Well you ask what the heck is that? You mean like Tango? No I mean like Jango. In the quest to find interesting products and services for my human friends to try out I was contacted by a college about an interesting website. The site is http://www.jango.com and it’s one of the best things I’ve run into. Jango is a free social music service that lets you create your own custom radio stations and share them with friends and others who like what you like according to their website.

I’ll be doing a full review of the site in the coming days, but check out the Jango Jukebox I’ve created and let me know what you think about the service.

www.Jango.com

Tomorrow starts the 10 weeks of GelaSkin Sponsored giveaways! So make sure to come back tomorrow and find out which ones we have received and which one we are giving away this weekend. Just like with all giveaways all you have to do is join the website and make a comment on any review on the site. All users that have made comments are eligible to be in the random drawing.

Don’t miss out on this high quality product. Tell your friends

UPDATE:

Sorry guys majorcomputer issues yesterday but I’m back up and running and the review and first giveaway GelaSkin will be posted today.

That’s Right folks the great team over at GelaSkins are going to be providing you with the chance to win one of 10 GelaSkins for iPods and iPhones.   If your not familiar with them just click the link to find out more about the company or follow this link GelaSkins.com

Watch for our review coming next week with even more information and the first weekly winner.

What is it?

The MIO Dig Walker C320 is one of the newest entries in to the GPS market from MIO-Tech. This nifty little unit comes in a slicker black case for those of you who remember the MIO C310x from last year. I received this unit just over a month and wanted to wait until I was going to get a chance to use it for a road trip before I wrote my review. So with out further delay check out the MIO C320.

How does it Work?

The MIO pronounced (Me- oh) measures about 5 inches in length and sports a nice size display that’s virtually the size of the unit with very little unnecessary plastic casing. The screen is bright during daytime driving and the light sensor switches over to night for an attractive blue on black map that’s great for evening trips. The MIO C320 opens to a screen of the four different modes you have to choose from. There is MIO Map, Audio, File Manager, and the settings page for the usual date/time language screen and volume controls. The MIO out of the box handles 17 different language options to choose from so our International readers need not worried you’re covered. There is a power save feature that will shut the C320 off at pre-chosen intervals in the event you are running on battery.

Check out what comes in the box with the C320:

• Device holder
• Windshield mount
• Car charger (DC adapter)
• Software & documentation DVD

The File Manager is a smart interface that lists your files on the device and what you have on the optional storage card (Standard SD MMC card) up to 4GB should work just fine. I’ve not tested if you can use the MIO as just a picture viewer but it could be a good option to take it from the car to the desk or office for viewing those weekend day tip photos or some pictures of the kids. The next option is one of the more interesting on the MIO is the MP3 player that’s included. I wasn’t exactly sure why MIO decided to include an MP3 player on their GPS units but my mind was changed after I wanted to take the MIO with me to navigate a walking trip and didn’t want to pocket the Zune for the music. I just copied over the music I wanted to listen to and went on my walk/run for the next couple of hours. There is also a power save mode for the screen so you don’t run down the battery.

Lastly the Map Interface it totally brilliant which I don’t say often about products. The greatest thing about it is the point of interest enhancement or at least I think it’s an enhancement. OK a little background on my MIO experience is I have the MIO C310X so I’m used to having to browse to the POI screen and searching for what I was looking for. Now if you have ever used a GPS you know as well as I do that’s not the smartest thing to do if you are traveling the Interstate and need to know what exit the nearest gas station is and you missed that sign a few seconds ago because it was raining and you don’t know where you are anyway! Oh sorry flashback there… anyway all you have to do Is touch the POI little icon on the right side of the screen, and up pops all the POI’s in your area for gas stations closest to your location.

One of the screens you will see is the Home screen that list icons for the most frequently used commands. The list is address, Favorites, Map, POI, History, and settings. The settings in my opinion are one of the things you have to pay the most attention to when using the MIO. There are several options you have which include: Safety Mode which restricts operation while the car is in motion so don’t enable this feature unless you don’t want your GPS to work while you are driving. Another interesting setting is the “Warn when Speeding” and the Safety Cam settings that warn you when speeding via an on-screen warning or with the safety cam you can get an audible and voice warning that lets you know when a cam is coming up. Take heed the safety cam is just to let you know a cam is coming up. It’s not a pass to speed or run red lights so please use your best judgment and a little common sense (BJ doesn’t think we have too much of that) when using these features.

The MIO also has optional TMC service you can subscribe to. This is a traffic monitoring system that informs you of traffic conditions which gives you the option of taking a better route. I don’t have that service so I can’t really tell you how it works but I’ve heard good things about it. One of the most important settings you have to be mindful of is the route settings. This tells your MIO C320 how to get you where you are going and can really foul you up if you’re not careful. For example earlier in the year I was in Chicago and had my MIO set for Pedestrian mode which was really cool for walking around and getting from place to place on foot. Well guess what I forgot to do? That’s right I left it there and when I left to drive home we kept getting routed via the darn side streets and couldn’t figure out what was going on. The reason is the highway was running along the access road and the MIO was jumping back and forth so we thought it was a problem with the MIO when in fact it was us setting is wrong. Well the good thing about the route setting is you can change it for travel on foot, bike, bus, taxi or car. The taxi setting saved me about 20 bucks in New York this past September when navigating across town in a rush with a cabbie trying to make an extra buck. I can’t say enough about the route feature because the ability to look like you know where you are going is totally worth it in a big city. For example you can throw MIO C320 in your shirt pocket and plug in the headphones…instant walking tour guide. That way you are not stumbling around looking lost. You just blend in like another iPod Zombie (Zune in my case) going about your business.

Should I buy it?

Well in short Yes! The MIO C320 is one of the most feature packed GPS units you can purchase for a MSRP of $299.95 The MIO C230 doesn’t fall short of features, usability or style. The MIO C310X I personally own has worked well for me and I’ll be purchasing the C320 for my wife and have already recommended it to several friends and coworkers. I did a comparison to a couple of the more expensive units and I really couldn’t see a reason to spend more money for only a few more features. Now that’s not to say the higher end models MIO sells are not worth it because they are, but if you are getting your first GPS or giving a GPS as a gift then I would recommend the MIO C320 Digi Walker. It was a pleasure trying this unit out over the past few weeks and I’m sure the winner of this MIO-tech sponsored giveaway is going to enjoy this unit for years to come.

The MIO C320 is a resounding “BJ Approved”

That’s right guys Santa is a monkey! This month has been really really great so we are doing two giveaways so far with more stuff to come. The featured products are:

CorelDRAW Painter X

Mio C320 GPS

Don’t miss out this is our best give away so far with over $800 worth of product! Heck we are listing the Mio before the review is completed so you can register early and make a comment on one of the other reviews. Just click on the Register Here on the menu bar and make a comment on one of the articles posted.

What could be easier?