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(More customer reviews)UPDATES:
I've updated the review dealing with the FM transmitter's signal quality as well as the clock being reset when using the bottom power switch and dialing from the unit when using BT speakerphone.
I recently purchased mine from another online vendor. This will be a long and fairly detailed review and in it I will clarify some issues that some people are having.
Powering up from standby works both under battery power mode or charging mode. All you need to do is hold down the top power button for about 2-3 seconds and let it go. To put it back into standby hold the top power button for the same amount of time. For everyday use, the top power button is very convenient and allows faster boot ups than using the bottom power switch which requires a pointed device to switch it on/off. Make note that if/when you use the BOTTOM power switch make sure you do not power off when the unit is in standby as it will reset the clock. Only power off when the unit is on and out of standby. This is only an issue with the BOTTOM power switch.
BT pairing only works on some phones not all phones...duh. There are different versions of BT as well as different BT profiles support so don't expect every phone to work with this Nokia 500. My LG CU500 pairs fine and the speaker phone works great, loud and clear. My contacts however would not upload since my phone does not support Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP) so I have to initiate calls using my handset's phonebook. You could direct dial calls using the touchpad if you already know the phone number. You could also save 9 speedial numbers into the "favorites". When receiving calls I can answer using the Nokia via the touchscreen. The BT speaker phone can use the built-in speaker or your car stereo via the FM transmitter. It works great with my car stereo, reception is loud and clear. There is some static every now and then but that's common with all FM transmitters. The FM transmitter works well while in the cradle or held in your hand using battery power, however, when using the car adapter it is very sensitive to the orientation of the WIRE so you'll have to move the wire around to get the best reception. I suspect this is the reason why some owners have little success with getting good reception since they do not realize this.
The FM transmitter works with music and videos stored on your SD card as well as the navigation voices. I did have a problem with the FM transmitter turning itself off after 1 min of inactivity during voice navigation usage, but I found an easy solution and that is to have an audio track play in the background in repeat mode which keeps the FM transmitter continuously on. If you prefer not to hear music play in the background during voice navigation then just turn down the volume using the front hard volume buttons. You could actually turn down the music volume all the way and the FM transmitter will still stay on. You do not have to go through the trouble of making a silent audio track that I'd suggested prior to finding this out. The voice navigation volume is independent of the music volume so it doesn't get turned down along with the music.
Keep in mind the Nokia does have a built-in speaker so the voices can playback through that instead of the car stereo if you don't want to fiddle around with the FM transmitter. Also note that if you have music playing in the background, the music volume automatically gets reduced so you could hear the voice navigation instructions when it kicks in.
The Nokia only comes with a car charger, but it can also be charged while connected to your computer's USB port. That means any USB charger will work. USB standard output voltage is 5V. At home I use an old Motorola USB cellphone charger, it's rated 5V and 550mA. The Nokia car adapter is rated 5V and 1A. It takes longer to charge with my Motorola charger because the current is about half of Nokia's car charger. Slow charging is better anyway since there's little risk of overcharging if you forget to unplug the charger after the battery has been fully charged.
The memory card that came with my unit is an official Nokia brand 2GB SD card NOT microSD or miniSD. The card is made by Sandisk. It comes with folders already created for MP3, VIDEOS, and PICTURES as well as CITIES for the maps. I copied all the files and folders from the 2GB card onto my 16GB card and it works without a problem. Music and videos play as expected, however it seems the videos have to be below a certain resolution and framerate. If the video's resolution is too high the playback will be choppy. I have to play around with encoding different videos to see what the optimum resolution/framerate is, however I did notice the 4 product demo videos that are included on the Nokia SD card are of the following specs.
Audio - AAC, Stereo, 44.1 kHz
Video - MPEG4 480
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