Ok, so I am looking for an alternative to the iPod influx, I don't want to be another face in the crowd, so I am interested in something different, and I remembered the Gigabeat. The thing is, There is nowhere as much out there as there is for anything else in terms of information/reveiws, and most google searches are innundated with iPod propaganda. Does anyone know of a resource or does anyone have any information/thoughts on the player? I know it's a little pricey compared to the pods, but being non-conformist tends to come at a price...
Thanks in advance,

Tom

I have the Gigabeat G5. I got it from Japan back in summer. It was my first HD based player and i have to say it was really impressive. I gave a few friends with the iPod a listen and they said the sound was better than the iPod. Also, if you have seen the pictures from Google, etc it is thinner than the iPod (3mm thinner ). It is wider in size but shorter in height. It is also about 20 grams lighter. Here's an extensive review on it, but i'll continue ranting. It is a very comprehensive review.

It is definitely a competitor against the iPod, but i don't think it can compare to the iRiver H series, but the newer line of Gigabeats (the F series) would definitely had been my choice if it were actually a choice back then and would be in competition with the iRivers. Those had recently come out with a colour screen, etc and is even more expensive.

There are 3 sizes for the Gigabeat and many colour choices. There's the G5 with 5GB (mine), G20 with 20GB, and the G40 with 40GB. Only the G20 and G40 come with a cradle, but i'm sure you could get the accessory for the G5 if you are in Japan at the time, if not, you can probably get it online (I'm awaiting it's coming to stock on a site currently). The cradle bunches in an amazing feature which I would really like to have. It is capable of acting as a HD on a wireless (or wired) network through a seperate wireless (or wired) adapter.

I have to say, the sound is simply exceptional once I heard it and imo was better than the iPod's (the Gigabeat also looks better ). It sounded even better with the long list of EQ presets. The blue backlight also looks radiant, sleek, and elegant on the black sides. Battery life is stated as 11 hours and I would trust that without any EQ settings and no song switching would actually be 11 hours. With a full time use to no battery, i have used about 9 or 10 hours as I use an EQ setting and set volume so that outside sounds arent too audible as well as switching songs every now and then.

Stock earphones aren't amazing and definitely dont look sharp, but i got a deal in Japan. I could get a pair of any head/earphones on their shelves and have 5000 yen off (around $50CAD). Also, the stock remote is small and not prone to fingerprints and packs all the necessary buttons in there.

After using it for more than half a year already, I have to say it has to be the best player in its market and price range I could get. I have never had any problems with it except one time where it said there was some HD problem (in Japanese) but after letting it rest with the battery off fixed it. Also, if you do get it, it took me a google search to figure out how to change the language back to English (I can tell you how to get to it if you get it). Lastly, the software it uses is straightforward and not bloated and modifies the audio file with something of their own to prevent copying audio files to another computer. It supports WMA as well which the iPod does not. The Gigabeat also acts as a hard drive in Explorer for files.

I hope that helped. Btw, when i got it, i specifically wanted to think non-conformist, so Gigabeat i went. I didn't want to be another iPod user

I love that design, but it's too wide and the screen looks so small.

Does anyone know about this one?

It is also a part of Gigabeat series.

that's the F series i was talking about that would be a more adequate competitor against the iRiver. also, its quite expensive lol. my friend at school got it off ebay like right when it came out (rich as he is). the sensitivity on the + isn't quite sensitive enough...was difficult to press the middle (Play in the current menu in the picture)

the design of that is very nice, though...you can have themes, wallpaper and stuff like that on it..the metal around is very...very nice

They're showing it at CES, wait a few days and articles about will pop up (check Engadget or DAPReview). If you google i.e. "Gigabeat F10 review", there's an English site with a review of the Japanese model.

This DAP can eat two Apples in one bite , if I could only afford it...

Is it that recent? I thought I was going after something semi-rare, but this is much better now that almost no one I know knows about it, aside from the odd one here and there.

Tom

Yeah, it's pretty recent. The Gigabeat F launch commercials are still running on Japanese TV (I think it was launched Fall 2004, dunno why they were still running around x-mas). It's amazing that it came to the N.A. market so quickly. If you're hunting for advanced audio players that isn't availble in N.A., visit www.audiocubes.com .

Check out the iAudio X5, it might interest you.

i dont think any of the gigabeats ever came to the north american market (any country other than Japan for that matter). only way you can get them are ebay and specialty online shops such as audiocubes.com for japanese products or actually going to Japan

That iAudio looks petty awesome, espescially with the formats it supports. At lunch today, I was with some freinds, and one of the iRiver models, 40GB, colour screen, was playing host to a smaller packard bell "fashion acessory" mp3 player. I thought that was pretty damn cool, and that iAudio might have a sale if it supports that when it's released. Thanks for that name.

Tom

Sorry, I thought I read something about it being launched shortly after CES... my bad.

Check out http://www.cnet.com/4520-10602_1-5600165-1.html?tag=lnav for players that will be released soon or have been released.

I'm not sure what you mean by playing host to... like connecting to another mp3 player? The iAudio X5 supports OTG (download and view pics from your digital camera), so it's likely that it will support the feature you mentioned, if I understood correctly. It can be recognized as an external HD without any drivers, so even if it doesn't support the playing host to feature, a small firmware update will probably add it. iAudio is excellent when it comes to regular firmware updates.

I don't want to confuse you, but I'll throw some more noteworthy names that you might want to check out.

Sony NW-HD3
iRiver H20 (not announced yet, basically the H10 with a 20GB HD)
Olympus m:robe 500
Samsum YH-925

Oh, www.engadget.com has a thorough coverage of CES, you should check out some of the mp3 player articles.

i probably will be getting one of those f20 black this week

Moved here

god damn

i was about to buy this thing and i found out about huge problems with it


technically i doesn't play mp3 or wma, the software/crandle encrypts/re-encodes the music to some .sat extensions.

plus usb 2.0 only works with POS toshiba sofware, only 1.1 with wmp10

those are the only problems that bother me, plus no word from toshiba on a firmware update that would fix those two issues.