Mio DigiWalker P550 review
Oct 4, 2006 gps navigation, mio, reviews
People at Clove have done a review of the Mio DigiWalker P550 PDA. There’s no rating or assigning numbers on their site but the editor only had nice things to say about the P550. First off they talk about the physical characteristics of the device and they find it to be very light and its weight equally distributed. They also mention the device is very well built and has a nice solid feel to it. Digiwalker P550 uses Windows Mobile 5.0 which Mio managed to control very well when it was stressed under running 3 applications at once.
The list of cons was very short for the P550 – they only say the battery life could be better and more buttons on the device could’ve helped getting around.
The part of the review that we most care about at Navigadget is when start talking about the GPS capabilities of P550:
So far we have discussed the P550 as a PDA but that is not its main selling point because it is the first one to include the new SirFStar III GPS receiver as part of the unit. I tested it with TomTom 5.0 and TomTom Traffic via a Nokia 6310i and it worked perfectly on a 3 hour journey. Not once was the Traffic or GPRS connection lost unlike with my Treo when the connection will drop at least 2 or 3 times during a long journey.
The receiver works as you would expect a SiRFStar to- location acquired in a matter of seconds and the signal up 100% of the time. When you consider the price of a standalone GPS unit you can purchase the P550 with included UK and Ireland maps on an SD card plus the whole of Europe on DVD for £309.99 inc. VAT. You would be hard pushed to buy a standalone unit with all of Europe included for just over £300 and when you consider that you get a very good Pocket PC as well this represents one of the best value options for navigation and general organisation.
You can pick up a Mio P550 for £240.88 inc VAT – even cheaper than when the review was done.
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January 9th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Got rid of it.
My old Acer N35 out performed it every time using Tomtom 6.
Signal fix time faster, signal strength much better, Mio P550 would not work in my car even with the acclaimed Sirf Star III chipset.
Not impressed at all.
March 3rd, 2007 at 9:15 am
I am not impressed i bought one from http://www.discountsatnav.co.uk with the tomtom 5 software it worked for a few days kept losing a signal now after a few months of not using it cannot get a signal atall. the company i bought it from say i have to go to Mio but it costs 35p per minute – stay away !!!
March 21st, 2007 at 6:36 am
I bought it in Singapore for a trip to Malaysia. It seems to work pretty well except it sometimes takes a while to get a GPS fix once I come out of the basement carpark. I received the Mapking Malaysia/Singapore software with it.
The battery could last longer, but the windshield mount is pretty sturdy.
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:44 am
Mio P550 were recalled in September 2006, they have been replaced by a newer version 2 unit with much better GPS pick up times. They are under a 2 year warranty and if you have one of the Pre september 2006 models give Mio a call and they can replace it under warranty.
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:45 am
I purchased A mio from Discount sat nav Ltd, they are a great Company next day delivery and full back up and support, and a 2 year warranty, I coudnt ask for more.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
How can you tell if it is pre September 2006 model?
Thanks!
June 12th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I need to sync with my MS outlook on my laptop. I read somewhere that the MIO p550 does not come with the MS office software. Is that true? Do I have to purchase software to make it work with MS Outlook?
Thanks!
June 12th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Nevermind. I found out the answers to both questions. Thanks anyway!
June 28th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Get a life you moron,,,,,,,,,,,brett
July 1st, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Ok Fred. Will do.
July 6th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Fred… turn on your GPS and find the nearest cliff to throw yourself over. Brett asked a simple question and you flammed him like the 10 year old you probably are.
July 11th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Thanks for the backup, Rick. And I’ll add to Fred: I’m rubber and you’re glue. Whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you.
Now get off of the computer before your mom finds out!
As for the MIO P550, I purchased it after my original post, and it most certaily does come with Pocket Office (which was my original question).
October 15th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Brett, try Softmaker’s office, it does not strip formatting etc, from word docs or excel spreadsheets and offers full pc features on ppc.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:57 am
My good friend Jeff in netherlands gave me his P550 but it’s programed in dutch, how to I change the program to English
Robert M
Kampala-Uganda
Tel: +256752397505
May 16th, 2008 at 4:43 am
How to make my MIO P550 a hands free device via bluetooth communication with my NOKIA 6021. The P550 didn’t have a dialer soft included. Cand you me your advice, what compatible dialer soft must buy.
Thanks anyway!