Top GPS Guide

The Guide + Play is a sat-nav device first and media player second. It’s easy to use and has great route-planning abilities, apart from the odd sluggish moment. It’s let down by basic media playback and poor performance, however, making it a disappointing entertainment device.

Harman Kardon may be better known for its audio equipment, but the US company is dipping its toe in the GPS market with the Guide + Play — a 102mm (4-inch) widescreen, touch-sensitive European satellite-navigation unit that also doubles as a video and audio player, all for ￡345.

Hit the big power button on the top of the display and the Guide + Play is quick to start up — it’s ready to use in just a couple of seconds. The menu is very simple to operate, with large on-screen buttons that even the most ham-fisted should be able to get to grips with.

Finding locations is a doddle as it actively searches its database as you type, dimming keys that are no longer relevant. Type M, for example, and letters such as B, D and F dim, as there are no places beginning MB, MD or MF.

The Guide + Play’s talents are heavily skewed on the Guide side, with Play coming in a poor second. If you focus only on its navigation abilities, then apart from the occasional menu lockup, it’s a great, albeit expensive, GPS unit. Its media playback facilities, on the other hand, are rather embarrassing and best overlooked.

The Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500 features a stylish design and wide screen. It offers text- and voice-guided directions as well as music and video playback.

The GPS-500 doesn’t support text-to-speech functionality, and it takes the system a while to acquire a GPS fix. Directions weren’t always efficient.

Style and ease of use mark this basic portable navigation and multimedia device, but the Harman Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500 doesn’t offer the same smooth performance and efficiency of competing products.

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Posted on August 20th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: GPS Device