Reported on this when the player was available in Japan back in March: http://www.mygigabeat.com/2007/03/gigabeat-u-new-player-from-toshiba.html

Nice to see that it is making it over here. Been awfully quiet from Toshiba lately except from the news regarding the MET401 a couple days ago. Maybe the fact that the Zune has been able to sell +1 million units have made Toshiba reconsider the US market again?

This thing is probably the same size as the Gigabeat S, which means that it is a little bit thicker but not as wide as the 5G iPod. The vertical screen is a huge advantage when you scroll through your music.

I love my S30, but the Zune looks very promising. Maybe a firmware upgrade to the Gigabeat S Series will make them compatible? No Wifi obviously...


Can't wait to get the full specs on this thing!

Nice pics! Enjoy the weekend!

Someone mentioned Urge. I have to say that WMP 11, Urge, and my gigabeat s30 is a damn good combo.

Vongo defenitly has some bugs in it. But it is promising and hopefully more titles gets added and the bugs get worked out. With a well stocked library, $9.99 for unlimited downloads is a pretty good deal. Specially considering that you can hook up the Gigbeat to your TV and enjoy the movies.

I think this is the first combo, player and software, that is better than iPod and iTunes
PMC and WMP 11 just works. No magic to get it synced, just plug in your gigabeat via usb and WMP 11 will recognize it. The design/form factor of the player is also good. I like the fact that it is not as wide as the 5G iPod. It fits better in my hand.

The problem with many of the non-iPod's have been that they try to hard to be too much. They forget about the average Joe that just wants something that works.

FM tuner was never a deal breaker for me, but I'm already using it.

I've had my player for 3 days now and I'm loving it.

Cool idea, but until we get mobile TV network here in the US... Besides the ability to watch live TV it really has no benefits over the Gigabeat S Series. Same screen resolution and PMC software. Good to see that Toshiba continues to come out with new gadgets though!

Buy.com and hideflifestyle.com offer the S60 at an even lower price.

My sources still confirms an end of May availability. I really hope they wont drop the ball again...

If you haven't tried wmp 11 yet, http://www.mygigabeat.com/2006/05/windows-media-player-11-available-now.html, go download it and try it before making any irrelavant comments.

I've tried it and it works great. I think people will be suprised at how good it actually works. It's not a cluncky MS application.

Yeah I've given up on estimating the release date. My source at Toshiba says may 15th... but he also said early March, late February, etc...

btw, the "shamless" plug for my blog above was not me. :)

FM Radio, you can control it from your XBOX 360, Portable Windows Media Center, Vongo, Divx, WMV, Standard USB port, no need for crappy software dependent on the manufacturer since it is built to work with WMP.

I spent some good time with this one at CES as well, and this is defenitly the best that has come out that is not an IPod. Toshiba gave up on the software end, thank god, and focused on the hardware. It is also the 4th generation coming out of the Toshiba camp.