Customer Rating:  
Summary: Okay, but you can do better.
Comment: I bought this GPS because it does what my girlfriend's doesn't, play music from the SD card while navigating. This was something I required due to not being able to hear the GPS over the radio. So, I just plug the head phone jack into my car stereo to reroute the sound. While it works I have been unable to get the play list to work even after extended e-mails with tech support. This is a major issue for me as it makes listening to things like audio books impossible. If all you want is a music shuffle this issue will not affect you.
I also live in Michigan where we have a unique road feature we call the Michigan left, this is, as far as I know, unique to Michigan. In order to turn left you either go past and make a U-Turn on a small connecting street or go right and do the same, no turns at the actual intersection. The GPS-510 seems to be hit and miss when you need to do a Michigan left. The problem is that normally this is on two or more lane roads and being in the wrong lane is a big issue as you can't make a left and need to make a right.
The girlfriend's Magellan GPS is more granular for directions, if there is a possibility of you going the wrong way it will tell you where you need to be, to include navigating a clover leaf interchange. This GPS believes that once you are on the right road you will stay there until it tells you otherwise.
I have found with both GPS units that for local trips you probably know a better way to go, either due to traffic flow or light timings.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good for the price
Comment: Paid around 160 for this.
Pros :
Good screen size, Media and Traffic capabilities
Cons :
Couldnt get map icons to work
No user manual at all in the pkg(couldnt find it online too)
Screen too sensitive to touches (double clicks very often)
Froze once (had to press the hard reset button) in the first few weeks of usage
Takes a min or two to latch on to satellites.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this product
Comment: I bought two GPS from amazon one for myself and one for my friend. After opening package i followed the process suggested by Harmon Kardon to start the GPS for the first time. First GPS froze while initial setup only. Even after several resets it never completed initial setup. Second unit was also facing problems in initial setup but it completed initial setup after several resets. I used that GPS for a testing it lead to wrong destination. It asked me turn on dead end streets. I could never access its music and video functions. Then I tried to call HK for its firmware update but they asked me to return device to reseller.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great GPS and great features
Comment: The Harman/Kardon gps 510NA is a GPS that gets the job done and more. The navigation is really intuitive and easy to use. I live in the Midwest and seems to me that I get a GPS lock really quickly even from a cold start. The text-to-speech is a great feature, I love it for when I have no idea where I am. When I do know where I am I like to change the voice to the British person, it just sounds cool.
After reading some of the other reviews I was a little worried about purchasing this device expecting the navigation to be lacking. I've used a TOMTOM before and this works just as well as a TOMTOM it goes to the same places it even gets lost in the same places. Yes it does it lost, but all GPS's get lost, roads change. If you have ever driven before you should be able to figure it out by just reading the road signs, so don't worry about it getting you lost it rarely happens if at all. The maps on the device are still really good, just as good as TOMTOM. I am surprised by how many POI it has. I was really impressed by that, I would buy for that ability alone. I only wish you could save the spot you were currently at, otherwise the navigation is great.
I use the music feature every time I go on a long trip, I plug the device into my car system and listen that way, it sounds really good. One downside is the playlists don't work. You can create playlists but they are never in the order that you created they sort alphabetically in the device. Whenever I get some where before I have to, or if I have to wait for someone, or even just sitting around at home I use the movie feature. I like to always have at least two movies saved on my memory card to watch whenever I need to. It did take me awhile to find the right AVI format that looked the best and worked.
PROS: Watch movies, navigate while listening to music, text-to-speech, store media on large SDHC card, tons of POI, and it is easy to use.
CONS: No power saver, no new updates until 2009(says company), the manual isn't very useful, onboard speaker isn't great.
Overall: The navigation will get you from point A to point B while looking good. It sounds great using headphones or other speakers. The movies look great, and I can watch entire movie on one battery charge.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good for the price
Comment: Picked this up on a Gold Box deal for $200.
My wife was especially interested in the MP3 capabilities, but unless you happen to have a stereo with RCA input jacks, the only way you can listen to the songs you put on it would be using the little speaker on the GPS. (I guess if you have a mini-jack plug in, you might be able to convert the two RCA's to mini-jack and plug it in that way.) But if you have neither of these options, it might just be better to get a new stereo.
Okay, what about the GPS capability? I'd give it a 95% thumbs up. A few times it screwed up where it would "merge in the left lane, now prepare to turn right"??? Also, we took it on a trip to a concert in Manchester, TN. We stopped in Brentwood, TN for our hotel, and it took us to xxxx Lane instead of xxxx Street, and we had to stop and ask for directions.
On the positive side, it's great to have in a city where you have no idea where you're going, and don't have to stop a look at a map to figure out where you're going.
There's plenty of restaurants, stores, tourist site, etc. programmed into the unit too. Just type in an address, location, whatever, and you're ready to go. Plus, there's a battery so you can do all of this in your hotel room.
Something I would like to see on it is a better way to look at maps to plan a trip, and a way to say to it, "Hwy X is backed up, find a way around it"
For the price I paid, it's great, and the feeling of confidence it gives you driving around an unfamiliar city is well worth the money.
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