Digital Trends

You’d expect a leading big-screen TV supplier to come up with an exceptional display for the small screen too, and Toshiba did just that. The 320 x 240-dot screen is incredibly sharp and bright. I downloaded an episode of I Love Lucy which translated better to the small screen in terms of brightness than the Numb3rs series which has a lot of dark scenes. The good news is you can adjust the brightness in the “Settings” section and then easily resume where you left off viewing. Overall, the LCD displayed detail and color that were remarkably viewable—even off axis.

Still, 2.4 inches is an awfully small viewing space for anything longer than a sitcom. It would be tough to maintain interest in, say, a thriller on the tiny screen. Toshiba’s upcoming player, the V series, boasts a much more video-friendly 3.5-inch display. The trade off will be in player size, something you may be willing to sacrifice on the airplane but not in your pocket when you’re walking down the street.

The off-axis viewing benefit comes in handy in picture mode. It makes it simple to show off pictures to a friend sitting next to you. And it’s fun to be able to start a slide show of all your pictures and choose your own music as the soundtrack. That could keep me entertained for hours on a cross-country trip.

Musically, the Gigabeat S30 is top notch too. Sound quality is crisp and satisfying, even with the supplied headphones. I could listen to music for long stretches without the fatiguing effects of a less capable player. The player’s support for WAV files is another reason for anyone to step up to the 60-GB version.

Toshiba gives a battery life of 12 hours in music mode and 2 ½ hours in video mode. Of course with a multi-tasker like the Gigabeat, you don’t just do one activity; you juggle several within the course of a battery cycle. In the case of a musical slideshow you’re using the screen and the music. I ran through two 25-minute Lucy’s, nearly two 45-minute Numb3rs, and played some music over a 4 ½-hour period before the battery ran out of gas. Not bad at all.

I didn’t expect much from the radio and didn’t get much either. But I’m in a tough location about 30 minutes northwest of New York City. I can’t get radio stations without an antenna from my home stereo so I can’t expect more than that from a portable music player. I was impressed, though, when I ran the Gigabeat’s Auto Tune feature and the player could at least find the stations I was supposed to get (with static) and listed them by frequency and call letters. Nice!

 

This time Toshiba got it right. Gigabeat S has a stellar display, idiotproof interface and broad compatibility with the Windows PlaysForSure universe. Until Apple’s very recent price drop on iPod, Gigabeat had great value going for it, too, at $299. That could well change in the wake of Apple’s move to $249 for the 30-GB iPod and $349 for the 60-GB version.

Gigabeat is a winner.