50 eRebate for the c310x. I asked her about it, but she said to enjoy my Thanksgiving. Registered for the rebate this morning, but it looks like I got this thing for $100 + tax! Wow!!!!

I got to Staples at 5 and there was 50 people in the line. There was twice as many when the door opened. All the items were in the center aisle. I waded through the crowd and found a stack of 15-20 mios. I grabbed one and got out of the mass quickly. Thanks to half of the line leaving when they announced the $400 laptop was gone. I was in and out in about 5-10 minutes.

So far I am impressed with this gps.

Scott Wells,

Same thing here. They wouldn't pm me to staples since that one didn't have the "x", but they PM'd me to CC. They should have PMd only to the $199 before rebate CC price, but it was just insane there, she got the override, rang me up at $149 and out popped the $50 rebate. I don't see a min purchase price listed on the rebate, so I think it's solid. Pretty great deal.

I did register this morning, but never got a confirmation email. Did anyone who did complete the registration get a confirmation email?

Hi,

First, I would like to thank you for the great information you provided with regards to the C310x deals. Your site largely influenced my decision to buy one of these devices.

I can confirm that the model sold today (I purchased mine at Circuit City) did not include the Canadian maps. This is the only dissapointment I have with the GPS, everything else looks and works great! Is there any way to get the canadian maps onto my Mio? Can somebody post a DVD image of their DVD that has canadian maps? Would this work?

Thanks again for all the info!

Nevermind on the Mio confirmation email part. It went into my spam filter somehow. Their mail server IP is in the dsbl database. That's generally a very conservative blacklist.

I tried to get lucky online at Staples at 6am EST but even though i had it all queued up and was clicking 1 second after the website came back up it still showed "out of stock"... did anyone successfully purchase the online version?

Luckily my mother-in-law was able to snag a B&M version for me at Staples this morning.

I do have one question: is there anyway to get maps for other countries on the C310x? I am particularly interested in Israel, Greece and Egypt. I saw the IGo website that has SD cards with various maps, but they are for the PDA versions of GPS devices... didn't see anything for the C310x online.

I got the 310x with both chargers, USA maps only, $199 - $40 off plus tax at Circiut City and a $50 rebate. It seems to be a little sluggish at time but maybe that's because it's in my console rather than the dash or window. Parked in my garage I have "90 yards to destination". For the price, I'm pleased with it even if the maps seem to be a bit outdated.

Curious as to quality of this device..... for those who were able to get them..... I have heard they are very buggy and prone to one day just stop working..... any details?

Was 25 at COMPUSA last night. Got the first one and headed for teh checkout. They made a stink at first about the price match but it eventually went through. Im glad they included the power cord. My only question. Did anyone install the maps again..my guess is that we dont...got a 2gb SD from BB and will put music on to see how it works. Nice little machine so far.

Just noticed some typos in my message up there...oh well...I was sleepy! Anyway, I used the C310x today quite a bit in and out of town, and it works great. I picked it up because we just traded her Acura MDX w/factory navigation for a MINI Cooper S Convertible without navigation, and I wanted to have some kind of solution there. It mounts perfectly in the oversized cup holder on the console and actually looks like it was made to go there. It hits the satellites fine with the top up or down. The voice prompts are almost impossible to hear with the top down, but the display is quite clear and didn't wash out too badly.

I've had factory navs from Acura, Lexus, and Audi, and the C310x compares very favorably from a feature standpoint. It seems to have an extensive POI database, too. I also plan to use it when I travel instead of Hertz EverLost, freeing me to use whatever car rental company has the best rates even in cities I don't know.

Good info on this one, guys! Thanks much for reporting on it, because without this site I probably wouldn't have ventured out and picked it up, thinking it must be a POS to go for $150.

Went to CircuitCity at 8am today to pick up the C310x. They had told several of us last night that they had at least 8 units that would be put out overnight. Well luckily i was the first one to ask when i got back to the department at open time because they finally came out with 2. So I got one!!!I have a feeling the others had been grabbed by employees since the guy guaranteed me there would be at least 8 if not more.
Also didn't get the $50 rebate. seems it was only for 11/24.

In the registration site, I can only find c310 and c310s. I have picked US and NJ as as my location already. I tried to register at the global site instead but apparently it's down. Is that site out of order again??

are we supposed to download the map again from the CD that comes with the box? Or is it already downloaded and this is just a back up?
Thanks,
I love the unit so far!

Bought mine at the local Staples in a small town. They went pretty quick but the big attraction was the laptop and the USB jump drives. Still interested as to how the Traffic Message Center interface works with this unit and if I'll need an antenna for that.

TMC/Traffic was planned for the C310, but is not a feature on the C310x. The company has never gotten around to selling the optional TMC antenna for the C310 unit. It's a shame that they never pulled the trigger on teh C310 and a shame that they aren't planning to on the C310x too, with the big uptick in sales on Black Friday they could appeal to a lot of people now with a TMC offering on the C310x

What I have been looking for the TMC antenna o wonder I can't find it. It sucks that the manual on the CD leads you to believe that a TMC antenna could be added. I like the unit, but the company concerns me. I had a hard time requesting on the INTERNET and when I have tried to call it has been useless, but for $150 dollars who is complaining. I have seen the TMC antenna for other models of Mio's I wonder will they worked or if the unit can be hacked to work with TMC

Hi !

My black Friday story is that I waited in line in Circuit City - did not get one, RAN to staples which opened an hour later at 6pm and got one. I am playing with it right now and all seems to be except for one major thing. My home is not on the map!
Therefore my question is how good the TeleAtlas system is and how will I get updates to the maps (say after the first free update mentioned here)...what does it cost and where do I get these updates...I have not been able to find any online store hawking maps for MIO....SOMEBODY HELP!...else it might have to go back to the store and I'd hate to do that after having woken up at 4am to get it!
Thx!

Congrats on owning a new GPS; I am sorry that your house is not on the Map. Teleatlas is not as up to date as NAVTEQ, but for $150, you got what is probably the best deal on a GPS this year..... hollow words without your street, right? They don't have my street either. Now, the map update should come in the next 6-9 months. If you can't wait, there is a great low cost way to get a very capable GPS from Garmin - the C320 - see my Holiday GPS Buying Guide for details on it:

http://www.gpslodge.com/archives/008403.php

You can check out Teleatlas' MapInsight program where consumers provide map feedback. If you check here and your street is in the database, you should get it in the next update from Mio. If it is not, let them know. I don't have my street on the Mio, but my street is in the Teleatlas database, so I expect an update to contain my street. On Teleatlas, I think that they are way behind, but over the last 6 months or so, I feel like they have been making progress and taking steps to close the gap with NAVTEQ. So, hold on....

MapInsight:
http://www2.teleatlas.com/MapInsight/index.htm

-Scott

I got mine in Staples in Georgia Ave. MD, I was 14th in line, When the store opens the 13 in front of me rust to ask the store guy in front where the GPS where. Luckily, I went straight to the counter and found 2, got one and is now using them, you're right, there is no canada map installed. And would any one know where I can get hold of a car stero adapter for this MIO 310x MP3 player? There's a great MP3 player and I plan to use it, to rest my CD player a while. thanks and this is a good site. I would also like to know if anyone else got their c310x at that store.

Anyone else having issues with the included dvd? My family got two C310x's on Black Friday and both dvd's fail to work on our desktop (Windows fails to recognize dvd in drive) and in a standard dvd player (comes up as a folder containing directories with empty contents). Combined with the website failures, I'm having problems finding updated maps and user manuals.

I also had an issue with the DVD. I couldn't get it to work on my DVD reader drive, but got it to work on my DVD burner drive. Strange! The maps are a bit outdated. I drove around our town and neighborhoods that had been there for a few years didn't show up. I sure hope there is an update soon.

Was anyone else under the impression that this will sync with contacts on your desktop pc? I cannot get this to sync with my pc. Has anyone tried it?

I was at Staples at 5:15am for a 6am start on Black Friday behind 100 other people and never stood a chance. I had to go out again at noon and went to Frys going to get other stuff. I asked if they had any and the guy said no but I had him check in the cabinet under the GPS shelf and he found 5 more. Me and the 4 guys around me got ours for $148 but alas mine only has the 1Gig rom. I found the canada map but with only 1 gig I can't fit the canada map on it and the mio transfer utility doesn't let me see the maps on the unit right now so I can take worthless states like NY off :) I'll hack it to use the SD for more capacity if I can't get one with 2 gig but OK with the unit so far. Not as accurate as my Garmins but they aren't nearly this wifeproof to use.

Once again, Mio proves they have no idea how to operate a support website. I was excited to see they had new files available for download this morning, including C310x user manuals and map guides (the first mention of the C310x I've seen on their support website). But alas, after downloading I see that the manuals are just for the C310. Nice job, Mio.
Anyone else having the following problems?
1) Can't register on the website because the date fields (for dob and date of purchase) don't work in all browsers I've tried
2) Route parameters on-unit help screen tells me I can select easiest route yet it's not one of the selections in the actual screen. BTW, the on-unit help is actually one of the underrated features of the Digiwalker. It's too bad it's not available on more of the screens.
3) Map v3.2 users guide for C710 tells me I can press and hold the main menu button (on the left of unit) while pressing flyover to get a fast flyover. This doesn't seem to work on the C310x. Anyone know how to get a fast flyover?
I do like how one of the FAQs on the mio website is "How do I stop the simulation?" When I start my simulation "Tap screen to abort simulation" appears on the map. Why is this a faq?
Yes, I'm a bit grumpy this morning.

Chris, where did you find the Canada Map? Is there anywhere online to purchase it? With the original DVD, you can load the maps onto the SD I believe since it gave me an option to load the US map on the unit. (which I don't really understand the purpose since the unit was already preload with US map)

Canada Maps - no there are no Canada Maps on my DVD for the Mio C310x. Thre are ways to get the map files and load them which involve some minor hacks to the Mio C310x, and um, essentially stealing the map files. See my post for Monday 11/27.

I was at Staples at 5:05 Friday morning. I was maybe 18 or 20 in line. At 5:45 the manager walked down the line with tickets for the laptops and then the Mio. I got ticket number 5 of 5. The person 3 behind me also wanted one but he was out of luck. They had them behind the customer service counter so there wasn't a mad rush. There was maybe 150-200 people in line at 6am. It rang up for $150 so I didn't have to mess with a rebate.

I got my unit at CompUSA (Garden City, NY) during their Thursday night sale. Obviously a little pricier than Circuit City or Staples, but I couldn't wait all night outside in the rain. CompUSA had lots of units probably around 25 in stock. Even though I was 7th in line, everything went crazy when they opened the doors, but somehow was finally able to snag a purchase slip. I had to wait in line first to pay for it and then it was given to me. That only happen after the first 10 people that got them started fighting for them.

Anyways enough of that and on with my personal review. It’s a very cool device so far it has found every address and POI that I know off. I found the navigation and setting up a route a little bit harder than other GPS applications like TomTom. I have had TomTom 5 on my Treo 650 and it has been ok, but I given up on it because of Bluetooth issues between the GPS device and Phone adapter. I did have my first issue with it today; it would not restart while I was playing with at work. I hit the reset button but that didn’t help; I had to finally just turn it off and turn it on completely on the bottom. Finally after that the screen came back on.

I think I’ll try to buy another one for a Xmas gift.

I picked up a Mio C310x at CompUSA in Spokane, WA on Thursday night for $179.99 after instant ($70) and mail-in ($50) rebates. [Didn't realize until the next day that I could have saved $30 at CC!] I'm pretty impressed with the unit: we had been debating getting a Magellan at Costco for $500 but decided against it.

We've already found a few flaws with the Mio, but generally they are things I can live with. Primarily, like other posters, I'm hoping to get a better map update: it's already tried routing me the wrong way on a one-way street (one that used to be two-way in Spokane until about a year ago) and telling me to take u-turns where they are expressly prohibited. I also ran into the wrong-speed-limit problem tonight.

At another point tonight, it decided that I was on the siding road instead of the interstate - but it figured out the error after a couple minutes and recalculated.

Another thing that bugs me is that I can select a point on the map where I know a restaurant is, and it'll show the restaurant on its pop-up list, but when I look for the same place in POI, it won't find it. Also, I can't figure out if there's a way to limit the displayed POI list to the places within a smaller radius, to limit the list size. (I was trying to do that to force it to display the restaurant in POI that Mio and I both knew was there in map mode.) Seems a bit glitchy. But for under $200, I'm happy to have a good-enough way for my wife to find her way back home when she gets lost.

I'm also having the problem another poster mentioned about the unit going a bit bonkers when I'm in a parking lot or otherwise not on a road: the Mio has a hard time with off-road locations. Seems it takes a few short-cuts instead of giving you a truly accurate GPS-based location.

Despite all that, I'm happy with the menu navigation, the voice (and all the sound options), and the size of the unit - around 3 1/4" x 4 3/8" x 7/8" - and the mounting hardware is decent. It should be a handy and easy to carry unit to use while walking around an unfamiliar (U.S.) town.

I'd like to get Canadian maps, though, too. Add my vote to include it in an update.

Overall, despite some glitchy behavior, I'm happy with the Mio C310x.

-m

"Prepaid" for one at Compusa today for $199. They said there are -350 in their system so I guess it may be a while before I get mine but at least the price is locked in. CC would not price match it on one they had in stock even though they knew CUSA would "order" one for me. I guess they figure that some one will plunk dow the $449 they are asking for one on the spot.

I'll post a review once I get to use it. I curr use a PDA with Mapolpolis and a Pioneer AVIC D1.

I tried out my C310X on a few addresses in my home town. First: my bank. The C310X routed me about 1/4 mile away from my bank on the same street. When I got back home, it told me to go 100 yards to destination when I was already on my driveway. Then I tried the POIs for John Wayne airport (in Orange County, California.) The list of POIs for terminals does not include one for John Wayne airport. I went to the POI list for airports and selected John Wayne. I didn't actually drive there, only read the displayed route and the itineraries in the C310X. The C310X routed me to the other side of the airport opposite the terminals. I would be hopelessly lost if I were to rely on this GPS to get me to this airport. When I entered the airport address included in the POI for this airport, it routed me correctly to the terminal building.

I returned the unit to the store where I bought it. It's cheap but not worth it.