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Brand: Harman Kardon Color: Charcoal and Black Display Size: 4.3 inches EAN: 0028292589348 Includes Mp3 Player: 1 Item Dimensions: Label: Harman Kardon Manufacturer: Harman Kardon Model: GPS-810NA MPN: GPS-810NA Native Resolution: 480 x 272 Publisher: Harman Kardon Release Date: November 19, 2007 Studio: Harman Kardon Variation Description: Charcoal and Black Features:
Accessories:
Editorial Review: Product Description: Amazon.com Product Description, December 12, 2007: High-end audio equipment manufacturer Harman Kardon's continues to combine solid navigation with truly superb media player function in its GPS products, creating a bar for navigator/personal entertainment system convergence devices. They've improved their models this year with a fuller feature set and a nifty little remote. Feature Set With their first line of GPS navigators released last year, H-K wisely stuck to the basics with their navigation. Perhaps that was the reason navigation worked so much better on Harman Kardon's devices than on some other navigators produced by manufactuer's whose core business was not GPS. With basic nav nailed down however, Harman Kardon added a full feature set into this year's models. All of the new models -- the GPS-310, GPS-510, and GPS-810, -- come with text-to-speech for spoken directions with real street names, a photo viewer and MP3 player. The GPS-510 adds a video player. The GPS-810 has the same features you'd get on the top-end model from any manufacturer, including , bluetooth connectivity, traffic data capability (from TMC Clear Channel), and an FM transmitter that will deliver both directions and music through an open channel on your car's stereo system.
The main purpose of any car GPS device is to take you reliably from point A to B. Here the GPS-810 performs nicely indeed, providing several options for finding your destination. To get going you can select either a street address, a specific point of interest such as a gas station or restaurant, a recent or saved destination, a postal code, or an intersection (if you're not sure of the exact address). To speed up text entry, the unit employs an intelligent auto-completion feature that displays only the letters that spell an item in its database. This greatly reduces the letters from which you have to choose to tell it where you want to go. Once it knows where you are headed, the device offers you the choice of shortest distance or most use of freeways or other high-speed arterials. You'll also find a trip planner that lets you lay out and save multiple destinations, as well as avoidance choices for routing your trip away from borders, toll roads, unpaved roads, ferries, and more. If you take a wrong turn or need to use a detour, the GPS-810 will automatically re-route you and get you back on your way. And how did the GPS-810 perform out on the road? In a word, admirably. The responsiveness of the device and excellent user interface make it a joy to use. The GPS-810 also has an extremely fast and accurate GPS signal processor, so it locks, calculates and recalculates routes, and responds to commands quickly. One of the hardest things for a manufacturer without a long history in building GPS navigators is getting the routing algorithms correct, so it was nice to see that Harman Kardon seems to have gotten this right. In most cases, the device decided on logical and efficient routes, too--something that can't be said of all GPS devices out there.
Setup and Interface Setup is as easy as turning the device on, since it comes loaded with maps of the U.S. and Canada. On first bootup, choose from English, Spanish, or French language options for the spoken directions and interface menus. Interacting with the GPS-810's touchscreen is delightfully intuitive and reliable; there's really no need for a stylus or navigation buttons, which simplifies things on the road. The division of the main interface into four main quadrants is a helpful touch, and it's refreshing to see manufacturers moving away from awkward icon-based menus. Instead of drilling down through lists of icons, all of the GPS-810's options are presented on simple, color-coded shapes. That said, we were a little puzzled by the use of the "Source" menu key, which takes the user back to the main menu from any point in the interface. It's a useful feature, but why not call this the "Home" button instead?
The screen itself is sharp and clear, offering great resolution and clarity in all driving conditions. The map screen is a sight to behold, offering delightfully crisp 3D images, as well as excellent responsiveness when zoomed and panned. Likewise, the interfaces for music and video playback are pleasantly uncluttered, responsive, and well thought-out. One problem in our unit, though, was the lack of a sleep mode. The device's screen will stay on at full illumination when it's left idle--even when running on battery power. There's also no sleep button on the device. Hands Free Phone That Really Works! Using Bluetooth wireless capability to allow GPS navigators to function as hands-free phone kits is becoming more popular, especially as more states pass laws that prohibit in-car cell phone use without a hands-free kit, so lots of navigators are sporting the feature these days. However, this is an area in which the GPS-810 really shines, primarily because of the dual microphone and Harman Kardon's patented noise-cancelling technology. Most GPS navigators have a single microphone located in the center of the device, which can make you sound garbled on the other end. The GPS-810 has two microphones, one on each side of the device, so both passenger and driver can use the hands-free phone kit and come through clearly. Also, Harman Kardon has installed the same kind of noise-canceling system they use in their high-end audio products, to further enhance intelligibility.
Multimedia The GPS-810 strives to be much more than just another GPS device in a crowded market, and that's likely why Harman Kardon has polished the multimedia features of the device so well. With support for MP3 and WMA music files, the music player has a refreshingly intuitive user interface and good sound quality. It's a cinch to browse music on your SD card by artist, album, genre, playlist, and song. Another nice touch is that you can keep the music playing while the unit is in navigation mode.
The GPS-810 is solidly built--something we expect from Harman Kardon--and it instills a sense of confidence that it can survive the bumps of bruises that come with the mobile lifestyle. Measuring approximately 4.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches high, and a little over half an inch thick, the device is only a little chunkier than your average PDA or Smartphone. The clean lines of the GPS-810 are enhanced by a complete lack of buttons; all interaction with the device happens between the touchscreen and your finger. In the interest of simplicity, there is not even a stylus that can fall to the floor and roll under the seat of your car. The only button you'll find on the device is the recessed power button on the top, right next to the SD card slot. The slot accepts cards with up to 4 GB of capacity. There's also a small jog wheel on the right side for volume and display brightness control. Below this dial you'll also find a mini-USB port that serves double duty for both charging and PC-to-device data transfers, as well as a standard 3.5-millimeter headphone jack. Meanwhile, you'll find a pinhole reset button on the bottom, as well as a hold switch on the left side for deactivating the touchscreen. Lastly, the back of the unit sports a small audio speaker and a port for an optional GPS signal booster antenna. Pros Excellent user interface Fast, accurate GPS performance; good mapping capabilities Polished, user-friendly music and video playback Minor lag during some operations Limited video format compatibility No sleep or low power standby function GPS-810 portable navigator, wireless control knob, wireless FM transmitter, 4-hour lithium-polymer battery, USB 2.0 Hi-Speed computer interface with cable, fold-flat windshield/dashboard mounting bracket, dashboard mounting disk, car charger, wall charger, traffic antenna, carrying case, quick-start guide Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Absolutely Perfect GPSThis device is GREAT. I drive big trucks at work and the 5 button remote makes using this device easy to use without stretching over the dashboard to touch the screen. I also have an Apple iPhone and it works great with the new North American software update available on the website: http://www.harmandesign.com/download/upgrade/downloads/GPS-810NAupgrade.exe Many of my friends at work have GPS devices from Garmin. When they drive in my Suburban they are supprised to see ... Read More Rating:  - Harman Kardon 810 (HK810) More like a PMP with a GPS built in. The Harman Kardon 810 is definitely a good GPS system. It is one of the smoothes navigation units that I have ever seen. It is well built, sleek and beautiful. The voice prompts are clear and precise. It will get you to where you need to go but with a few extra turns. I would recommend this system to people that want more than just a GPS System. I would recommend it to people that want a PMP with a good GPS built in. The screen is big and beautiful just like screen of the PSP. It plays ... Read More Rating: - Made the Right Choice!!I am a first time GPS user. I read all the reviews here plus at other websites and I was very hesitant in purchasing this unit due to the system locking up issue that most people has mentioned. But for me I was looking for a unit that had it all! And for right now, this is the only unit with GPS, MP3, Video, Pictures, and Bluetooth Phone connectivity..... I searched for a comparable unit with the same features in all the major electronic stores and only found ones with only GPS/MP3. Well anyways, I'm ... Read More Rating:  - Piece of JunkHave to reset it every time I needed it to use it. Have your paper clip ready it shuts off every time it goes into standby. FM transmitter sucks, it berly works, the bluetooth sucks too, it takes forever to sink up to your phone. I'm returning the product and go with a name brand instead. Rating:  - A firmware update is available.The firmwear update is up. I see alot of people giving the battery a con. At 3.5 hours for movies (that look and sound great) it beats alot of DVD players when on the plane. Longer time and fits in my pocket. I'm having difficulty getting my Samsung SGH-D307 to pair up. I got it once then it dropped within a couple minutes and haven't got it to work yet. My phone works with the Uconnect in my van so I think it just I missing something. Otherwise so far I really like the unit. Haven't had any route errors ... Read More | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
