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Toshiba Intros First 60GB Digital Music Player
by , 8:20 AM EDT, September 28th, 2004
Toshiba announced Monday a new hard drive-based digital audio player with a 60GB storage capacity. It will first be available in Japan in November and in the first quarter of 2005 in Europe and the USA, the company said.
The first players to go on sale will be its F series models (see photo below), using the company's 1.8-inch hard disk drive. There are three models in the range with hard-disk sizes of 10GB, 20GB and 60GB. The drives for all three players are produced in-house by Toshiba and the company says the new Gigabeat is the first digital music player to use the 60GB drive.
The devices sport a high-resolution (240 by 320 pixels) 2.2-inch QVGA color liquid crystal display (LCD) display and a navigation system based on a plus-sign sensor. Supported file formats are MP3, WMA and WAV. Using a built-in lithium-ion battery, Toshiba claimed the unit has up to 11 hours of continuous play.
Music can be transferred from a PC via Toshiba's "Gigabeat Room" software and the system supports a one-touch ripping function. When the Gigabeat is in its cradle and connected to the PC, users need only insert a CD into the PC's optical drive and ripping can be accomplished by the single press of a button on the cradle.

The 10GB model will cost US$357.00 and the 20GB model will cost $402.00. The 60GB model will be on sale from early December and will cost $582.00.
Pricing for Europe and the U.S was not announced.
Observer Comments
And I thought the iPod was a steal! And that color screen will look awesome when its tucked away neatly in my bag!
Although I guess this has something to do with Toshiba not having enough drives for Apple? I guess Steve should have tried harder for a non-compete clause in their contract!
Tue Sep 28, 2004 9:56 am Subject: $200 for the color screen?
If the 20 GB is $200 more than the 20GB iPod what do you get, other than a color screen? A "+" control? Looks to me like $200 for a color screen.
Now all we have to do is see how well they have copied the software from the iPod, iTunes and TMS.
Big price drops in the near future I think.
"Please let me know where I can get a $200 20 Gig iPod. I thought the latest, greatest price from Apple was $299. That makes the difference only $100."
"If the 20 GB is $200 MORE than the 20GB iPod what do you get, other than a color screen? A "+" control? Looks to me like $200 for a color screen."
LEARN TO READ ENGLISH!! kenaustus said that IF THE 20 GB Toshiba is $200 MORE THAN THE IPOD...
Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:12 pm Subject: Re: 200?
QuoteRealityCheckup wrote:
LEARN TO READ ENGLISH!! kenaustus said that IF THE 20 GB Toshiba is $200 MORE THAN THE IPOD...
What are you talking about?
Kenaustus said "if the 20 GB Toshiba is $200 more than the iPod..."
And guest pointed out that it's NOT $200 more, it's only $100 more. (Because $400-$300 = $100)
I don't see what your problem is.
Tue Sep 28, 2004 11:29 pm Subject: Re: Apple Beater
Tue Sep 28, 2004 11:31 pm Subject: Re: Toshiba Intros First 60GB Digital Music Player
[quote="admin"]Toshiba announced Monday a new hard drive-based digital audio player with a 60GB storage capacity. It will first be available in Japan in November and in the first quarter of 2005 in Europe and the USA.
The timing is key. It will be offered in the US in the first quarter. The product misses the US Christmas season and Apple has plenty of time for a January update to the iPod. Plenty of time.
Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:26 am Subject:
Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:49 am Subject: Re: $200 for the color screen?
Quotekenaustus wrote:
... Looks to me like $200 for a color screen.
Now all we have to do is see how well they have copied the software from the iPod, iTunes and TMS.
I have to agree. It has a color screen. Big deal. If the unit does not play video games, or video files, then it is just a neat gimmick. If it DOES play video files then I'd be impressed, but only a little bit...I have PocketTV on my smartphone and watching video on a 2" screen isn't much fun. Put S-video/digital audio out on it and I'd take notice. Either way, I have to wonder what battery life will be like. Back-lit TFTs suck batteries dry very quickly. An OLED would be better for power consumption, but I didn't see any mention of OLED here. And as for the HD, we all know that size DOES matter. (where are YOUR minds?) 60 is great and I think if priced well will sell like hotcakes, but in the end it isn't JUST a matter of storage capacity. User interface, versatility, and reliability all have to be tight in order to be "the next iPod". Kudos to Toshiba for making what I think might be the first and only true ipod competitor so far. time will tell how all of these things come together for them in this unit.
it was kinda obvious this would be toshiba's move. since the annoncement that apple will not use to 60 when toshiba announced it. the way i see it.. it's not where apple wants to go. Look at it this way.. now that apple ha HP doeing business with ipod. apple is moving to something else.. like a portable media player (videos.. Quicktime i'm sure) and compatible with quicktime for Cellphone technologies.. honestly.. I think apple will keep selling ipods as is through HP and work on the future.. a real video phone system. perhaps with video playback power and music capabilites as well. but this is just a guess.
most likely apple will be focusing on the quicktime cell phone immersion. face it. ipod is great.. but it filled it's niche perfectly and will remain as is.. for apple now the biggest challenge remains their G5 powerbooks.
Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:02 pm Subject: Re: Toshiba sucks
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