The 60gb hard drive that is the heart of the Gigabeat F60 is manufactured by Toshiba and has only found its way into the Ipod Photo and not into the main Ipod models. Instead Toshiba have been saving it for this device. Toshibas contender clad in sleek silver comes in a number of sizes right up to the big boy 160 gram 60gb version, which is expected to go on sale at the £290 mark.

The Toshiba Gigabeat F60 is not just a big disk, they have been working hard on the whole user experience and that's where we get the new cross slider which is a morphing of the Apple click wheel and Creatives slider technology.

The new cross slider controls everything on the Gigabeat from the volume to full navigation of the device and the new navigation is a very impressive piece of work which now includes full vivid colour and a rather slinky screen layout. Using the slider is in fact easier than the Ipod's click wheel as it more naturally fits the scrolling list nature of a track packed device, the MP3 files can be browsed by artist, album, genre and playlist, an added dimension is the ability to browse by cover art.

Toshiba have blessed the Gigabeat F60 with a 2.2" full colour screen which really makes the device come alive, the menus can be personalised with different backgrounds and with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution its easy to read even the smallest text. Images transferred over the USB 2.0 connection along with the MP3 files are displayed not only in the visual navigation mode but also during playback.

Having a photo display capability has also allowed Toshiba to give the Gigabeat a photo viewer which can display JPEG images as long as they are loaded using the Room Management software that is used to fill and purge the 60gb disk.

Gigabeat supports MP3, WMA and WAV files making the Toshiba much more versatile than its Ipod rival, plus it can work with DRM enabled WMA files making it compatible with online music stores like Napster. Audio quality is first class despite the rather average set of headphones supplied with the Gigabeat, bass is deep and crisp while even the busiest pop track sounds clear and not at all muddied. We were very impressed with the volume level which while contained within the EU limits seemed more than adequate to block out background noise.

The lithium Ion Battery life is a claimed 16 hours which is significantly more than the 4G Ipod and more than enough for even the most demanding user, the battery can be topped up from the USB connection or a power adaptor.

The overall package comes with a docking cradle, the room management software and also "RipRec" which enables users to rip CD's into MP3 files for transfer to the player, currently the Gigabeat will only work with windows PC's.

At around £289.99 the F60 Toshiba Gigabeat offers real Ipod killing value and fights for the same piece of turf, what it doesn't do is move the game on any further. While some devices have added FM radios, Dictaphones and all sorts of bells and whistles Toshiba have gone for size and battery life and it seems to have paid off.

Published - 04/05/2005

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