Product Description

GPS-810 Harman Kardon Portable Navigation+Traffic+Audio+Video+Bluetooth device offers a highly intuitive user interface making it an easy to use navigation device. It features Text-to-Speech in English. It also offers full playback capability of digital music and video files along with hands free functions of Bluetooth enabled phones. All access and control is via a breakthrough wireless remote control and / or utilizing the high resolution 4.3" WQVGA touchscreen. In navigation mode, it offers easy-to-understand spoken instructions and visuals in 17 different languages. Turn-by-turn graphics with all vital information is displayed in 2-D or 3-D and Maps of U.S. and Canada are built-in along with a 12 million point of interest database. Real-time-traffic information to reroute around traffic delays and the antenna built into the cigarette lighter power cord is included along with a 90 day free trial period. The full blown MP3 player offers browsing by Artist, Album, Genre, Song or Playlist. It will display ID3 tags for artist, title and album along with album artwork. MP3/AAC/WMA audio formats are supported along with Windows Media DRM 10 for compatibility with music and video download services. In video player mode the 4" high resolution WQGVA widescreen plays back hours of video and supports MPEG-4, WMV9 and H.264 video formats. All digital media is accessed via SD Card slot (SD card not included) and will accept SD and SDHC cards. The Bluetooth interfaces allows hands free cell phone communication and will display phone's address book and caller ID's from Bluetooth capable phones. A built-in dual microphone with digital signal processing significanly improves clarity of speaking voice to the other caller. Lastly, a photo viewer that reads JPG, BMP and GIF files is provided with folder sorting and thumb nail viewing.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29859 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Charcoal and Black
• Brand: Harman Kardon
• Model: GPS-810NA
• Released on: 2007-11-19
• Dimensions: 2.24" h x 5.00" w x .75" l, 1.00 pounds
• Native resolution: 480 x 272
• Display size: 4.3

Features

• Text-to-Speech in English announces the next manuever by name such as the street name or highway. The GPS-810's translation from Text-to-Speech is very easy to understand and natural sounding.
• Bluetooth is built in offering the ability to pair with Bluetooth enabled cell phones for handsfree communication.
• The GPS-810 also includes a breakthrough wireless remote control that can control all functions of the unit independently or in combination with the 4.3" touchscreen.
• 4.3" WQVGA 480 x 272 High resolution widescreen.The unit is preloaded with maps of the U.S. including Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico as well as Canada are included.
• Full-featured digital audio & video player is included to make it a great personal media player in addition to an incredible portable navigation unit. The audio player allows you to search by artist, album, genre, song or playlist and displays album art.

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.

4-inch WQVGA 480px x 272px high-resolution widescreen touch screen (actual size)

Navigation
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.

Intuitive interface is easy to operate. See route planning details.

Easy to understand traffic data

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?

Accurate, detailed 3D navigation, and turn-by-turn directions.

Use the unit's touch screen to enter address locations.

An intuitive menu lets you switch quickly between music, video, and navigation options.

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.

	Video playback is equally straightforward. The device recognizes WMV9 or MPEG-4 AVI video files and presents them in a scrolling list. Press a title and you're off in movie land, complete with smooth framerates and minimal jitters during high-action sequences. We did encounter a format incompatibility with an AVI file encoded in the DIVX format. Attempting to play the file freaked the GPS-810 out, and a hard reset was required. Harman Kardon is very clear about which file formats are supported, but many folks might inadvertantly attempt to play a DIVX-encoded AVI instead of an MPEG-4 AVI. Broader format support would be a welcome addition. To ease some of the pain of getting your movies and TV shows into the right format for the GPS-810, Harman Kardon provides a brief guide for Windows Media Player users. Mac users will have to use third-party media encoders to prepare their videos for the GPS-810. Lastly, battery life when playing back videos was surprisingly good. After a two-hour movie the GPS-810 was only down to a 40 percent charge.

Design
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

Cons
Minor lag during some operations
Limited video format compatibility
No sleep or low power standby function

What's in the Box
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

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Customer Reviews

Mixed bag
I bought this unit but returned it because, for me, the cons (most significantly the battery life) outweighed the pros. Here is a rundown of what I found:

Pros:

- solid build - you can feel the quality when you hold this device

- generally good performance, rapid satellite lock and route calculation

- excellent car mounting accessories

- beautiful large screen with video playback as well as audio

- control knob is innovative and convenient

- menus are intuitive and easy to follow

Cons:

- 2 hour battery life (confirmed to be "normal" by HK tech) - this is fine if you don't plan to use video feature and instead intend to leave it mounted in the same vehicle all the time

- suspend feature described in quick start guide missing on some units pending firmwire update expected in the next couple of months - so the unit reboots completely every time you turn it off

- recalculation routing sometimes erratic (lots of U-turns!)

- full user manual not available and no time-frame within which it will be released - a complex, feature-rich device such as this deserves better

Bottom line: a good product, but needs some refining before it can justify the price tag.

Very Simple yet effective
I have tried MIOc310x, tomtom 920T, Garmin nuvi 660, 670, 200w, 5000, Magellans, Navigon .... ALL of them have their quirks. none of them are perfect. ofcourse this is all the matter of individual taste. HK 810 has its quirks too... but they are all insignificant when you look at the practicality of this GPS unit. Its like a swiss army knife of sorts. Long plane journeys will no more bother you because the batteries actually do last at least 3.5 hours with video playback. Route calculations are simple and to the point. It does not have an exhaustive list of menus to go through. The remote for this product is very intuitive just like an iDrive in a BMW or any high end car system. The menus are identical to the one in the 2007 BMW 7series. Phone calls are crystal clear....provided you have all your windows shut. It pairs well with 3 phones I have. Blackberry pearl, Motorola krzr and the iphone. The music sound quality is great and you don't even have to crank it all the way up to hear it. it is solidly built and quick on GPS fixes, route recalculations. It uses the same map as the MIO does... which are not cartoonish as the garmins out there. But does use a different set of algorithms to calculate effective routes. The accuracy is good but dont expect to be spoon fed and spoilt to take you to the doorstep of the destination. In 3 months of use I have had 2 freezes ...both when I insert the sd card while the unit was turned on. Otherwise a very recommended product. Stands out in a crowd of the same looking GPS units.

Harmon Kardon GPS 810 Review
If you are looking for something different in a GPS - and that would also include the single coolest interface in a GPS unit - look no further. I had no idea Harmon Kardon, maker of great Audio equipment, was in the GPS business, but after working with a demo in a local Best Buy, I simply had to have one!

Why this unit?
I travel extensively for work. A couple features I wanted in a GPS included the following:
- Simple and clean interface
- Audio announcement with street names
- Bluetooth mobile phone capability
- MP3 Player with FM tuner
- Rugged and flexible mount
- Traffic warnings

The HK GPS 810 delivers on all points - and more! - although not perfectly in every instance.

The interface is an especially clean design that looks suspiciously like Microsoft Windows. That's no accident. The unit is powered by Windows CE - an embedded version of the Windows operating system found on most PCs. To date, (I've been running this unit for 2 months now) the system has never crashed once and has been stable as a rock. A contributing factor to this might be the update I installed immediately after recieving the unit. Don't miss this, as reviews of this unit previous to this indicate significant problems with stability. The update was simple enough, and if you feel you might need assistance with it, you can call the manufacturer and they will walk you through it. All you need is your PC, the GPS and the supplied USB cable. The entire process took about an hour - most of it spent waiting for it to install the software on the unit itself.

This product also comes with a wireless remote-control knob that works great and is very simple to use. Although if you travel for a living like I do, it won't be much use ... but in my own vehicle, (a 2007 Ford F-150 STX) it works great mounted to the dash.

Once installed, the unit is very easy to use - much simpler and more powerful than the devices I've used in the past from Magellean and others. The map automatically changes perspective for you, depending upon the distance and speed you are travelling. Navigational directions are clearly posted on the left of the screen and are easy to see and understand.

The unit ships with two voices - one male, one female - both being pleasant and easy to hear over road noise. The unit announces street names as well as turn directions. One quirk of this unit (still waiting for response from HK) is that it occasionally announces a turn direction incorrectly. For example, you might be looking at the screen and see a Right Turn ahead - but the GPS voice will tell you to turn left. The behaviour is not consistent - doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's really annoying.

The Bluetooth feature is also a bit quirky. The first time I set it up it worked perfectly. The Phonebook was imported automatically without prompting - something that should probably change, since some customers might not want thier entire phonebook imported. Another feature that could be added would be a PC interface that would allow the user to select the addresses from Outlook. The unit "lost" my BT configuration after the first week for soeme reason and I wasn't able to re-establish the connection. Then a day or two later, after climbing into the car, all of a sudden the BT feature began to work again - however, without the phone book being populated.

MP3 Player with FM tuner - I hate bringing music CDs with me on the road, so the integrated Media Player with FM tuner seemed a great idea. Additionally, the unit has an SD card interface, so now I can load the DDC card with whatever music I want and I'm done. Climb into the rental car, install the GPS unit, tune the car's radio to whatever frequency I want (I use 88.8 MHz) and tool on down the road. Unfortunately, the transmitted signal is not very strong (Blame the FCC) and the fidelity isn't the best. Playing with the unit's location helps a bit, since the key to good reception is the proximity of the transmitter to the radio's antenna. I keep two 4 GB SD cards with me and change them up as desired. In addition to the FM transmitter, the unit also has an audio output jack that you can plug into the car's AUX input for higher-quality audio. If you happen to be driving one of the new Ford-manufactured vehicles with Microsoft Sync, it's as easy as just plugging it in - the car's audio system will walk you through the adjustments.

The unit's mount is exceptional. It is small, light, and rugged - and integrates power and audio signals into the mount. It can also be adjusted to the most complex positions and has never fallen off a windshield yet (a statement I'd never have been able to make with the Magellean and TomTom units). The friction of the ball mount can also be easily adjusted with a cross-point screwdriver. The mount comes as a complete kit for those who want a more permanent mount on thier dashboard. included is a smooth, black disk that can be affixed to your dash to ensure the unit can be mounted there as well. I placed this item on my truck's dashboard and it is great. The unit is easily reachable and hasn't come "unglued" once.

HK offers a "Total Traffic Network" option from the Traffic Message Channel. This feature warns you of construction and accidents along your path and is very up-to-date. I have to admit it works very well - and although I was used to the MSN traffic updates I used to get with the Magellean unit, I have to say that TTN is at least as good as the MSN version.

As with all GPS units - the maps themselves are actually purchased from one of a handful of mapping companies. All of them have thier own foibles and this one is no different. On occasion it simply gets a street wrong (in my case, one right next to my house that doesn't exist). The method for providing feedback about wrong information isn't clear and should be made easier for more accurate updates. There is also no clear way to know when updated maps are available - you simply must check the website periodically. One great feature of this unit is that it is not restricted to North America as many of the competitor's units are.

All-in-all, it's a great unit, has every feature I wanted - plus some - and is going to be with me for awhile.

Buy it!