Philips HDD120 Audio HDD MP3 Player (20 GB) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this product at Best-Buy as an exchange item for a Rio Karma jukebox because they didn't have any left in stock.
Let me focus on what's good about this player first, as that will be very easy to cover...
I have to tell you, this has to be the best looking jukebox, and I don't particularly like the iPod.
It has optical / analog input for recording and it also has a built-in mic!
The white/black contrast lcd is to die for, with very nice magnesium casing (nice dark colors too).
But aside from looks, this thing has nothing that beats any other mp3 player..
There is no way to directly start playing songs.You have to first select a playlist or a category, or even the "all tracks" to start playing.If you ever turn it off and then turn it on.. its time to do the same thing again.
I can hear it spin when I try to play a song, and I can feel it rotate the drive reader when it goes to the next song.
Within an hour of handling it, my fingerprints were so over the place and so noticeable, it was driving me crazy.
To add to it, there is no stop button, it never gets as loud as I want it, and it has very crappy visualizations for the songs.
The power button is the play button.What kind of user interface design is that?
The software that you have to use with it crashes everytime I try to use my existing mp3 archive.Even after updating, it does the same thing.To make it work, I had to manually copy my favorite songs into some prespecified folder...Took forever..
I would definitely want my Rio Karma back over this thing.Don't waste money over it.It doesn't come with any fancy features that might interest you.Its just a hard drive with mp3 playback and a good looking cover.That's it.

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Product Description:
Philips small hand held 20 GB Hard Drive, Juke Box, USB 2.0 connection, head phones, In-line remote, and carrying case.

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Toshiba MES30VW Gigabeat 30 GB Portable Media Player (White) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)After being introduced to the Gigabeat by a family friend, I read a lot of customer reviews since I did want to replace my 2 Gb Apple iPod with something a little larger, and decided to go for the MES30VW, which I've had for a little over a week now.

It literally does everything, although I haven't yet tried to download videos but will soon...anyway, on to the features...

I'm not a computer techie or particularly knowledgeable on electronics, but after a couple of perusals of the manual (the FULL manual - not the Quick Start Guide!) it all made a lot of sense.I like that it uses WMP 10, which I already had on my computer anyway (though it needs to be reinstalled for files specific to the Gigabeat) and the whole thing wasn't foreign to me.

Ripping songs from my rather large collection of CDs is easy, and synching them to my Gigabeat is just as easy.

For whatever albums where the information doesn't show up immediately, I can search and there it is...album cover, song titles, artists, everything.At first I didn't know this and spent a lot of time manually typing in that information, but most of the time now I can get the information with a couple of clicks of my mouse.Even ripping CDs I've compiled myself is pretty easy, as screen will come up asking for album name (whatever you want to call it) and the songs, artists, and composers...no more "Unknown Artists" or "Unknown Albums".

Setting the FM tuner was fun, if only because I'm thrilled to have something that not only plays downloaded music, videos, and displays photos, but also gets FM radio just in case having a couple of thousand of my favorite tunes isn't quite good enough - ha ha

At first I was a bit nervous about all those moving parts (not the same as the iPod) and afraid I would disconnect it at the wrong time, but as long as the "Connected" screen is visible, it can be safely disconnected from the PC. A couple of strange things happened while trying to charge on the adaptor, but I took a chance and turned off the internal battery for a few seconds, turned it back on, and all was fine.

While we're on the topic of the battery, I have to say that I wasn't all that happy with what seemed to be a rather paltry battery life...I was only getting a couple of hours of play/transfer before getting notice that it needed to be charged again, but I did go into my Settings and adjust the backlighting from one minute to 15 seconds, turned off the Sound Effects (clicking and dinging when scrolling) turned down the screen brightness, and turned off the Harmonics. I really believe that will help conserve battery life.

Even with reduced brightness, my photos look real good, and even without Harmonics the sound is decent for a portable music player, although I really hate earbuds, but the ones that came with the device aren't too horrible.If you want symphony hall sound, spend a couple of thousand bucks on a huge home system...

I hope my description has been helpful, and if I think of anything more as time goes on I'll give an update.

One rather interesting point here is that hubby got rather envious after a few days and bought a Gigabeat just like mine and plans on also using it in his truck with an adaptor instead of juggling CDs all over the place.

We're both well over 50 years old, and it's kind of funny to see us walking around the house hooked up to our own personal music...so if two "old farts"can understand how to run the thing, it can't be all that hard.

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Product Description:
Aiming to make a mark as one of the market's most powerful and sophisticated portable media players, Toshiba's Gigabeat MES30VW doesn't disappoint. The device employs Microsoft's intuitive Portable Media Center (PMC) software to play your favorite digital movies, music, and photos,

Microsoft's intuitive Portable Media Center makes it easy to play all your media. View larger.

You can also see the device in detail. with support for WMA Lossless, WMA, MP3, WAV, WMV, DivX, and JPEG formats. The Windows Media Player application even transcodes MPEG-4, AVI, and MOV formats, making it far more versatile than most video-compatible players. Meanwhile, the MES30VW's 30 GB hard drive is capable of holding a ton of digital media, including about 7,500 songs (more than 500 complete album) at 128 kbps, a robust 15,000 songs at 64 kbps, and a still-impressive 850 songs, or 57 hours, of CD-resolution WAV files.
The PC-only device is also PlaysForSure-certified by Microsoft, which means that it will operate with any similarly designated management software or download service, such as Napster, Rhapsody, and Wal-Mart Music Downloads. Users can also subscribe to movies or TV shows via MTV/Microsoft's Urge, TiVo to Go, Starz Vongo, and a host of other sites. And because the MES30VW is automatically recognized by Windows Media Player 10, you won't need to install drivers of any kind.


Controlling the device couldn't be easier. View larger. The MES30VW's defining feature, however, is its 2.4-inch QVGA display, which offers a resolution of 320 x 240 (65,000 colors) to ensure elite video and picture quality. Viewers who want to enjoy optimal resolution can switch to landscape mode, or they can output the signal to a full-size TV for group viewing. And serious music fans can download and view album covers on the screen, search for their favorite tracks by scrolling through the album covers, or even set a favorite album as a background image.
The device is prepared for future developments as well, as it's one of the first media players that can be connected to and controlled via the Xbox 360's interface. Finally, the MES30VW serves as a USB host, letting you connect a digital camera to the unit's USB port and then transfer and view the pics immediately--no PC required.
Additional features include a built-in FM tuner with 30 station presets, a docking cradle for charging, and a pair of headphones with an integrated remote control. The MES30VW, which offers roughly 20 hours of music playback per charge, measures a compact 2.38 by 3.94 by 0.62 inches (W x H x D) and is backed by a one-year warranty on parts and labor.
What's in the Box
MES30VW portable media player, AC adapter, AC adapter cable, earbuds, USB cable, USB conversion cable, AV cable, software CD-ROM, and quick start guide.

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Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F40S 40 GB Digital Audio Player Silver Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I first saw the Gigabeat at CES this year and I've been waiting for it since then. I finally got my hands on the F40 a couple a weeks ago and I wasn't disappointed. By the time it shipped here in the US Toshiba applied firmware 2.02 which lets you view slide shows of your favorite photos while playing music.

The good:
- The screen is no doubt the best in its class.
- The touch sensitive cross is very intuitive, much more so than the wheel on the iPod. The Gigabeat can be operated in horizontal mode, my favorite, and the cross is designed perfectly for this. Due to its design switching from vertical to horizontal mode requires no change in how you navigate.
- Setting the EQ to flat will give you crystal clear and a very detailed sound experience, and the volume has more power than I can handle.
- You can preset volume and EQ settings per song in the Gigabeat Room program
- You can browse music by Artist/Album/Genre, but also by folders like Explorer.
- No need for the cradle if you transfer music via Gigabeat Room, or without Room if you use the Gigabeat as external HD using drag and drop.
- Rip Tech button on the cradle will rip an entire CD and transfer it to your Gigabeat in 5 minutes.
- Works with all Play For Sure online music services.

The bad:
- SAT encryption on anything you transfer via Gigabeat Room or Windows Media Player. You can get around it by using drag and drop while connected in Windows Media Mode and using the cradle. Instead of using WMP you just drag and drop your music onto the Gigabeat. Gigabeat will recognize ID3 information and catalog your music when you drag and drop this way.
- USB 1.1 speed when using any other way then Gigabeat Room to transfer music to the Gigabeat.
- EQ quality is not as good as it could be. However with the EQ set to flat everything I have tried sounds great!
- No video... yet.

I REALY like the Gigabeat. I have recommended it to all my friends and I got a second one for my wife. "The bad" can all be fixed with a firmware upgrade, and I'm hoping that Toshiba is listening to all Gigabeat enthusiasts. I belive that hardware wise the Gigabeat is perfect. All that now is needed is some fine tuning on the EQ and to get rid of the SAT encryption.

Lots of information about the Gigabeat can be found over at www.mygigabeat.com. The forum is an excellent way to get most of your questions answered.

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Product Description:
Images and music combine in this easy-to-use portable digital audio player. Toshiba's snazzy, silver Gigabeat MEG-F40S packs a 1.8-inch Toshiba hard drive capable of holding an incredible 40 GB of digital media: MP3 and WMA compressed audio and even uncompressed, full-resolution WAV files. That's about 10,000 songs (more than 600 complete albums) at 128 kbps MP3, a crazy 20,000 songs at 64 kbps WMA, and a still-impressive 1,100 songs or 75 hours of CD-resolution WAV files.
A major feature of the player is its bright, crystal-clear, 2.2-inch LCD with 240 x 320 resolution and the ability to render over 65,000 colors. It's there so you can experience the visual as well as the aural component of your entertainment. The Gigabeat lets you download and view album covers, search for your favorite tracks by scrolling through those album covers, or even set a favorite album cover as your background image. You can download any digital still picture from your PC and create custom slideshows, too--and set them to music.
Gigabeat may be versatile, but it's also easy to operate. Its PlusTouch sensor control lets you scroll through its intuitive menus using only a soft touch or pass of your fingertip.
The PC-only Gigabeat is "Plays for Sure"-certified by Microsoft, which means that it will operate with any "Plays for Sure" download site or management software when connected to your PC. Gigabeat is automatically recognized by Windows Media Player 10, so there's no need to install new drivers of any kind. Toshiba has also partnered with Napster to provide Napster's "Napster To Go" software, giving you the option of using Napster To Go, Windows Media Player, and/or the supplied Gigabeat Room management software (Gigabeat Room is required for transfer of photo images).
So what about your CD collection? After all, you'll likely be able to stash the entire thing in here, one way or another. Thanks to a unique feature called CD RipRec, all you have to do is place a CD in your PC and press the CD RipRec button while the Gigabeat is docked in its cradle. CD RipRec will launch the software and transfer compressed audio to your Gigabeat quickly and with no further effort on your part. Using a USB 2.0 connection (cable supplied), CD RipRec can transfer the contents of an entire CD to the Gigabeat in as little as 5 minutes.
If Gigabeat's battery life (up to 16 hours) isn't enough to satisfy your entertainment needs, fret not. Rather than carrying your AC adapter everywhere, simply connect the Gigabeat to any PC with a USB cable and the battery will charge itself again.
Other features include headphones with an integrated wired remote control, a choice of 10- or 60-second intro scan to help you find a desired song, multilingual support (Japanese, English, French, Chinese, Spanish, and German), and 28 user selectable equalizer settings, and SRS WOW, which simulates surround sound from any two speakers (including headphones).
What's in the Box
Digital music player, an AC power adapter, a power-supply, a docking cradle, a USB cable, headphones with integrated remote control, a software CD-ROM (Gigabeat Room management software, CD RipRec, Napster To Go), a user's manual, and warranty information.

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