Harman Kardon GPS-310, GPS-510 and GPS-810 Portable Auto GPS Navigation and Entertainment Navigators Review

Harman Kardon’s GPS-310, GPS-510 and GPS-810 all have a compact form factor for use in the car or out. The models have clean lines with no buttons on the front face as all inputs are through the touch screen. The 4 inch LCD touch screen (4.3 inches on the GPS-810) is WQVGA (480×272 pixels) which is a popular size for portable media players. This makes sense as these Harman Kardon GPS navigators have significant portable media player capabilities.

Harman Kardon GPS-510

Navigation with Harman Kardon GPS

The navigation map screen can be viewed in 2D mode with the route displayed from top to bottom of the screen, 2D North mode with North at the top of the screen or 3D mode with a three dimensional map displayed with the route from the top to the bottom of the screen. It’s possible to zoom in and out from the displayed map.

Route customization options include avoidance of U-turns, unpaved roads, toll roads, highways, border crossings, carpool/HOV lanes, traffic congestion, and/or ferries. Routes can be calculated based on the shortest time or shortest distance.

The navigation interface provides numerous ways to enter your destination including; address, POI, city name, street intersection, zip code, stored home address, automatically stored recent destination, saved location.

The Points Of Interest (POI) database is a large at 12 million entries covering numerous categories such as services, transportation, shopping, entertainment, culture, sports/recreation, emergency and government, food and drink and lodging.

A helpful feature is the trip simulation which gives all the map movements and voice-prompts at high speed so that you can check and familiarize yourself with the planned route.

If you wander off your route it’s not a disaster as the Harman Kardon GPS will automatically recalculate a new route to your destination.

Common Features Included in Harman Kardon GPS-310

Brightness adjustment of screen to cope with differing lighting conditions.
Harman Kardon have utilized the accurate, high-sensitivity Atlas II GPS receiver which is a member of the Atlas family of GPS application processors by SiRf. It has the computing power to handle computationally intensive tasks like multimedia playback while still performing as a GPS receiver.

Maps of the United States and Canada stored on internal memory.

Rechargeable internal lithium-polymer battery provides up to 4 hours of use without recharging. Li-poly batteries have advantages over the lithium-ion ones including lower manufacturing cost and greater robustness to resist physical damage. Charging can be achieved using the included wall charger, car charger or 2.0 USB cable.

Text-to-Speech (TTS) provides the safety of confirming you are on the correct route without taking your eyes off the road. Up to 17 different languages are available in a male or female voice.

A useful feature is the alpha blending (transparent rendering – think Windows Vista) of displayed prompts and icons providing the driver with a clearer view of the map underneath.

Up to 17 languages can be displayed including English, French and Spanish.

SD/SDHC card compatibility provides options for loading music files. MP3, WMA and AAC music formats are supported. To ensure everyone can hear the navigation voice instructions a volume mixer is included for adjustment of the relative volume levels of the music and the navigation voice guidance.

The adjustable angle mounting bracket can attached to the windshield with a suction-cup or mounted to the dashboard using the self-adhesive dash-pad.

GPS-510 has the following additional features:

Real-time-traffic-information service for display of current traffic incidents and freeway speeds (where available) captured with a built-in receiver and included antenna. A free 90-day-trial subscription from the Clear Channel Total Traffic Network is included with the unit.

A video player with WM-DRM10 (Windows Media Digital Rights Management) decoding for compatibility with music and video downloads, and subscription services. WMV9, and MPEG4 file formats are supported.

mini-USB 2.0 high-speed interface with MTP support automatically transcodes videos on the fly, and supports the creation of playlists.

GPS-810 has all the features of the GPS-310 and GPS-510 with the addition of the following features:

Bluetooth for hands-free calling when using a phone in the car. Dual built-in microphones and an advanced noise-cancellation system for enhanced intelligibility.

Unique wireless rotary controller which can be remotely mounted near the driver for easier interaction while driving.

Picture Viewer (JPEG compatible) with thumbnail preview searching and slide show capabilities.

Wireless FM transmitter for routing sound through the car audio system.