Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F20S 20 GB Digital Audio Player Silver

by Toshiba

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.5 x 9 x 9.2 inches ; 2.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007U0IGO
• Item model number: MEGF20S
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Images and music combine in this easy-to-use portable digital audio player. Toshiba's snazzy, silver Gigabeat MEG-F20S packs a 1.8-inch Toshiba hard drive capable of holding 20 GB of digital media: MP3 and WMA compressed audio and even uncompressed, full-resolution WAV files. That's about 5,000 songs (more than 300 complete albums) at 128 kbps MP3, 10,000 songs at 64 kbps WMA, and a still-impressive 550 or so songs (or 38 hours) of CD-resolution WAV files.

A major feature of the player is its bright, crystal-clear, 2.2-inch LCD with 240 x 320 resolution and the ability to render over 65,000 colors. It's there so you can experience the visual as well as the aural component of your entertainment. The Gigabeat lets you download and view album covers, search for your favorite tracks by scrolling through those album covers, or even set a favorite album cover as your background image. You can download any digital still picture from your PC and create custom slideshows, too--and set them to music.

Gigabeat may be versatile, but it's also easy to operate. Its PlusTouch sensor control lets you scroll through its intuitive menus using only a soft touch or pass of your fingertip.

The PC-only Gigabeat is "Plays for Sure"-certified by Microsoft, which means that it will operate with any "Plays for Sure" download site or management software when connected to your PC. Gigabeat is automatically recognized by Windows Media Player 10, so there's no need to install new drivers of any kind. Toshiba has also partnered with Napster to provide Napster's "Napster To Go" software, giving you the option of using Napster To Go, Windows Media Player, and/or the supplied Gigabeat Room management software (Gigabeat Room is required for transfer of photo images).

So what about your CD collection? After all, you'll likely be able to stash the entire thing in here, one way or another. Thanks to a unique feature called CD RipRec, all you have to do is place a CD in your PC and press the CD RipRec button while the Gigabeat is docked in its cradle. CD RipRec will launch the software and transfer compressed audio to your Gigabeat quickly and with no further effort on your part. Using a USB 2.0 connection (cable supplied), CD RipRec can transfer the contents of an entire CD to the Gigabeat in as little as 5 minutes.

If Gigabeat's battery life (up to 16 hours) isn't enough to satisfy your entertainment needs, fret not. Rather than carrying your AC adapter everywhere, simply connect the Gigabeat to any PC with a USB cable and the battery will charge itself again.

Other features include a choice of 10- or 60-second intro scan to help you find a desired song, multilingual support (Japanese, English, French, Chinese, Spanish, and German), and 28 user selectable equalizer settings, and SRS WOW, which simulates surround sound from any two speakers (including headphones).

What's in the Box
Digital music player, an AC power adapter, a power-supply, a docking cradle, a USB cable, headphones, a software CD-ROM (Gigabeat Room management software, CD RipRec, Napster To Go), a user's manual, and warranty information.

Product Description

Listen to your tunes anytime, anywhere with the slick Gigabeat MP3 Player. The PlusTouch sensor control lets you scroll through all of the easy-to-understand menu systems with a touch of your finger. Gigabeat is Microsoft's Windows "Plays for Sure" certified and will operate with any "Plays for Sure" download site or management software simply by connecting it to your PC. It is automatically recognized by Windows Media Player 10, so there's no need to install drivers. The Gigabeat even gives you the option of using Napster To Go, Windows Media Player or Gigabeat Room Management Software*.

Features:

• 2.2" diagonal QVGA LCD color screen with 320 x 240 resolution lets you create slideshows and view downloaded album covers and digital still images
• Photo viewer with slideshow capability
• "PlusTouch" sensitive control
• 20 GB 1.8" hard drive for up to 10,000 songs
• Audio formats supported: MP3, WMA and WAV
• 16-hour lithium ion battery**
• Gigabeat room management and Napster To Go software included
• USB cradle allows one button file transfer and ripping of entire CD with RipRec
• 28 user selectable equalizer settings including SRS' WOW
• In the box: One Toshiba Gigabeat Audio Player, AC adapter, power supply, cradle, USB cable, headphones and software CD-ROM
• One-year limited warranty

*Gigabeat Room Management software is required for transfer of photo images; **16 hours battery life is approximate and varies depending on individual usage

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Looks great, sounds so... so..., June 17, 2005

By 

V. Thu "vthu" (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F20S 20 GB Digital Audio Player Silver (Electronics)

I was really looking forward to this Toshiba MP3 player. I'll get to the point.

Good:

1. The build of this device is very solid, very good.

2. Very nice color LCD.

3. Different background themes.

Bad:

1. Audio quality. You can hear distortion in the higher and lower frequencies. Making it a poor device if you care about audio quality.

2. Navigation is not as simple as some of the other ones in the market.

3. Poor software that comes with the device.

Outside of the device itself, I find the Toshiba Customer Support folks not to be very helpful. From the conversation, it seems they are aware of the audio problem but would deny it till the cow comes home.

I am torn on this device. I want to give it a five-star, but with all the problems with it plus a poor customer support team, I am forced to give it a three-star. Maybe if they fixed the audio problem, I would upgrade my rating.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love my Gigabeat player..., September 15, 2005

By 

Christopher T. Ryanczak (Yongsan Garrison, Seoul, South Korea) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F20S 20 GB Digital Audio Player Silver (Electronics)

I have had my Gigabeat player for about one-month-and-a-half now, and I simply love it. This is the first HD MP3 player that I have ever bought. Yes, like a lot of people, I was initially impressed by the iPod. However, since I don't use Apple products, I wasn't exactly keen on buying an iPod. I've noticed that a lot of people out there have been given iRiver and Samsung a try as well. Since I absolutely refuse to buy any Korean electronic brands (iRiver, Samsung, etc), those brands were simply out of the question. After doing some research, I came across information about the Toshiba Gigabeat. Since Sony keeps mucking things up with their MP3 players, I was definitely intrigued with the Gigabeat. I'll try not repeat what others have written in their reviews, so here it goes. Overall, the sound of the Gigabeat is great. Yes, admittedly, there have been a few times when the sound seems to be "muddy" or "muffled", but most of the time the sound is fantastic. When this happens, it's kind of like listening to a cassette copy of your favorite LP. Why this happens on the extremely rare occasion, I don't know. But then again, the RipRec software is just making a digital copy of the CD. The Plus Touch control on the Gigabeat is a breeze to use, so don't give any of the negative reviews of this feature out there any credence until you try it out for yourself. It only took me a couple of minutes to figure out. It's not that too difficult to use. The interface is rather easy and straightforward to navigate. The only flaw that I have with the interface is that you have to wait at least one minute from closing the photo viewer to return to see the current track information. A lot of people have written, mostly negatively, about the Gigabeat Room software. From my experience, the Gigabeat Room software is relatively simple to use in order to rip a CD onto the Gigabeat. The whole process only takes a few minutes. As far as not being able to share your MP3 collection on the Gigabeat with others, well, that is the whole point. Yes, the files do have a special extension to prevent this. However, the whole purpose to prevent piracy. On the other hand, transferring photos from one's laptop to the Gigabeat player via the Gigabeat Room can be a little frustrating at times. There have been a couple of instances where I've had to try to transfer the photo more than once, but it eventually worked. Like other people have mentioned, I, too, would like to see Toshiba work out the kinks with the Gigabeat Room. While not trying to belabour the point, the Gigabeat's Photo Viewer is top notch. The quality of the image is absolutely amazing. The display language feature of the Gigabeat is also awesome since I just happen to listen to a lot of Japanese music. I love being able to see the song titles displayed in kanji as opposed to question marks. Finally, as many people have pointed out, the included earplugs do leave a lot to be desired. After about 30 minutes or so, my ears start to ache really bad. Believe it or not, I haven't tried using either Napster or Windows Media Explorer on my Gigabeat. I'm having too much fun using the RipRec feature. Also, I don't mind the fact that the Gigabeat doesn't have an FM tuner/recorder. With the Gigabeat, you should have so much music stored on your HD that you don't need any of those features. Overall, I am a very satisfied that I purchased the Gigabeat. I would encourage other people to check it out without hesitation. Keep an open mind and, who knows, you just might like it. As far as I know, I'm the only person here in US Forces Korea that owns the Gigabeat. The PX here in Seoul only sells the Korean brands (iRiver, Samsung, etc. Restraint of trade, anyone?) besides the iPod for HD MP3 players. Anyway, given another chance, I would buy the Gigabeat without hesitation. My only regret is that I didn't buy the 40GB or 60GB player since I know I'll be ripping quite a few of 300+ CDs I own onto it. (I would have docked Toshiba a star for having the US version of the Gigabeat made in China instead of Japan, but since I am such a satisfied customer I'll ignore that fact.)

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars First Impressions, June 10, 2005

By 

P. Madison "Precious Scars" (AZ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F20S 20 GB Digital Audio Player Silver (Electronics)

I've been playing with this machine for a few days, so far I like it a lot. The first, obvious thing is that it's about the exact size of the 20G Ipod. It feels very solid in the hand, and looks great. You feel like you could throw it against the wall and it would still work. The screen is colorful and bright and the resolution looks pretty sharp to the eye. The side buttons are hard to press accidentally and easy to press intentionally. The + shaped touch pad is harder to use than the Ipod circle but once a few mins are spent with it it's good. The sound is good and there is a ridiculous number of EQ presets as well as a bass and treble adjustment. As seems to be with these types of players the hardware is getting good but the firmware and PC software is still lacking. (Why Creative, Toshiba, and others don't use drive letter HDD PC access is beyond me, Archos does it and it fantastic.)
The menu navigation is awkward and there is no playlist making ability on the box, it must be done with a PC. I like on-the-fly playlists so it's a big minus for me. You can use a crude 'bookmarking' feature to play some selected songs but it's quite cumbersome. I didn't try to use 'Gigabeat Room" the bundled software, instead I opened Windows media player and plugged in the USB... It worked! No drivers needed! I could use the sync feature to load songs on it very quickly from my PC hard drive.
This is a big plus! I'm still forming opinions and will update the review.

I returned it, just didn't work for me, the playlist lack of feature was probably the deciding factor and the + control was just not fun to use.