The Mio 268 SatNav system arrived with us on a busy day and sat a bit unloved on LP’s desk until late in the day. Finally we got round to opening the box and out slid the Mio in all it’s cool looking more like a portable video players than a navigation system. 

Sadly the battery was flat so all we could do in the office was wade through the multitude of bits that come in the Mio 268’s box. There is the usual mounting options and the main one is very similar to the Navman iCN510’s. Also tucked in the packed box is the user guide, software and charging leads but mains adaptor and in car 12 volt cable, plus there is an cabled external antenna which would normally cost extra on most systems. 

So to the car and with the Mio 268 already in it’s windscreen mount we were ready to go, having got power to the unit it initiated and went through some start-up checks, these too a while and finally got us to the main selection screen where we went for the navigation option. We must admit to being surprised that the application  describes itself as V 1.0 for Windows CE? Windows CE was dead quite some time ago and replaced by pocket PC,  either this is quite an old application or Mio decided to stick with a proven OS.

Anyway onwards and upwards, it took a few minutes to get satellite lock using the units inbuilt antenna during which time we had time to admire the dark black and silver stylish of the 268, it's very similar to the Navman iCN510 in form factor but far more attractive. Finally after about 3 minutes we got 4 satellites enough to start navigating, we then had the joy of the Mio's menu system, first select a single stop journey and then to input the address.

Here we hit what has to be the Achilles heel of the Mio 268 the screen input is almost impossible to use with a finger, instead you should really use the stylus which slips into the side of the case to access the rather small on screen buttons. Now before you all email us to complain we are about to break the law here and reveal we always test accessing the navigation systems while on the move, while we cannot recommend doing this almost all SatNav users do have to at some point (even on the move). But with the Mio it's just not possible to use the screen while on the move as trying to locate the stylus, yet alone use it would be lethal.

So all those great options like routing around traffic and even an MP3 player are sadly underused and only really possible in very slow traffic or if you pull over (which of course you should do). That said if you are just heading A to B the Mio 268 does do the job, its route selection is generally good with the correct selection of fast roads and motorway versus the local roads. We've had a few funnies with it asking us to make an illegal turn and even up a one way street but this may well be down to the Teleatlas maps.

The software seemed very familiar and that's because it's actually Navigons Destinator 4 application which we tried on the older Navigon PNA unit, it puts in an almost identical display to the PNA but not as good as the latest PNA which has the Version 5 software.

The Mio 268 is based around an Intel PXA 300Mhz processor, 64mb of RAM and the UK's maps stored on a 256mb SD card, meaning that maps of Europe can be added for an additional price. The speaker seems a bit louder than the PNA and the screen a bit more readable, but only marginally, the battery life of the MIO was about 4.5 hours on a charge but we're sure most users will just keep it hooked to the 12 volt supply.

Priced at £280 the Mio 268 is significantly cheaper than the TomTom Go 300 and the Navman iCN510 and while both units are a better bet than this 268 the difference in price may make the Mio a worthy choice for those who do not need to access it once the route is laid in.

Published - 03/07/2005

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