As if there weren’t enough portable audio players in the market already, Toshiba has recently stepped up to the plate to offer its own Gigabeat that not only looks great, but promises wonderful features. Recently, we have seen an abundance of MP3 players from companies worldwide. And a common trend between the hard drive players is that they are all moving towards excellent functionality and product outlook to really increase their overall value. Does Gigabeat have what it takes to theoretically become one of the best? Read on the specifications and decide for yourself…

Physically, the player resembles Apple’s iPod, but that shouldn’t be a surprise anymore. Almost every company is trying their luck with iPod-like features and physique, so that’s an obvious expectation these days. Like the iPod, or iRiver’s H10 series, Toshiba’s Gigabeat offers a very professional appeal to the product.

It offers a 2.2" QVGA diagonal LCD color screen with 320x240 resolution to really make the display standout. It has a photo viewer and comes in 10, 20, 40 and 60GB sizes. In addition to that, the player comes with Toshiba’s very own RipRec software to instantly rip entire CDs and directly move the music to Gigabeat without interference of additional software.

The Gigabeat also reflects the iPod in other related features, such as its Plus Touch sensitive controls. Similar to the iPod, Toshiba lets you maneuver through the player’s options via touch sensitivity. Toshiba’s portable audio player also comes integrated with Gigabeat Room Management software as well as Napster To Go to manage music and playlists with support for MP3, WMA, and WAV audio formats.

The player comes with a USB docking cradle, which will let you charge the MP3 player right when you are transferring music to and from the Gigabeat. Moreover, Toshiba promises a 16-hour lithium ion battery life with as many as 28 user selectable equalizers.

The player comes included with a pair of earphones, and Toshiba offers a variety of colors depending upon the size.

You can choose between various playback modes including normal, repeat, random and one-song. It also supports six languages to give it a more international appeal. These languages are Japanese, English, French, Chinese, Spanish and German.

Toshiba’s packs in an AC adapter for charging the player, a power supply, a cradle, an USB cable, a pair of earphones and the company’s trademarked software.

The Gigabeat MP3 players retail from $289.99 to $399.99 on average depending upon the hard drive size.

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