Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F60S (60GB) review

Performance
Once you overcome the transfer and interface issues, the Toshiba Gigabeat F series is a media pleasure. Unlike the iPod, with its long bootup time, the Gigabeat starts up almost instantaneously and immediately begins playback from where it left off the last time you listened. Photos look bright, crisp, and saturated and are easily browsed once you have them on the player. You can also listen to tracks while you browse photos. Of course, the Gigabeat includes a slide-show mode.

The Gigabeat has an amazing 32 preset EQ settings, such as SRS and the usual genre choices, as well as separate bass and treble controls and six play modes, including Random All, which occasionally repeats tracks. There's also the seldom-used Intro mode, which will play either the first 10 or 60 seconds of each track. Not included is a version of the iPod's Sound Check option, which evens out the ever-shifting individual track-to-track volume modulation. As a result, some newer songs blare, requiring periodic volume adjustment. Pleasantly, the Gigabeat seems to be endowed with segue intelligence not found in the iPod. Sets of Elton John, the Beach Boys, Barenaked Ladies, the Beatles, Led Zep, Pearl Jam, and Coldplay on the one hand and Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, and Chet Baker on the other convinced us.

Edited by James Kim
Additional editing by Tom Espiner

Sound quality is generally excellent (signal-to-noise ratio of 95dB), especially with the EQ flat. The various EQ settings significant affect the sound, introducing an almost metallic and overprocessed quality, and are generally acceptable for techno and hip-hop but unnecessary for jazz, acoustic, and orchestral pieces. Good bass and clean highs are the norm.

We were able to get 19 hours of battery life per charge, 3 hours longer than Toshiba's rated battery life. That's impressive, though our tests were not official due to the fact we had to approximate our typical volume setting. Nevertheless, in typcial usage, the Gigbeat's battery life is competitive, if not outstanding. You'll probably get much less if you view photos and keep the LCD backlight on for extended periods.