Toshiba gigabeat S60 (60 GB) Digital Media Player

If you look at all the reviews online about this PMP (Portable Media Center), you will see some varying results. On www.Cnet.com, they scored this as the highest ranking PMP, even higher than the Ipod and the Zen Vision: M. On other sites though, they talk about how dissapointing it was and how it did not live up to the hype Microsoft and Toshiba led it to be. Being an owner of one, I find that there is a big mixture of both. This PMP is absolutely wonderful. I love it.

On with the good:

Don't let anyone fool you who says that the audio quality is bad. It is great, and there is nothing wrong with it. Everyone agrees that the GUI (Graphical User Interface) is one of the best, and I can say that it is absolutely beautiful. The navigation is a breeze. Also, since it's MTP and not UMS, you have to use ID3 tagging, just like the Ipod, or many other PMP's out there. With this, you have to sync with Windows Media Player 10 (WMP10) or higher instead of, for example, Itunes. It's really not bad at all as some people say. They might say that their WMP10 locked up and froze their computer, but I believe that to be user error, since I've synced up over 30 gigs of music, videos and pictures. Works like a breeze.

On with the bad:

There are a few bad points on the product which makes it almost not worth having (sad, but true). There is almost NO SUPPORT for this product from either Toshiba and Microsoft. No firmware updates at all so far, with no word about it. There isn't much 3rd party support either. Almost no accessories to go with it. A big thing about this is the battery life. Many people seem to have troubles with the battery life, and this might be an error with Toshiba. It's only 12 hours, and it's way too short (about as long as an Ipod). Many people also prefer UMS to MTP, as it is more free roaming. Other than these factors, there isn't much else hindering this product. But these problems, are all somewhat large, especially since this gets no support. With the Zune coming out soon, Microsoft and Toshiba have basically focused most of their efforts to that. Also, with the Ipod price drop and increase in hard disk space, that is a good alternative now. Since the Gigabeat S60 is $400 retail, the Ipod is only $350 retail. But, you can get the S60 off of ebay right now for about $300 since its not in too high of demand.


There you have. Is the Toshiba Gigabeat S60 really worth having? I really wish they supported this product more. Does the good really make up for the bad? I think so. I still like the player a lot, even with lack of everything. I don't really need accessories, but for some people, it's a problem. When you get right down to it, pick a PMP or DAP (Digital Audio Player aka MP3 player) that's right for you. Pick one that's suited for your wants, and needs.

The toshiba gigabeat s60 is really amazing. I'll just list the positves and negatives to keep this short though.

Pro's-
Smaller than 60 and 80 gigabite ipods
has a larger screen than ipod
holds more codecs than ipod
has fm radio
easy to use controls
works seemlessly w/ windows media player, xbox 360, windows media center
comes with audio video out cable to play music, videos, and pictures on tv
transfer pics and video directly from camera with included cable

con's
like the ipod it's easy to scratch if you dont have a case or screen protector
short battery life

After reading various reviews on the internet about this product, and checking prices, I decided to take the plunge and get one....I am SO GLAD that I did! It is an amazing player --- easy to use immediately, it is set up to work with Windows Media Player, so it makes downloading a snap, and I am using it with Napster To Go, and also a video service called VONGO.

I now have over 2500 songs loaded and about 5 full length movies, and have only used a little half of the space it provides. I travel a lot, so in areas where there is no radio, I use my FM transmitter and hook it up to the car stereo...I also downloaded a lot of comedy routines also, so it is a close second to using the Sirius Satellite radio I also have. When we get to our motorhome (parked way up in the mountains in New Mexico) I hook it up to the TV there and run the movies I downloaded from Vongo.

I also use it to carry several hundred photographs (jpgs) and files from my office... I don't know what I would do without it at this point!

And it works great--- quick and easy --- catalogues things well, and makes sense of all categories of files.

The only down sides: The screen is a bit smaller than a ZUNE but larger than a video IPOD...wish it were a bit bigger. Battery life isn't GREAT, and to run full-length movies, it's better to just go ahead and plug it in.

Other than that...it is a HUGE amount of bang for the buck, and I highly recommend it if you don't want to put out more $'s for a video IPOD, or a ZUNE.

If you look at all the reviews online about this PMP (Portable Media Center), you will see some varying results. On www.Cnet.com, they scored this as the highest ranking PMP, even higher than the Ipod and the Zen Vision: M. On other sites though, they talk about how disappointing it was and how it did not live up to the hype Microsoft and Toshiba led it to be. Being an owner of one, I find that there is a big mixture of both. This PMP is absolutely wonderful. I love it.

If you also want some buttons that you can actually push like a remote so you can actually get to your the items, then this is the player for you! If you want some soft good feeling hard to use player that takes you forever to learn how to use and hard to get to your items, get an Ipod.

Anyway enough with the comments that don't really matter. Get what you like, I like this player. Not every player will have every little option that you want, so pick the options you want most and try to find a player with them.

Good luck to you on your quest to find the Media Player that is right for you.

My wife got a new iPod Nano 4GB from my sister as birthday gift. Compare with that iPod, my Toshiba MES60VK is a much better media player. My wife also likes my Toshiba better than her iPod. Because the MES60VK has:

1)much greater space 60GB. You can pretty much download whatever you want without worry about the disk space. I transfered some albums to my wife's iPod. She has to delete some songs to make room on her iPod. 4GB is definitely not enough (only hold 1000 songs).

2)much more intuitive in the display, and logical structure of files on the player. You don't have to click through (iPod) as much to find the songs or album you want to listen to. They are right in front of you. I may have to thank Microsoft for that.

3)I like the MES60VK's compact size (smaller than 60GB iPod,) and the bigger and sharp display.

4)the earphone comes with the Toshiba is a very decent one. It produces better sound quality that the $50~60 Sony earphones you can find in stores.

I highly recommend this media player to anyone who wants to spend around $200.

I have had a gigabeat for a month now, and I am extremely happy with it. Video, music, and picture portable MP3s remind me of iPod, which everyone at my school has. Since I have got one, I brag to all of my friends about it and how little I got it for in price, this makes them extremely jealous. The 60 GB gigabeat has all of this and is much cheaper than the iPod. The only difference between these two are the battery life. If you learn to make playlists on the gigabeat and not play around with searching for songs, you should have a nice 15 hours of battery life. The quality is amazing and I am sure you will be happy with a gigabeat.

The main reason I bought this item was because it was a 60gig MP3 layer, for less, or the same price of a 30gig iPod.
Also, Im a PC user, so i didn't have any software problems.

The largest con of this item is that it doesn't work with macintosh computer, because it is not formatted as a Mass Storage Device, so it only works with Windows Media Player.

Overall great product, battery life is excellent!
The first time you use it, the battery wont last long, as with many rechargeable batteries. So use it until it dies, and recharge it, and repeat. That way you get the fullest charge out of it.

It has a great, even intuitive navigation system, you have buttons instead of a scroll wheel. I personally like buttons better, because it seems that you have better control when trying to move quickly through a large library of music.

Also features buttons on the side for power, volume, and forward/pause/skip. Easy to remember and use without looking after a few minutes of use.

It also have a color screen for viewing videos (you can view them 2 different ways, portrait, or landscape, depending on your preference or what you are watching.)

This is a must buy if you don't wan/cant afford an iPod, or just want something different.

60GB means I've loaded up my entire CD collection, plus downloaded music and still have over 60% space left for more music and videos. Easy to use, the headphones that come with the unit far surpass retractables I've bought from Philips and Brookstone! I love everything about this player and bought another for my daughter.

I wanted my own personal music to take on the road with me on the road, bike, truck, or motorhome. You get in some areas where seems they just do not play much of your own music so this comes in real handy. I also take a good bit of pictures and video such as during Daytona Bike Week and I can load them on this item so when I get home I can easly share with my friends. My only drawback on this item is not being able to see well in daylight, otherwise I am a happy camper....
Robert

This is a sweet little mp3 player. It looks very nice, it is easy to use, it looks and feels like it was really built well. This is by far the best looking, playing and view mp3 on the market. I extensivly researched before I purchased my Gigabeat and everything I read about it is true.

I’ve been using mine for over a month now. & I absolutely love it. At first I was a bit apprehensive about shelling out the bucks for this. But it has been an incredible investment. Be advised you MUST use windows Media Player 10 or 11 to use this device effectively. Thru windows explorer or My computer you can “drag & drop” media files into it, but they wont be seen correctly by the player.

Sound is excellent; the interface is literally child’s play, extremely intuitive. Quality wise it seems to be very well built, Mystic Audio makes a very nice case which at first seemed a bit over priced, but also has been a very good investment.

I mostly use mine in my work truck with a cassette adapter, it will easily do a full 12 hour day with no trouble whatsoever so very nice having ALL that music with me as well as teaching tapes. With a 60gig drive I didn’t have to convert all my wav files to MP3’s. another nice touch!! Go for as long as you’re willing to use WMP!!

a good, solid mp3 player. videos from vongo, which is a must have with this, are crisp and clear. the resoloution is so high, you can watch them on a t.v. and they look fine, but dont take up that much space. the only downside is the low battery life, about 7 hrs of music and maybe 3 of video. other than that, a good buy.

I have like 4 MP3 player,but the Toshiba Gigabeat S60 is the best so far.
Why?
60 GB of storage at the same price of the Zune and IPOD (both have 30gb).
Easy navigation.
No software, no nothing just windows media player(every windows PC had it).
Window Media Mobile (O.S.)
No need of special cables or connectors like IPOD ( i had an Ipod trust me I know what I tell You)just a mini USB cable works for charging and sync music.

Well the only bad thing so far is the battery life nothing that a mini usb cable can fix.,


Hope this was helpfull guys and have fun :)

The Toshiba gigabeat MES60VK (60 GB) Digital Media Player is a great item for those of you who are looking for a high capacity mp3 player and are wanting alternative to the IPod. If you have a home pc that is Windows Media Center Edition based, than this item is a must have. You can sync all of your mp3 as you would expect, but you can also sync your My TV and My Video's with it as well. Think of it, now all of your Media Center entertainment has gone mobile!! The screen has a great resolution and it is very convenient to have the album art with all of your songs. The only items that are a little negative are the battery life and lack of accessories. This item will charge however with either the AC plug or with the supplied USB cable. There is a great "wow" factor to this item, and I would recommend considering this item if you are in the market for a new mp3 player.

This item is just as explained in the description. Easy to set up; and transfering of media a breeze. Very easy to operate and sturdy enough to go running with it. Great product from toshiba. Excellent buy.

This product was amazing! I like it much better then an i pod for control function, cost, and generally overall. The only thing that I don't like is that the battery life is limited compared to other models that are in production. If there were a way to eliminate this factor I would have nothing negative to say!

The MP3 player had plenty of storage for photos, videos, and MP3 at 60 GB. GUI is easy to navigate and sharp LCD screen. I use it to play through my car speakers and the quality is excellent. The only negative is when you sync player w/ media player; If you're files aren't labeled properly it will place MP3 files in various folders. A little extra work in proper labeling will save you some headaches. All in all this a great MP3 player and highly recommend.

This is an excellent player, there is not one thing I disliked as far as the interface or synch options go the only problem is the OS that it uses is Microsoft portable media center so if anything happens to it (like mine got corrupted) you can't just re-install or flash it yourself. You have to send it in to Toshiba who charges a minimum fee of $139.00 to just put the OS back on it, WHICH IS REDICULOUS!!

It was just what I was looking for. Seller was ok with communicatios but needs to work on keeping buyer informed of thing like shipping and answering question in a timely manner. Would do business again.

This was cheap for a 60 Gb media player. I can download music, pics, videos or TV shows. I'm very impressed with the capabilities and its very easy to use!

This transaction took place very quickly. I could not say enough good things about the seller and about the item.

The gigabeat is a fantastic MP3 player. It is superior to the iPod in several ways:
1. It allows you to use subscription services, such as napster. This means that instead of paying a dollar for each song, you pay one monthly fee and can access almost any song you want.
2. It is fully photo ready, including the ability to add movies and TV.
3. It has a radio tuner.
4. It can be connected to your TV to show recorded movies, TV shows, or to play music and display the song and album art for you music list.
5. Toshiba service is great, they repaired another gigabeat I had for free.

The only drawbacks are:
1. The battery life is usually less than what the manufacturer says (about 6-8 hours on a full charge)
2. There are not as many options for accessories as an iPod

Liked the first so much, I bought a second. I was an early adopter of the iPod, but soon moved on. This is a far superior all around machine.