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Harman Kardon GPS-300 4-Inch Portable GPS Navigator and MP3 Player Review from David Lundgren. Decent GPS, My wife got me the 300 for my birthday… although it’s clear it will be bouncing between both our cars depending on who’s going where! We are both completely impressed with it.

I second the comments about the screen size and clarity, the solidness of the windshield mount, etc. I also have to say that the thing “feels” like quality… the design is very much in the Apple mode, logical, intuitive and solid.

Software is great. Has the type prompts that you expect in the more expensive GPS systems: “Make second right here”, use of street names on the maps, really nice three dimensional perspective. We tried to confuse it in downtown Albany by doing everything wrong and it didn’t get rattled at all. I’d love to see one of these that would start to insult you after the third time you ignore its advice!

According to HK, they will be providing updates to the maps approximately annually… the maps in it are from October 2006 and are the newest available. It does have a grid of streets near our house that are new within the past year and haven’t even been accepted by the Town yet, so I’d say it’s pretty complete. You can’t change the voice, so it’s a guy and you’re stuck with him, but we’ve already nicknamed him Rocky.

For the price, or even for more than the price, Rocky’s well worth it, and someone you want with you if you’re not sure where you are. No one is getting lost with this guy on the dash. Big thumbs up.

8/21/2007, Update

OK, having had this thing for a few days now, and having learned a bit about the GPS world at large, I can still enthusiastically recommend it! We went to an outdoor concert in a nearby city last night that I am completely and happily unfamiliar with. While the GPS 300 didn’t have the name of the park in its database, I sort of knew where it was and just used it to navigate to two large green areas on the map. The first was a cemetery, interestingly enough, the second was our destination. I could have just entered intersection names and gotten there if I’d known the exact streets, but we found the place very quickly.

After the show, now in full darkness, we just headed for the nearest exit without a thought to getting to the “best” one, and hit the Home button once on the street.

They’re all supposed to do this, of course, but for the money this thing does it really well. I’ve now learned that you can pay a thousand dollars for a big-name unit that won’t even show you street names on the map unless you’re on a programmed trip! I can’t imagine what they’re thinking.

I’ve also read lots of reports about the way various units say “Recalculating” when you differ with their recommendations. As a software/user interface guy, what’s the point of that at all? Don’t tell me you’re recalculating, just do it and get on with the day. The HK works this way… Rocky just sucks it up and gives you the new route, instantly.

The darkness bit also reminded me of a trip to Charlotte, NC, where even though I had a map, under the dim map light in the car at night, my 50 year old eyes couldn’t make out the street names anymore… I rode around (I’m a guy, we don’t ask for directions) until I got a glimpse of the buildings of Uptown and reoriented myself. I won’t have to play that game anymore!

I’ve also realized that accessories can be a big deal. The GPS 300 came with a very nice slide-in case to protect it while it’s hiding in the console when the car is parked… apparently plenty of these don’t provide you with those nice extras that are actually necessities.

I can report that I’m returning the favor and buying my wife one of her own for her birthday upcoming. It’s the first piece of technology I’ve ever gotten that she likes as much as I do.

I’m not here to throw any rocks at Garmin or TomTom here, since everyone does it differently and opinion is always subjective. That said, HK is really onto something with their excellent take on the midrange GPS market.

Click here to see full story, check price or purchase Harman Kardon GPS-300 4-Inch Portable GPS Navigator and MP3 Player.

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