Review on HK GPS 500 Widescreen Navigator by Harman Kardon by David Lamfers

I just received this GPS and have had 3 full days to test it. Overall I would say this is a very good GPS device but with some notable flaws. BACKGROUND I used a Garmin C330 which I got 2 years ago until it decided to mess me up. Spent some time on the web to research this product along with Garmin NUVI models and TomTom models. I chose this one for its widescreen format, MP3 and video playback capabilities, and price. PROS: The presentation of this GPS device is very smooth. It's quite thin and not too heavy. It has clean lines and is not overloaded with buttons and buttons. The screen resolution is outstanding. When I first used it in direct daylight, it appeared "washed out". However, I increased the brightness of the device and everything was fine - much better than my previous Garmin GPS. When viewed out of direct sunlight and at night, the resolution is superb, with vivid colors and crisp text. The widescreen format allows for more 'real estate' to provide additional information including the next turn, time/distance to destination and even the song you are playing (if using an MP3 player at the same time). - I would rate the GPS capabilities as average or above average myself. It fixes the signal fairly quickly - about the same as my Garmin. Sometimes it takes a little longer to calculate the route. It annoyed me a little, but nothing unbearable. I love that you can drag the map to see the nearest roads etc. My old Garmin couldn't do this - I'm not sure if they added this feature. in new Garmin models - Another great feature of GPS is the ability to "touch" areas on the map to display addresses of businesses and residents. For example, I "touched" a street corner near my home on the GPS map and it showed a 24-hour fitness center and other businesses. It has a nice carrying case that makes it easy to transport for optimal mobile use. The battery life is very good. Not quite the 5 hours that Harman Kardon claims, but mine lasted 4 hours. - The user interface is intuitive, simple and efficient. the outside. I found this quite annoying because I didn't have enough time to choose the right side of the road. Sure, you can tell which side it's on by the address, but I think it's a simple feature that should be in most GPS navigators these days. You cannot turn off Voice Navigator while listening to an MP3 player. Personally, I don't always like hearing turn-by-turn directions. However, I wanted to listen to my MP3s on the device. Unfortunately you can't have both. When listening to MP3s, you will get voice instructions (regardless of how low the volume on the mixer is set). MP3 sound quality is average. I expected more from a company like Harman-Kardon. I have an AUX input in my car and I tested 2 songs on both the GPS and my iPod. The iPod sounded much better. Of course, MP3 playback isn't the primary purpose of a GPS device, but I expect higher quality from this company nonetheless. The UI "hiccups" mentioned in the Revain review do NOT apply to pre-release software. I've experienced the same thing. Sometimes the device took 5-8 seconds to respond to my request. I think it is related to the buggy software "1.0". Overall I think this GPS device was a good investment and I like most of its features. A few flaws it had aren't critical to me, but make things a bit uncomfortable. Hopefully HK will take some of this feedback into account when releasing their 2nd Gen version. But overall I think the Hong Kong guys did a great job with their first GPS device on the market.