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Harman Kardon Guide Play GPS-500
Manufacturer: Harman Kardon Part number: GPS-500
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Style and ease of use mark this basic portable navigation and multimedia device, but the Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500 doesn't offer the same smooth performance and efficiency of competing products.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | See Site | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 11/29/2009 |
 | Not yet rated | In stock | as of 11/29/2009 |
CNET editors' review
Harman Kardon Guide Play GPS-500 price range: $299.99 - $365.00
- Reviewed by: Bonnie Cha
- Reviewed on: 07/12/2007
The good: The Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500 features a stylish design and wide screen. It offers text- and voice-guided directions as well as music and video playback.
The bad: The GPS-500 doesn't support text-to-speech functionality, and it takes the system a while to acquire a GPS fix. Directions weren't always efficient.
The bottom line: Style and ease of use mark this basic portable navigation and multimedia device, but the Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500 doesn't offer the same smooth performance and efficiency of competing products.
Design
Much like the company's other products, the Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500 is a stylish piece of technology. It's sleek (4.6 inches wide by 3 inches high by 0.8 inch deep and weighing 7 ounces) and attractive, with a classic silver-and-black finish. The compact size will allow for easy portability between cars, and the unit comes packaged with a simple and secure vehicle mount.
The main attraction of the GPS-500 is its wide-screen 4-inch WQVGA display. The touch screen is responsive and features a 480x272-pixel resolution, so we enjoyed extrasharp text and maps. The screen washed out slightly in direct sunlight, but we readjusted the viewing angle and had no problems seeing the map. Overall, the menus and interface are intuitive and user-friendly. We were slightly confused as to how to get back to the main menu page once we were in a specific function, but we figured out that tapping the Source button performs that task.
The right spine holds a volume dial that you can push in to adjust the screen brightness, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a mini USB port, while the left side has a lone Hold switch. On top of the unit, you will find the Power button and SD expansion slot. And finally, the speaker and external antenna jack are on the back.
Harman Kardon packages the Guide + Play GPS-500 with a car charger, an AC adapter, a USB cable, a vehicle mount (windshield and dash), a carrying case, and a quick-start guide.
Features
As its name suggests, the Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500 is designed for navigation and entertainment, but route guidance is the primary and most attractive function of this device. The GPS-500 is equipped with a Centrality Atlas II GPS chip and comes preloaded with TeleNav maps of the United States. Before hitting the road, you may want to dig into Route Options and Navigation Settings menus to set your preferences for route creation (shortest time or shortest distance), unit of measurement, avoidances, and so forth.
You can route to a specific address, intersection, or city center, or choose from a list of recently searched destinations or saved locations. The unit is smart enough to gray out letters and numbers as you begin to input data for any cities or streets that do not match, making for faster text entry and selection. Strangely, if you want to plan a trip beyond your home state, you can't simply type in the name; instead you'll have to scroll through a list of the all the states and then select your locale--a bit of an annoyance. Once you've chosen your final destination, you can get a simulation of your route, view a list of turn-by-turn instructions, or add other stops for multidestination trips
For planned or impromptu pit stops, you can search the points of interest (POI) database, which is called Places on the GPS-500. It contains about 3 million POI and includes all the major necessities (gas stations, lodging, and banks/ATMs) and more specific categories, such as golf courses and concert halls. As with many of today's latest portable navigation systems, the GPS-500 also separates restaurants by cuisine type, so you can satisfy your craving for whatever type of food you want.
Maps are presented in 2D and 3D views and can automatically switch between day and night colors for optimal viewing. There are icons to zoom in and out of maps, and you have the option to have "north" set at the top of your screen or the direction in which you are driving. During a planned trip, the GPS-500 will also display onscreen information about the direction and distance to your next turn, current street name, estimated time of arrival, and remaining time and distance. This is, of course, all backed by voice-guided directions, but sadly, the GPS-500 does not support text-to-speech functionality. The system does do automatic route recalculations and includes a detour function.
Finally, the entertainment portion of the Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500: the media player supports MP3, MP4, WMA, ASF, WAV, and OGG music files and also displays ID3 tag information and album art when available. There's a Repeat and Shuffle function, and you can browse tracks by artist, album, genre, or playlist. For videos, you can view MPEG-4 and WMV9 clips. The GPS-500's SD slot can accept up to 4GB cards and has a USB 2.0 interface for faster data transfer.
Performance
We tested the Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500 in San Francisco, and from a cold start, it took the unit a solid 10 minutes to get a satellite fix under clear skies--an eternity when compared to other systems we've tested in the past, which only took a couple of minutes. Subsequent starts were faster, but still lagged behind competing products. On a brighter note, the receiver did a good job of tracking our position as we drove around the city.
When planning a trip, the GPS-500 quickly returned with directions, but we didn't always agree with the set of instructions. The system was able to get us to our final destination, but there were times where we knew of a more efficient route. We also purposely veered off track to test the route recalculation rate, and in general, the unit was able to give us new instructions before our next maneuver, but there was one instance where we took a succession of wrong turns, which seemed to confuse the system as it struggled to keep up with our moves. Voice prompts were loud and clear, though we did miss the text-to-speech functionality.
Multimedia performance was what we expected from a GPS device--mediocre. There was plenty of volume, but songs sounded one-dimensional and lacked richness, despite the high-fidelity speakers. The experience was much improved when we plugged in a nice pair of headphones and enjoyed some great-sounding tunes. Video playback was better than some other multimedia-centric portable nav systems we've tested, thanks to the wide and sharp screen. The Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500's battery is rated for up to 5 hours of use.
User reviews
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Good Sat Nav
by Flosser24 on June 25, 2007
Pros: Very accurate, long battery life, small/portable
Cons: Confusing interface
Summary: I got to use this device this past weekend on a road trip and was overall pleased with its performance. The Harman is a little tougher to use than other ...
Summary: I got to use this device this past weekend on a road trip and was overall pleased with its performance. The Harman is a little tougher to use than other devices out there, but once you get the hang of it it is a great device. It is very accurate an uses Tele Atlas maps. It's also very small and portable with a great battery life. Routing directions are very clear and easy to understand. I like this device and would recommend it to others looking for a GPS device.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great MP3 Player
by troykatt on January 29, 2009
Pros: Good sound from MP3 player and it might be pretty cool when I can download some video (trying many different formats, nothing work just yet.)
Cons: Really not a good GPS. Other features are pretty good but I would trade it in on my old Garmin Nuvi 200 in a minute but, I just can't seem to find my way home to do so.
Summary: I am usually not one to complain. I feel that if you can't buy something good it has something to do with your intelligence. I am going to go ...
Summary: I am usually not one to complain. I feel that if you can't buy something good it has something to do with your intelligence. I am going to go beyond my pride and admit that it was a bad choice. I got lured in by the bells and whistles and the whistles don't even work. I think maybe the maps are just so old that it has no idea where it is most of the time. I have lived in my house going on six years and it cannot find it. I am on my second one trying to see if it will work any better I will always give some thing a second chance but it failed me again today by about 15 miles and 30 minutes. PS I love my 10 year old Harman Kardon receiver.
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i think there are better units out there for the money
by giunta1026 on December 10, 2008
Pros: Looks,size,
Cons: doesn't support text-to-speech functionality, and it takes the system a while to acquire a GPS fix. Directions weren't always efficient and came late and battery does not last long.
Summary: not worth the money there are a lot better gps units out there for a better price
Summary: not worth the money there are a lot better gps units out there for a better price
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SUPERIOR PRODUCT, ABSOLUTELY SUPERB!!
by ohrin9815 on September 24, 2008
Pros: I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. VERY, VERY HELPFUL AND EASY TO USE.
Cons: AAAHHHH.......IT DOESN'T START MY CAR? LOL!
Summary: THIS IS THE EASIEST TO OPERATE GPS I'VE SEEN. I LIKE ALL OF THE FEATURES AND IT'S NOT TOO SENSITIVE AS I'VE SEEN WITH OTHERS. IT'S ...
Summary: THIS IS THE EASIEST TO OPERATE GPS I'VE SEEN. I LIKE ALL OF THE FEATURES AND IT'S NOT TOO SENSITIVE AS I'VE SEEN WITH OTHERS. IT'S JUST AWESOME. I USED TO PRINT UP A MAP QUEST BEFORE TRAVELING, BUT NOT ANYMORE. A FEW MONTHS AGO I WAS IN GEORGIA AND THE INTERSTATE WAS SHUT DOWN DUE TO DEBRIS ON THE ROAD FROM A STORM AND MY BROTHER WAS DRIVING MY CAR AND AS TRAFFIC CAME TO A DEAD STOP, I TOLD HIM TO TURN OFF ON THE NEXT EXIT AND LET GPS REDIRECT US. AND BOY IT DID, IT TOOK US 8 MILES OUT THE WAY BUT WHEN WE GOT BACK ON THE INTERSTATE, THERE WAS NO VEHICLES ON THE ROADFOR MILES AND MILES AS FAR AS WE COULD SEE NORTH BOUND OR SOUTH BOUND, JUST US. I WAS AMAZED. I WAS WONDERING IF WE WERE THE ONLY ONES ON THE ROAD WITH A GPS OR KNOW THE CAPABILITIES OF A GPS. IT WAS SO IMPRESSIVE TO MY BROTHER THAT WHEN HE GOT BACK HOME, HE IMMEDIAETLY BOUGHT ONE.
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Multi-Media Enhanced - Fast Route Calculations - Sharp Wide Screen
by EdFarrow on January 24, 2008
Pros: It's like having your MP3 player and GPS/Navigation all in one convenient package
Cons: The proprietary mount/bracket is only available from HK directly and Pricey
Summary: I found the GPS navigation in this unit to be exceptional. I'm sure that all of us know a "short-cut" around town, but this is just a GPS operating ...
Summary: I found the GPS navigation in this unit to be exceptional. I'm sure that all of us know a "short-cut" around town, but this is just a GPS operating on basic principles. I could make a few erroneous turns and possibly confuse this unit, but then again I could make one wrong turn and confuse my Grandmother, and she doesn't fit in the palm of my hand. I found the MP3 functionality to be great when patched to my car stereo with a simple mini jack cord. The screen automatically changes from day to night modes and is sharp, clear and readable at all times. I don't think I could have gotten more bang for my buck!
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Beautiful, Smart, and One-of-A-Kind
by AudioFile on June 18, 2007
Pros: Small Size, Big Screen, Detailed Maps
Cons: It doesn't hold my coffee
Summary: This NAV system is by-far the BEST one I have ever used. I have tried the Garmin NUVI 350 and the Garmin Street Pilot. Both of them don't compare ...
Summary: This NAV system is by-far the BEST one I have ever used. I have tried the Garmin NUVI 350 and the Garmin Street Pilot. Both of them don't compare to the Harman Kardon GPS 500. Heck, you can watch movies on this bad boy (perfect if you have kids in the car on a long ride). The graphics are superior to any other NAV system I have used. This NAV system has a few features that I think you should know about: 1. if you are looking for a specific restuarant/ gas station/ store or anything, all you have to do is type it into the System using the on-screen keyboard and it will give you a list of the closest places that match your search. Lets say: If you only buy gas at speedway, and you don't know where a speedway is.. just search for "speedway" and in seconds you can see all the nearest speedways and even chose to have the system guide you there. This is a phenominal breakthrough in portable navigation systems. Another awesome feature is the Detour option. If you know that there is traffic/construction/closings on any road that is on your route you can choose to avoid that specific road. The NAV system will instantly recalculate your route and guide you around the detour. How sweet is that!?!
One final thought, this price tag is a steal. You can compare the Harman Kardon GPS-500 to a video ipod. How much are video ipods?... about 300 dollars. How much is this?... about 400 dollars. For one hundred dollars more you now have a portable NAV system that will get you anywhere in North America. Think about it, this is an excellent buy.
I have had my Harman Kardon Guide Play GPS-500 for about two months now and I am in love with it. -
Harman/Kardon Guide Play GPS-500
by nikonian23 on December 26, 2007
Pros: I do not have any
Cons: Dead out of the box
Summary: I received this as a Christmas present and let it charge the 6 hours like it requested, tried to power it on, dead. I called tech support and they had ...
Summary: I received this as a Christmas present and let it charge the 6 hours like it requested, tried to power it on, dead. I called tech support and they had me reset it, which I had already done, still nothing. The tech suggested that I return it to the store it was purchased and get a replacement. I think I will go with a Garmin this time.
0 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Harman Kardon
- Part number: GPS-500
- Description: Harman International is a company of listeners. From the earliest days of high fidelity, Harman's guiding principle has been the same: not technology for technology's sake, but technology for the music's sake. Harman's long-standing, commitment to technical excellence, product quality and industrial design, all stem directly from company's passion for the music.
General
- Width 4.6 in
- Depth 0.8 in
- Height 3 in
GPS System
- Recommended Use Automotive
- Connectivity USB
- GPS Functions / Services Speed, Distance, Altimeter
- Voice Navigation instructions
- Features Built-in speaker, Preinstalled POIs, 2D / 3D map perspective
- Built-in Memory 2 GB
- Supported Memory Cards SD Memory Card
Navigation
- Trip computer Avoid ferrys, Avoid U-turns, Back-On-Track, Avoid highways, Avoid toll roads
Digital Player
- Digital Player Yes
- Supported Formats MP3, Ogg, WAV, WMA, MPEG-4
Built-in Display
- Type TFT
- Resolution 480 x 272
- Diagonal Size 4 in
- Color Support Color
- Features Touch screen
Connections
- Connector Type USB, Headphones - Mini-phone 3.5 mm
Battery
- Battery technology Lithium polymer
- Mfr estimated battery life 5 hour(s)
Miscellaneous
- GPS design features MP3 player, Video player
- Included GPS accessories USB cable, Carrying case, Cleaning cloth, AC power adapter, Mounting bracket, Car power adapter
Manufacturer info
- Harman Kardon
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Harman Kardon products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.harman.com
- Address:
1101 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC - Phone: 202-393-1101
- Fax: 202-393-3064
